Heavyweight: An Art Project Mimicking Legal Letters to Subvert Authority
In a move that’s both artistic and audacious, artist Sarah Kolman, in collaboration with public interest and media technology lawyer Kendra Albert, has launched Heavyweight. This free, open-source online tool allows users to generate visually convincing legal-style letters, aiming to subvert teh perceived power and authority often associated with legal depiction.
The project, born from a pairing at Rhizome‘s 7×7 program, is fundamentally an art piece, explicitly not legal advice. Heavyweight’s core mission, as described in a blog post by Albert, is to democratize “the aesthetics of (in lieu of access to) legal representation.” kolman elaborates that the perceived gravitas of legal letters doesn’t solely stem from the law itself, but rather from their visual presentation – think remarkable letterheads and official-sounding addresses. “This is a project about design. It’s a project about aesthetics. It’s a project about how things look,” Kolman told Fast Company.
While a Heavyweight letter carries no legal weight, Kolman humorously suggests its potential to intimidate. He noted on X (formerly Twitter) that “there’s nothing stopping you from making something that looks just as snooty and sending it to some obstinate landlord or customer service department to make them shit their pants.”
The Heavyweight website empowers users to craft their own intimidating missives. Thay can customize details such as the law firm’s floor (ranging from 1 to 100),its founding year (as far back as 1775),and even the “snootiness level” of the font. The tool also allows for the generation of firm partners’ names, drawing from categories like “Greenwich, Connecticut, town representatives” or “equestrian riders.” Once designed, the letter can be downloaded as a PDF and sent to anyone who has irked the user.
The project’s declaration on X quickly gained traction, amassing 1.5 million views. Reactions were mixed, with many users expressing amusement and a desire to utilize the tool for comedic effect. One X user,identifying as a lawyer,commented,”Dying laughing.” Another enthusiastically stated, “This is unbelievable. I have so many people to spook.”
Tho, not everyone was amused. Concerns were raised about potential repercussions, with one user warning, “This might not be illegal, but I can practically guarantee the court system will magically think otherwise.” Another cautioned, “Actually a great idea until the recipient has a lawyer, and now you are tainted with this bad faith act in any future litigation.”
Kolman anticipated this controversy and advises users to proceed at their own risk.He suggests potential “fair use” scenarios, such as addressing a landlord who has ignored repair requests for months or a client who has ceased communication. Kolman views the tool as a way to transition from being an “ignorable mote to an annoying horsefly.” he even shared his own experience using Heavyweight to contact a customer service department for a refund,though he admitted it was ultimately unsuccessful.
