IN SALEM
In Salem is a collection of collage poems and original photographs inspired by the Salem Witch Trials. Catherine Corman has assembled fragments of text from the trial testimony of accused witches to form haunting, desperate pleas of innocence; fantastical, urgent, false confessions; and blunt laments of resignation from blameless women condemned to death.
Accompanying the text are photographs retracing the steps of the witches, across the farms, homes, ponds and cemeteries where they endured their ill-fated lives, pastoral and commonplace until overtaken by hysteria.
The silent film, a companion piece to In Salem, will screen on All Hallows’ Eve 2019 at Synesthesia, an art gallery in Brooklyn.
“I will speak the Truth as long as I live,” said one accused witch. “They say the Devil is whispering in your ear,” replied the judge. In Salem illustrates the torment of the accused witches, unable to shake the mantle of the dark time in which they lived. Their words live on centuries past the madness of 1692, offering a glimpse into the souls of the women at the heart of one of the most sinister and riveting moments in our shared history.
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Catherine Corman's book of photographs, Daylight Noir, was exhibited at the Venice Biennale and is included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art Library. Her short film Les Non-Dupes screened at the Berlin Biennale. Her book Photographs of the Saints was honored at Paris Photo. Romanticism, her book of collage poems and photographs, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her series of photographs Heart of Wax was honored by the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. She is also the editor of Joseph Cornell’s Dreams, published by Exact Change.
Naomi Yang is a video director, photographer, and graphic designer. She is also a musician, formerly of Galaxie 500, currently of Damon & Naomi. She has directed music videos for Lee Ranaldo, Matador Records, and Rough Trade. She is a graphic designer of books, music and other media, with an ongoing role as designer for the John Cage Trust. She has designed all the publications of her (co-owned) experimental small press Exact Change, as well as designing the various Galaxie 500 and Damon & Naomi record releases and related ephemera.
Ugly Duckling Presse is a nonprofit publisher for poetry, translation, experimental nonfiction, performance texts, and books by artists. UDP favors emerging, international, and “forgotten” writers, and its books, chapbooks, artist’s books, broadsides, and periodicals often contain handmade elements, calling attention to the labor and history of bookmaking. In all of its activities, UDP endeavors to create an experience of art free of expectation, coercion, and utility.