Law and Art: A Postcard from Europe

Abstract

This is a story about professionalism; legal narrative; what we know and what we silence; and how these core issues of testimony, memory, and human rights are captured in my work as a lawyer and as an artist.' Once upon a time, I gave up on my career in law. In fact, I gave it up twice. On the first occasion, I took a year-long sabbatical and moved to France, where I lived on a boat with a French boyfriend. On the second occasion, I was living in New York and I decided to dedicate myself exclusively to my career in the arts: I set up a performance arts laboratory called Artist (s) at Large and composed and choreographed short pieces that developed into Lost for Words, a performance art installation about communication beyond text that premiered at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) and the DiMenna Center in 2012. Yet, somehow, giving up on law never really stuck.