The subjects interviewed for Underground Rhode Island were selected, among many possibilities, for several reasons. The eldest were likely to have been part or the "hip" scene around jazz and the Celebrity Club of the 1950s. More than a few had a connection with AS220 and its circle, at some time in the past. And the youngest members have been active in the Rhode Island arts scene, in one way or another, during the last twenty years or so. Not all are either "lost" or "unknown"; some of them have long been prominent. And yet they represent a self-consciously offbeat take on the mainstream culture of Middle America. They are "underground" even when "overground," part of a world more recognizable to Allen Ginsberg (or Bruce Springsteen) than the people in the White House or Wall Street. And they were intriguing to the students who chose to interview them.
You may expect to find a photo--not necessarily from the recent past--a short biography, a recording of the subject's own voice, a verbatim transcript of the interview, and links to related materials. Not all these are present for each interview--some are still being gathered (or recovered)--but they definitely represent a sense of a life and creative work within that life.
Les Wisner was a student at RISD in 1978 when he designed the Private Parts show as a collaborative senior project. The Private Parts show was a RISD student gallery exhibition that featured a range of art related to the theme of Private Parts. After news of the show reached the public, Providence Police raided the gallery and confiscated much of the artwork. Police told the group it was in violation of a new obscenity law, passed only days before. Organizers of the exhibit sued the city of violation of their first amendment rights. (The show was legally represented by attorneys Lynette Labinger and John Roney.) The judge ruled that the exhibit should be protected as art and ordered that the city pay for the damage caused to the confiscated work.
© 2005