Artist Statement
Around the Block is a multi-channel video and audio environment that enacts common realities of the street – where we flow through restricted space with obstructed views. Our ears are more liberated than our eyes. Part image montage, part video/audio immersive environment, Around the Block started as a collection of still images and recorded sounds from a typical urban neighborhood. Invariably, most views are blocked and/or framed by fences that enforce property boundaries and constrain pedestrian movement. The audio experience, on the other hand, is relatively boundless. It delivers open and fluid evidence of what people are saying, doing and experiencing. The aggregation of images that comprises Around the Block is distilled through digital collage and compositing to create a continuum of visually limited space. Rendered as three videos that are projected in a series that wrap the walls, we see people stroll by – sometimes curious about what lies beyond their view. All the while, the audio space provides tempting glimpses into a larger and unseen distance. Taken as a whole, Around the Block forms a dynamic stream of familiar yet idiosyncratic spaces. It reveals much about the texture and syntax of our urban experience while questioning the culture of privatization and disconnection. The work constitutes a virtual place where viewers can reflect on the sensations, knowledge and experience that is both available and unavailable to them.