""If abolition is not solely about what we dismantle, but also about what we build in its stead, then what monuments or points of gathering will we, the collective body of the dispossessed who make life on the periphery of empire, make for ourselves as stewards of our own histories and futures which reflect our struggles and our triumphs as a people?""
""when the memorialization of the violent foundations of the United States was collectively being called into question.""
""Phoenix Ladder: Monument to the People of the Bronx""
Shellyne Rodriguez unveiled a permanent public artwork titled Phoenix Ladder: Monument to the People of the Bronx on November 8. The terracotta, brick, and steel sculpture portrays an ascending ladder with no end as a testament to the borough's resilience. The monument references rebuilding after 1970s fires that destroyed about 80% of South Bronx housing, often set by landlords seeking insurance payouts. The work was commissioned through the city's Percent for Art program and is installed between Grand Concourse and Morris Avenue. Rodriguez conceived the monument seven years earlier and connected it to questions of abolition, memorialization, and community-built monuments. Rodriguez has produced portraits of organizers and essential workers during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and the monument resonates with 2020 Black Lives Matter actions that challenged Confederate and colonial monuments.
Read at Hyperallergic
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