"Of All the People in All of the World, USA (The Rice Show)" was on exhibit in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery Feb. 20-March 3. The witty and thought-provoking performance / installation was created by Stan's Cafe of Birmingham, UK.
About 11,000 pounds of rice was used to bring human statistics to vivid life. Each grain of rice represented one person. This heap of rice represents Americans without health insurance. Mia Kriksciun, 8; Jennifer Hadley, library assistant in Scores & Recordings / World Music Archives, and Hadley's daughter, Sonya, 8, browse the exhibit during the show's grand opening. Over a period of days a team of performers carefully weigh out quantities of rice to represent a host of human statistics. The work has been performed in such cities as Los Angeles, Cal., Melbourne, Australia, Madrid, Spain, and New York City, among others. Past installations have included such comparrisons as the people born today and those who will die today worldwide, everyone who was killed in the Holocaust, all the millionaires in the USA and everyone who is HIV positive.The Rice Show is part of Feet to the Fire, Wesleyan's campus-wide initiative to explore issues of global climate change. At the conclusion of the installation, the rice was donated to local food banks. (Photos by Adam Kubota and Camille Parente)
Olivia Drake
Mike Mavredakis
Jeff Harder