The experimental short film ‘Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair’ by artist James Gregory Atkinson explores the history of the iconic peacock chair, questioning social structures, notions of identity and black masculinity. The film explores the chair's origins in forced labour in Philippine prisons, its function as an exoticised status symbol in pop culture, and its role in the Black radical movement - including its association with Huey P. Newton.

Using a precise and haunting visual language, the camera transforms the Peacock Chair from a static object into a living symbol of resistance and identity. Deliberate compositions, shifting perspectives and a dynamic interplay of light and shadow create a visual choreography that dissolves the boundaries between space, body and history.

The camera moves between distant observation and intense proximity, capturing textures, movements and atmospheres, giving the film an almost tangible physical presence. The fragmented narrative structure is reinforced by the editing, which fuses past and present. Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair uses the medium of film not only for documentation, but as an artistic tool to visually challenge power relations and narratives.