#jailbeddrop, as a performance and installation, was remarkable for the variety of people that it attracted and spoke to as a piece of art. Standing in the crowd at the California African American Museum, I was moved to see members of the university community, activists from the Reform L.A. Jails Coalition, fellow artists and, perhaps most importantly, Los Angeles residents with first-hand experience of the injustices of incarceration, together equally captivated by the work. Mims’ harrowing opening performance, when combined with the time and space that attendees were subsequently given to personally interact with the artifacts of captivity, ensured the work’s layered impact. If performance art projects are to succeed as the spark for igniting social reform they must, above all, create fluid spaces like #jailbeddrop: simultaneously challenging the uninitiated to think, feel and act a little more, while gracefully offering hope and a language of expression for those most affected.”