Courtroom Sketch: Lindsay Lohan Sentenced to 90 days
by Legacy Russell
The “courtroom sketch” is an artistic rendering done by hand of courtroom activity, dating as far back as the 1800s, as a means of preserving privacy and avoiding disturbance during formal legal proceedings. As tabloid yellow journalism has collided with the presence of new media and 21st-century Hollywood celebrity culture, the scope of visuality has drastically shifted, as informed in part by the speed with which video content can be disseminated to new audiences and publics. This piece—the first of a series in progress by mixed media artist Legacy Russell—explores and builds upon the history of the “sketch” in the light of a new era of illustration and illuminated iconography, a brief filmic analysis of celebrity performativity in an increasingly voyeuristic digital age.
About the Artist:
Legacy Russell is a writer, artist, curator, and creative producer. She has worked at and produced programs for The Bruce High Quality Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2010, she was granted a Creative Time Curatorial Fellowship; in 2011, her project OPEN CEREMONY/American Idolatry was presented as part of iCI’s Curatorial Intensive. Legacy is the Co-Founder of ContactProject.net and a founding member of the curatorial production team, Limited Time Only. In September of 2011 she was appointed as Art Editor of BOMB Magazine’s BOMBlog. Her work can be found in printed and online publications alike—Refinery29, the Village Voice, The New York Times, the Santa Fe Literary Review, Guernica, Killing the Buddha, BOMB, and more. She is a candidate for an MRes of Visual Culture at Goldsmith’s University; her creative and academic work explores mourning, remembrance, iconography, and idolatry within the public realm.
