America’s Teddy Bear is an art installation and durational performance featuring a human-sized silhouette of a teddy bear, constructed from bright orange suction foam bullets. The number of bullets used in each iteration corresponds to the specific number of children and adults who have been injured or killed in school shootings* since the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in 2012; the work expands with each exhibition to reflect the persistent growth of systemic violence.
THE PERFORMANCE
The installation is realized through a poignant, two-part performance that contrasts the violence of the act with the sanctity of the victims’ lives.
Part I: The Impact
The performance begins with the firing of foam bullets into the teddy bear’s silhouette using a toy gun modeled after military-style firearms. This “shooting” is accompanied by the chilling audio of a school’s lockdown announcement, recorded by fifteen-year-old Lillian Duarte while she was hiding in her classroom from an active shooter. The automated repetition of “Locks, lights, out of sight” creates a visceral atmosphere of urgency and fear.
Part II: The Remembrance
In the second segment, the lockdown audio is replaced by live music—a meditative transition and show of respect for the victims. During this time, bullets bearing the individual names and ages of the victims are hand-placed into the silhouette. This shift transforms the bear from a target of violence into a memorial of collective grief and individual recognition.
ORIGIN & EVOLUTION
America’s Teddy Bear was conceived in response to the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018. It was first exhibited two months later at ALAS – Atelier & Artspace in Frankfurt, Germany. Since its debut, the project has traveled to various venues across Germany and the United States. Inevitably, the number of bullets has increased at every location as the toll of gun violence continues to rise.
THE PROCESS
The Silhouette: A few days prior to the opening, the teddy bear’s human-sized outline is mapped onto the glass surface using foam bullets.
Labeling: For every new installation, the names and ages of victims are meticulously hand-written onto new bullets.
First Part of the Performance: Bullets are fired into the teddy bear’s silhouette using a military-style modeled toy gun, physically marking the space with the count of the fallen.
Photo and video from performance at Der Mixer Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany, 2019.
Active Shooter Lockdown Audio: The performance is set to the sound of what it feels like to hide during a school shooting: “Attention please. Lockdown. Locks, lights, out of sight.” This automated announcement was recorded by fifteen-year-old Lillian Duarte while hiding in her classroom.**
Placing Victim’s Bullets:
The second part of the performance consists of the individual, manual placement of the labeled bullets into the silhouette.
A Moment of Reflection:
As the names are placed, the lockdown audio is replaced by live music as a show of respect to the victims, transforming the space from one of violence to one of memorial.
A Natural Course:
The foam bullets are suction-based and use no adhesive. Over time, some fall and exposure to the sun washes the ink out. This is an intended effect, representing how lost lives can sadly fade from public consciousness.
Taking Down America’s Teddy Bear:
The public is invited to help take down the installation. Visitors are encouraged to take a labeled bullet home as a way to remember the name and find out more about that victim’s life.
LATEST PERFORMANCES & INSTALLATIONS
The following galleries document the evolution of America’s Teddy Bear. As an evolving memorial, the physical scale of the installation expands with each exhibition to account for every new victim—both those injured and those killed. The Bullet Count listed for each location serves as a visual record of the growing number of individuals impacted by school shootings at that point in time.
555
Windows on Franklin, Brooklyn, New York.
April 23 – September 22, 2022
385
ALAS–Atelier & Art Space, Frankfurt, Germany, 2017
THE TEDDY PROJECT
Help America’s Teddy Bear stay alive.
My vision for this project is for it to travel to multiple locations throughout America in hopes of spreading awareness and action to stop the tragedies that guns have caused.
Sponsor a Teddy: You can sponsor a Teddy by donating – any amount through the Teddy Fund at ALAS Artelier or Venmo to alasartelier@gmail.com
Suggest a Venue: If you have a lead or suggestion for a new location please drop me a line.
Thank you!
WHAT IS THE DESIRED IMPACT?
Reexamine Safety: This work invites us to reflect on the idea of a safe childhood—what it was like to grow up going to school without the concept of hiding in a closet for safety.
Challenge the Phenomenon: School shootings have become a social phenomenon; the key purpose here is to create awareness, fight this trend, and recast it as the outlier it should be.
Psychological Awareness: The project highlights the pressing psychological impact on children and teenagers who are growing up more accustomed to school drills than to field trips.
A Return to Normalcy: While teenage survivors lead admirable campaigns for sensible regulations, I aim to remind adults of the school environments most of us grew up in and the urgent need to revert to that normalcy.
America’s Teddy Bear aims to spark a personal connection with childhood and prompt a fundamental desire to keep schools, and children, safe.
*A school shooting is defined by the non-for-profit organization Gun Violence Archive as an attack happening on the property of an elementary school, secondary school or college campus within school hours and extracurricular activities.
**Source https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/colorado-stem-highlands-school-shooting-texts-video-lockdown.