David Wesley White




Untitled (Pulse), 2019

On June 12, 2016, a man entered Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun and killed 49 people. The attack lasted more than three hours, climaxing when law enforcement detonated five holes in the cinder block wall of the bathroom to rescue hostages. By recreating the five rescue holes in a fence, I illustrated the vast impact of homegrown terrorism and homophobia; how trauma is born from and can reverberate back to the domestic space; and how barriers can be too weak or too strong.


LED recessed lights, ink on paper, extension cords, vintage male mannequin, leather harness, ForgeOne Advanced Ballistic Protection personal body armor vest, Husky vehicle tow strap, Sika Pro Select Fence Post Backfill, Redwood Lattice Top Fence PanelBehr Paint in Night Club (N500-7), cream-colored wool rescue blanket, two Cedar Waxwings, Red-winged Black Bird, Blue Bird, House Finch, Turquoise Grass Parakeet, European Starling (birds on loan from Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration at UCSB)