INSTALLATIONS
“Look Up”
As someone who has always been fascinated by the questions regarding our universe, my goal throughout this project was to create a space that would force people to look up. Resembling that childlike curiosity when would stare at the moon; always puts human existence into perspective. Initially, I thought I might be physically building an enclosed space with a skylight if I couldn't find one I could work with, but I quickly realized that this wouldn't create the dramatic affect of scale that I was hoping to achieve. I recalled the existence of those "Zooming out from Earth" videos and thought about installing them in a space above the audience's' head. It was in that moment I realized we have a planetarium on my campus, my working grounds for this installation. Collaborating with the Physics department, their technicians helped me create a video to project on the dome screen that started on Earth as a landscape and slowly made its way up through the milky way. Small groups entered the planetarium as to allow for a more personal experience and the sequence looped depending on the amount time each person spent interacting with the piece. Included as a crucial aspect of "Look Up" was the microscope with a pig embryo slide placed in the center of the room. This was placed to contrast the expansiveness of the universe above and instead bring people back to Earth and connecting with a microscopic entity. To gather any thoughts people felt the need to express, I also left a blank sheet of paper with a few guiding statements for viewers to interact with the installation, so I could also have something physical to take away from the experience. Another small touch was the mirror I placed near the microscope. This tied all of the elements together being that the way in which the mirror was placed allowed for the moving screen through space to be the background behind the person standing in front of the mirror. The mirror aspect in terms of the human form, was the neutral ground between the microscopic and expansive elements, placing and reminding audience members that our bodies are too a property of this universe.
I found this installation to be successful. If I had control over the actual video being projected on the dome, it would have looked very different, but the technology they were using was extremely complicated. However, considering the resources and limits, I am extremely happy with how how it turned out. People's comments during the critique hit key words like "beautiful", but also "terrifying", which I found to be perfect descriptors of emotions invoked by this piece despite their contrast. Some words left behind by viewers include: "You are special, no matter how small you feel","How absurd it is that I am here and on this planet w/ all of you!", and "We are all made of the same energy in this BIG universe.”
Untitled
I knew I wanted to incorporate an elementary school gym parachute in one of my installations. It started off as a much grander idea that included getting a group together and actually creating a short film of our generation playing with it as adults. I was going to suspend it to the ceiling and walls to create a tent for the film to play under. However, I founD that with the goal of this piece being the exploration of physical and mediated interaction with an installation, it made more sense to have the audience be able to have a shared experience of a fond memory as opposed to just watching it be recreated. This decision allowed for more interesting conversations surrounding scale in relation to time and how we have grown since the we last used a parachute. Giving people the opportunity to experience something they thought they parted ways with forever, created a safe space where you could almost see those in front of you in their child form. Taking the time-warped sense induced by plain the white walls of the installation space and then filling it with a bright carnival object created this experience that felt as though time couldn't touch us. Audience members got engulfed in the parachute; going under it and through the middle, playing with its wind effects, and even having long moments of quiet under it. A simple object removed everyone from their outside dilemmas.
“O kay red”
My piece “o kay red” encapsulates my growth through time through my interactions with technology. The retro television displays home videos from my infancy and stands as the centerpiece for this installation. The film captures important figures in my life interacting with me through the mediation of the camera. Little did I know I was already communicating with an object that would have such a profound impact on my life. The next projection on the tablet displayed the Youtube videos I used to create during my early childhood. The choice to display it on the vibrant bean bag came not only from the need to continue building the scene, however, growing up I had a character chair with similar form that I used to watch a lot of Youtube on. Hence the connection between the videos I was creating on the platform in combination with emulating acting the space in which I used to consume similar media. The inclusion of the physical film photos tells a unique story of cameras being passed down generationally and how that form has now become the perspective with which I see the world artisitically. All of these elements intertwined with my past, present, and future is engulfed by a large projection of my most recent project. Highlighting the person I am today as a result of the displayed collective journey and where I am headed through these interactions.