You Should
Have Seen it:
Christina Schlesinger and
Mike Henderson

The destruction of an art work can be attributed to a variety of factors, including environmental conditions, or an institutional or personal decision. In January 2024, we published You Should Have Seen It, a zine of lost and destroyed works of art by many of the artists who have been part of the School to explore these incredible examples of loss and heartbreak. During this conversation, two contributors—artists Christina Schlesinger and Mike Henderson—discuss one shared story alongside social activism and capitalism. They are in dialogue about their respective relationships with activism and archives, using a destroyed fresco mural they made on campus in 1968 as the launching point. 

A glimpse into that historical moment, the fresco was embedded with political and social narratives and immersed in questions of power, capitalism, oppression, and racism. The mural echoed student and worker movements around the world at that time. Later, the fresco was destroyed, and only photographs and memories remain.

This conversation is moderated by James Lowry, an archivist, curator, and professor at Queens College, CUNY who explores the nature of activist art and the politics of documentation.