Visibly Absent: Doppelganger, by Marlon Griffith

At the core of Galvanize is "Visibly Absent", a series of nine artists' projects. This is the eighth in a series of notes on each artist and his or her project.



Self-portrait of Marlon Griffith incorporating an actual police complaints form


Bio: Marlon Griffith attended the John S. Donaldson Technical Institute and has worked as a Carnival designer for several years; the traditions of mas inform most of his work. He has been an artist in residence at the Bag Factory and City + Suburban Studios in Johannesburg and the Mino Paper Art Village in Japan. He has participated in several groups shows in Trinidad and abroad.

Statement on Doppelganger: The title of this work is a term to describe an apparition or double. The project looks at the idea of profiling and public issues surrounding law enforcement; also at public perceptons of people we interact with every day--stereotypes, ethnicity, and cultural backgrounds.

Doppelganger was created out of a series of events in which I had uncomfortable encounters with the police and other law enforcement officials. Such encounters, vulgar displays of power, happen on a regular day-to-day basis to many citizens. The work seeks to address these issues and asks the question, who is going to protect us from the protectors?


Doppelganger will run from 16 to 26 October, 2006, in the Art Room at CCA7 (open Tuesdays to Fridays from 12 to 5 pm, Thursdays from 12 to 8 pm, and Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm).