Title of project: Untitled
Project format: Installation
Summary of project: A documentary-inspired photo/audio installation documenting the stories and personal testimony of self-injurers.
Project description: This piece will take place in a large, darkened room. In the room, multiple conversations (the interviews that were recorded) will be heard playing at once, quietly, but loud enough to make out portions of what is being said. Also in the room multiple stations will be set up, each one displaying a small box containing an object (currently unknown) as well as one of the multitude of conversations streaming from a speaker. A chair might possibly be placed in front of each individual station. The objects might be placed on a table, and the speaker may or may not be visible. It is a possibility that each station may be dimly lit by an individual light source, which may or may not be visible. Details will be worked out as the piece progresses.
Creative problem: How can I connect the viewer to the subject matter in a way that does not exploit the volunteer being interviewed?
Ideas, subject matter, theme: By isolating the individual stations in this piece I am hoping to make each conversation more personal to the viewer. The volume of each conversation, hopefully, will force the viewer to pay particularly careful attention to what they are currently listening to so that it doesn’t get drowned out by the other voices. The chair is meant to be something inviting, as if welcoming the viewer into the conversation. However, once faced with the subject matter of the conversation it may feel as if they are the one being addressed, or like they are an unwanted presence hearing something that is not meant to be heard by them. The latter can also be interpreted as a comment on our voyeuristic society.
What I am most trying to achieve in doing this project is to make something that communicates to more than just our sense of esthetics. I want to create art that, while visually appealing and artistically relevant, informs viewers and sheds light on subjects that I find important. I believe that to be an artist and to create art is to communicate ideas in a way that people can relate to. An artist doesn’t shove their idea down the throats of the public, but rather feeds their senses and allows each person to interpret the subject matter in a way that is personal to them. That being the case, why not inform the viewer about matters that are important in a way that allows for them to relate it to their own lives, which in turn connects them to the cause.
