A Few Extra Copies

On January 22, 1987 an unjustly convicted Budd Dwyer grasped the pages of his final speech as Pennsylvania’s State Treasurer before shooting himself in front of news cameras. Our current year of armageddon, recession, and occupation resonates as a fitting time to step into Budd’s shoes (and perhaps others who sought freedom the same way). I set up a mini news conference with antiquated, glitchy analog cameras, mixers, players, and decks with the goal of recording Budd’s speech in one take. Alternating between two 20-minute tapes, I rehearsed, recorded, rewound, and re-recorded while operating the equipment within a closed-circuit huddle. Words, sentences, and pages drifted away as Budd’s speech evolved into a meditation on the oppressive aspects of my own life. I don’t know if I achieved some form of symbolic death, but I do know that my obsession to create the perfect copy of Budd’s speech might erase it.—B.A.

Screening as part of the program Atlas Minus…