Carrie Spitler, Neighborhood Writing Alliance executive director, is reading:
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I’m about a third of the way through. The story is about this woman, Henrietta Lacks, whose cells are being used by people who are studying cancer. The thing I love about it is that it tells this story of an individual who’s hidden behind this huge corporate business. All of us want cancer research to move ahead, but it’s being done without any recognition of who’s being studied, down to the cellular level. It’s a fascinating look at how it all started, and the impact on her family—who didn’t know for years that her cells were being used that way. Skloot’s coming to Chicago in May—I’m going to see her and really looking forward to it.
At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire
This installation looks almost like Lite Brite: Kallat has put a complete speech on the staircase using LED lights, and as you go up the stairs the speech travels on any path you take. It’s powerful. The first time I saw the installation, I was shocked—I didn’t expect to see an installation at all, and then for one to be on the grand staircase. . . . I’ve gone back to it multiple times, and also did an installation and public performance there; as I was working on that, I spent a lot of time looking at the stairs. It’s different during the day than at night, because in the daytime the natural light’s coming down. At night, the lights become much more apparent.
