Guys in jail can be pretty crafty, pretty creative. Get someone who’s done real time talking, and, sooner or later, you’ll hear stories about makeshift water heaters or MacGyvered-up toasters.
A couple of years ago, I was sent a book by “Angelo,” a guy in jail who wrote a book detailing all the jury-rigged contraptions he found behind bars. Here’s some of what I wrote about Prisoners Inventions in Wired News:
[The book] shows how inmates fashion dice from sugar water and toilet paper, dry bologna jerky on jail-house light fixtures, [and] turn hot sauce bottles into shower heads…
“This gives a glimpse into the everyday lives of the outrageous number of people we have in our prison system,” said [Chicago-based art group] Temporary Services’ Marc Fischer, who first started trading letters with Angelo in 1991. “And it’s a celebration of the creativity that comes in response to their restrictive environment.“
In the movies, “prisoners only create things to escape, get high or kill each other,” Fischer notes.
Angelo’s objects show a more banal, more human side of locked-down life: one where soda cans filled with rocks become crude alarm clocks and inmates cool their drinks in toilet bowls.
For a while, now, Temporary Services has been building the tools based on Angelo’s diagrams, and showing ‘em off in art galleries.
This month, they’re back in Chicago, at the I-Space.
Then, in the Spring, the Prisoners’ Inventions head to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Arts Center. The show has 13 new drawings from Angelo.
Two of ‘em I’ve linked here: one for a chess set made of soap (above, right), the other (left) for a little jury-rigged, jailhouse companion.
The “war on drugs” has made criminals out of millions of otherwise ordinary people while costing the American taxpayer trillions of dollars. It comes as no suprise to me that otherwise normal people put in jail for ‘drug crimes’ work hard and find interesting ways to enjoy themselves in very smart ways. Perhaps if this country wakes up and deals with drug users as those with a dependency problem instead of like burglers and murderers some of these obvious smart and creative people could being helping to make this country even greater.
My heart just bleeds for the unfortunate self-abusing, misunderstood drug addicts. I just hate it when they are put in jail after they rob, mug, murder or otherwise taunt ordinary people during their devil-may-care rampages while high.
I’ll tell you what Cenobyte, you can just care for any one of these ‘poor souls’ at your house, at your expense along with your wife and children.
Here’s a counteroffer, Fred: if you think that smoking a little dope or selling a few tabs of acid at a Phish concert is such an awful crime as to justify prison time (life without parole for the third offense), then you pay for it, you and all the other “drug warriors”. Our country is trillions of dollars in debt, states can’t pay their bills, and yet we keep putting people in jail, not because “they rob, mug, murder or otherwise taunt ordinary people during their devil-may-care rampages while high”, but just because they got high. You want to cut taxes, start there.
Maybe it’s offtopic, but i just wanted to say, that it’s really interesting to read everything this with comments… You, discuss here a lot of interesting thing on different news =). Thanks for that =)
Forget the drug war, just for a second. Why imagine that other offenders aren’t equally smart? Furthermore, is it really “smarts” at work here, or just plain old-fashioned creativity?
Criminals of all sorts can be smart and creative.
I worked in a county jail for about a year, and I came across all sorts of strange inmate made tools, toys, and weapons. Two of the more memorable creations were a candle and a club & sheild. The candle was made from an emptied out ramen flavor packet, some rolled up lint, and some kind of oil. The club and sheild were made by an inmate in an administrative segregation cell, seperated from the other inmates for whatever reason. He had somehow smuggled a TV tray from the next cell over into his cell. The TV tray was bolted to the cell bars at the back, and would have required enourmous finger strength to remove. His ‘cellie’, upon dissassembly of the stand, passed it through the bars over to him, where he hid it above his cell’s shower. The TV tray made an exellent sheild, and the arm that supported the tray was a great club. There was a good two inches of sharp metal sticking out of the end of the club, which could have easily split a head open. My partner discovered the contra band while performing a random cell search while the inmate was out of his cell, and basically, the guy was a bit unhappy when he got back.
“jailhouse companion”.…EW. lol…
Why should I support them? You are the one that wants to but them in jail. Hell to be honest, I already support them as I pay taxes (A lot of taxes) for laws that I don’t like or want. Why shouldn’t you be paying me back Fred? Maybe of these drug addicts never committed a crime other than possession of drugs (Most common in the US is pot). I know guys that worked hard, had real jobs and cared for their families and went to jail because they liked to smoke a joint after work. I am going to guess that you have a drink at least every once in a while Fred. Why is your drug of choice OK, but Pot is not? Why is it OK to sell Cigarettes but not a joint? Alcohol has been shown as being involved in the motivation of a huge percentage of crime. How about all the people that drink and drive? Seems like they are the largest no medical cause of death in the US, but it’s OK which makes me wonder about the devil may care argument. And if you read my first post you will find that I wrote about drug users and specifically excluded those that committed other crimes.
So end the Pot laws at least, you will increase tax income, create a new industry, cut down on funding for gangs and Terrorism, cut down on the destruction of our National parks and reduce the cost and burden on the Prison system (IE tax payers).
Not sure why people can’t see that really.
I cataloged our copy of “Prisoners’ Inventions” recently. The librarian before me felt that this was quite an art project, and put it with the art books. But guess what? There’s also a subject heading for “Creative ability in technology.” So, in our library, you’ll find Angelo’s book on the shelves next to books on inventions and inventors instead. (Wasn’t too sure about my decision, so I’m happy to see your post!)
It seems to me that some of these prisoners have it too good. I don’t feel bad for them or relish inventions or art from this community of known criminals. I don’t think people should be praised or make money while being punished for crimes against their own countrymen and women. And esspecially against children.
Is there any way I can find out how to make those gum wrapper purses? They’re too expensive for me to buy and I like the idea of recycling my husbands’ gum wrappers. Thank you.
beer and liquar are way worse for u than weed is how many poeople have commited crimes while high have you ever tryed to rob some body high?(don’t it wont turn well u’ll forget ur gun stop at the 7 11 to get something to eat forget what ur doing) what about when ur drunk I had the great idea to smoke cigarat when i was drunk now i can’t go a day with out one but i regret nothing i’ve done high
Treatment programs should provide assessment for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases, and should provide counseling to help patients modify or change behaviors that place themselves or others at risk of infection.
I played RO that I used the first account was a girl number of wave, a knight. The number also has a little ro zeny. I still remember that the world has just stepped into the RO; I stood the door of Pulongdela South, I even have my own way can not see, I looked at the lawn in front of do not know how to operate. At that time, wave on the line, he stood outside and said: come out, come out to see, use a mouse.
I would establish a strongest gang! I decide to buy hero coins on line.
Requiem is Cyclone Studios’ second game, after Uprising, and is a dark peek into a far-flung world where the war between righteous and misguided angels has spilled onto the doorstep of cheap Requiem Lant humanity.
I used my parents
because I spend my pin money to bought the 2moon dil, maybe some people said that I was very foolish, but I did not care about other people
he did not know how to do could let the girl no longer apartness. So he decided to spend much more money to buy the Archlord money for the girl.