A Person Is More Important Than Anything Else (2014)

A person is more important than anything else is driven by the cadence and intonation of James Baldwins voice for Baldwin was also an orator whose delivery was almost as forceful as his ideas Artist Hank Willis Thomas weaves various audio images and video together including news clips speeches and interviews in a fluidmoving digital stream of consciousness that connects Baldwins 20th century discourse with the concerns and urgencies of the 21st highlighting issues of race gender class and sexuality Commissioned in 2014 by NY Live Arts for the Year of James Baldwin this multichannel installation brings history to the fore inspiring us to reimagine our relationship to the contemporary moment