Keene Valley resident
Jerilea Zempel was detained at the U.S. border this summer because she
had a drawing of a sport-utility vehicle in her sketchbook.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers told Zempel they suspected her of copyright infringement.
She was released after more than an hour in custody at the Houlton, Maine, port of entry from New Brunswick, Canada.
Her release came only after she persuaded
border guards she was an artist doing a project that involved a
crocheted SUV as a statement against America's dependence on oil and
love for big vehicles.
SHROUDED CAR
Zempel's adventure began when she was
returning from the Cultural Capital Festival in Sackville, New
Brunswick, where her submission was an SUV cozy on a rented Hyundai
Santa Fe.
"I wanted to turn an oversize, macho,
gas-guzzling vehicle into a technological ghost by shrouding it in a
white, fuzzy cover reminiscent of women's handiwork from another time,
another place."
After the festival, Zemple headed for home
in her own Toyota Prius hybrid and stopped at the border crossing on
Interstate 95 in Maine.
"What happened when I re-entered the U.S. made me ponder what my lowly art project could mean in a larger political sphere.
"And it gave me an idea for a title: the Homeland Security Blanket."
SEARCH AT BORDER
Zempel's passport showed she'd been to
Africa, Australia, Central and South America, Mexico, Turkey and Europe
in the last nine years.
"U.S. citizens who've traveled to the
places I've been need to be looked at. A half hour at the computer gave
the agent cause to put me into another suspicious category, meriting a
full car search. She (the agent) took my keys and went through my car.
"After going through my (laptop) computer,
digital camera, cell phone, business cards, suitcase, reading
materials, boxes of yarn and crochet tools, she returned with my
sketchbook.
"I was taken to a room and told to sit on a bench with handcuffs at both ends. But they did not handcuff me."
Thanks to boing boing
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