couchprojects

• description: video (2:22) Video documentation from the Apple trade show in San Francisco when they first introduced the G3.

video still

• description: Installation: HDV video projection, stereo sound
  Running time: 45 minutes

  Infinite Depot is a unique document of a space that exists in some form all over the globe. The video’s format is a 45-minute single shot HD video that takes the viewer through a Home Depot store in a fluid dream-like epic, a cinematic technique directly inspired by Aleksandr Sokurov’s “Russian Ark.” The two main characters meander through the cavernous aisles of a Home Depot store in Secaucus, New Jersey, transcending the mundane big-box environment as they slowly investigate and interact with everything but each other. In the background, shoppers zoom by at relative lightning speed, and the store displays become readymade sets. The soundtrack is a composition of recordings sampled from the store mixed to reflect the store’s multi-faceted spaces: the hugeness of some aisles and the intimacy of the showroom displays. The minimal plot culminates in an improvised dance performance by the main character. The dancer’s overstated movements fill the lighting aisles, yet go unnoticed by the Sunday morning shoppers.

screen capture

• description: Installation with web site, slide show and overhead projection

  EBay Longing is a web site interface for engaging the desire for the “Other” through objects. The site connects visitors to Afghani, Iranian, or Iraqi objects, such as coins and jewelry, which are being auctioned online. The desire for authenticity in these objects can be found in the descriptions provided by sellers. These object descriptions are juxtaposed with writings from US soldiers (and their spouses), journalists, Baghdad bloggers and classic Orientalist travelogues. The two narratives side by side reinforce the notion that wanting the Other’s shoes is different from wanting to be in them.