Somewhere Other
Somewhere Other was a video installation for Letting Go, an exhibition on catharsis that transformed a city block in Newark into a space for public art. This video piece is divided into three vignettes surrounding issues of domestic tension. Both characters carry burdens they long to release, each manifesting escapism in their own way. Undercurrents of isolation, uncertainty, and longing are addressed through the manipulation of metaphoric objects, namely stones and gift boxes.
Engaged in a collaborative task, the couple could not be farther apart. The man carefully fills tiny gift boxes with stones, while the woman meticulously wraps the boxes. Another vignette portrays the woman alone as she endeavors to push the stones into the water. While physically undemanding, this task proves arduous. The man’s personal struggle is a journey to escape the boxes (the careful product of the couple’s life together) culminating in his descent to the river. These actions illustrate the significant lengths we must travel to gain a short distance with little guarantee of the desired result. There is, at the end of these tasks, the prospect of cathartic release or debilitating personal sabotage.
For the installation of Somewhere Other, we placed the single, wrapped gift boxes along the side walk leading up to the video which was projected on a garage door. Below the projection was a pile of gift boxes. People took boxes or moved them around; some even unwrapped the boxes.
View excerpt of video here.
Engaged in a collaborative task, the couple could not be farther apart. The man carefully fills tiny gift boxes with stones, while the woman meticulously wraps the boxes. Another vignette portrays the woman alone as she endeavors to push the stones into the water. While physically undemanding, this task proves arduous. The man’s personal struggle is a journey to escape the boxes (the careful product of the couple’s life together) culminating in his descent to the river. These actions illustrate the significant lengths we must travel to gain a short distance with little guarantee of the desired result. There is, at the end of these tasks, the prospect of cathartic release or debilitating personal sabotage.
For the installation of Somewhere Other, we placed the single, wrapped gift boxes along the side walk leading up to the video which was projected on a garage door. Below the projection was a pile of gift boxes. People took boxes or moved them around; some even unwrapped the boxes.
View excerpt of video here.
