Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko
14 min | Video | Canada | 2022
Canine units and their service dogs are a leading cause of violence and injury in most police jurisdictions across North America. Despite this prevalence, violence related to dogs remains under-reported and under-regulated, largely stemming from their legal classification as "intermediate weapons." In cases of harm inflicted upon citizens, this classification splits legal responsibility between the handler and the animal, rarely finding officers accountable while promoting the use of dogs over other types of weapons.
Simultaneously, through school appearances, holiday calendars, and social media channels, these same dogs are used to neutralize the violent reality of police departments. Bite & Hold contests this manipulated public image, placing an archive of canine unit Christmas cards in relation to the direct violence officers use their dogs for. Filmed from a distance in various public spaces, the daily life of the city passes in front of and behind these images, either obscuring their surface or momentarily turning them from negative abstractions into moments of clarity. The language of witnessing, testimony, and description add a final, silent layer to these images, returning them to their violent reality.
This project is inspired by the legal advocacy and reporting of Pivot Legal Society, in Vancouver, and their report Moving to Minimum Force: Police Dogs and Public Safety in British Columbia, which can be read in full here.
Special thank you to Caitlin Shane, Sharlene Bamboat, Alexis Mitchell, and Aamna Muzaffar
Produced with support from Bamboat | Mitchell and the Canada Council for the Arts.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE PROJECT AND WATCH THE FULL WORK ONLINE
Selected Screenings
- Visions, Montreal, Quebec, Oct 5, 2023: https://visionsmtl.com/2023/parastoo-anoushahpour-faraz-anoushahpour-ryan-ferko-2/
- e-flux Screening Room, New York, USA, April 13, 2023: https://www.e-flux.com/events/529626/parastoo-anoushahpour-faraz-anoushahpour-and-ryan-ferko-selected-works/
- Before Law, ONLINE, launched Nov 2022: https://before-law.com/projects/bite-and-hold
– parastoo.faraz.ryan@gmail.com –
Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko