Bureaucracy Turned On Its Head

By Anita Rao,

Published September 9, 2014 at 11:49 AM EDT

Image of Artist Stacey Kirby playing the part of a Local Declarations Officer in The Declaration Project.

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Artist Stacey Kirby playing the part of a Local Declarations Officer in the performance art piece The Declaration Project.

Stacey Kirby

Image of John Watts playing the part of an Identification Constable interacting with a visitor.

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John Watts playing the part of an Identification Constable interacting with a visitor in the performance art piece The Power of the Ballot.

Stacey Kirby

Image of A participant filing their delcaration card as part of The Declaration Project.

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A participant filing their delcaration card as part of the performance art piece The Declaration Project.

Stacey Kirby

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Tina Kirby, Stacey's mom, playing the part of a Documentation Officer in the PARTicipate exhibit.

Stacey Kirby

Artist Stacey Kirby transformed CAM Raleigh’s Media Lab into the “Bureau of Personal Belonging”—a series of interactive performance art installations that explore themes of belonging, identity and validity.

Visitors engage with Kirby and other performers in three fictitious bureaucratic departments that each critically examine a different governmental process: immigration and customs declarations, the acquisition of government identification and voting.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Kirby about the exhibition and the more than 2,000 conversations it has inspired.

Preview two of the performative interactions here: