Artist, Agosto Machado: Throughout history, in so many different cultures, as long as your name or your memory is remembered, you live. And as long as I'm alive, I will continue to do these installations, shrines, memorials.
My name is Agosto Machado. I'm an orphan New Yorker who experienced the full life of this glorious city. The freedom of expression from the '60s was so liberating. All over downtown, you got all these wonderful, offbeat people and it was anything goes.
Then AIDS happened slowly—we're talking about the '80s—and then I was a caregiver for 12 years. When word got out that I was helping people, wherever I went, people would shift away. The thought was if I got near you or talked to you, I'd get it. But I couldn't understand the fear.
All these people in the shrine were part of my life. You see a Book of the Dead. It's a list of names of many people who died during these difficult times. And also we have this sign, “Justice for Marsha.”
Marsha P. Johnson, we first met in '64, '65. She gave such encouragement to all of us who wanted to express ourself in drag. When Marsha was found dead, we built a shrine on the river for her. The sign was from that.
People have criticized the piece, that it's so sad. No, it's not sad. All these people lived and contributed and we are the recipients of their gift of their life and their expression. I felt by making these, it would make our statement that these people were important and they've changed art, and give them some respect.