Earlier today I attended an interactive art installation in Winthrop, ME, beautifully constructed by Amy Stacey Curtis (information about the installation found here, her general website here).
As my friend and I drove the hour + back to Portland, with Marina & the Diamonds serenading us all the way, I spent some time thinking about how special the installation had been. It is not often that I have the opportunity to interact with art in any unique way. I have been to the Portland Art Museum many times, and have wandered through the Old Port during First Friday Art Walk. However enjoyable these experiences are, they do include an awful lot of standing and looking and pondering, and maybe some discussion with the person standing nearby.
What is lacking, however, and what was so plentifully available in Amy Stacey Curtis' exhibit, is physical interaction.
Throughout her installation there was movement, sound, touch, picking up of pieces (with hands covered in white cotton gloves provided). There was a need to comprehend the instructions presented, and friendly folks available to answer any clarifying questions.
I found myself reacting with surprise and enjoyment as the nine sections of the installment drew me into experiences in unique and interactive ways.
You may be wondering what this has to do with my entry for the MJFF. This is it:
On her website, Amy Stacey Curtis writes that "without participants my work is incomplete". While traveling home from Winthrop, I thought much about how the unique set-up of this particular installation allowed for me to experience another person's ideas in a different way. By walking through, and physically touching things, my perspective shifted and I became more enveloped in the artwork than I would have been otherwise. No, if you're wondering, I will not be bombarding my interviewees with hugs and other such physically interactive displays.
However, I believe that it will be important to keep in mind that I am making something; a film, a collection of other people's ideas, concepts, and stories. How it is really the experiences of these individuals, all reacting in unique ways to the same list of questions, that will make the collective experience more remarkable. How it would be so neat if I were able to gather these folks' stories in a way that allowed for deeper interaction than simply gazing at them as they are interviewed.
I will do my best to stay true to these folks' experiences, to depict them as they express themselves. Because, just like Amy Stacey Curtis suggested, my work would definitely be incomplete without participants. This film may be in part a way for me to discover deeper meaning in my own Jewish identity, but I consider it an additional goal to portray my interviewees as the unique individuals that they are. Because all together, these individuals create an interactive community displaying the variety of Jewish identity in Maine.
As my friend and I drove the hour + back to Portland, with Marina & the Diamonds serenading us all the way, I spent some time thinking about how special the installation had been. It is not often that I have the opportunity to interact with art in any unique way. I have been to the Portland Art Museum many times, and have wandered through the Old Port during First Friday Art Walk. However enjoyable these experiences are, they do include an awful lot of standing and looking and pondering, and maybe some discussion with the person standing nearby.
What is lacking, however, and what was so plentifully available in Amy Stacey Curtis' exhibit, is physical interaction.
Throughout her installation there was movement, sound, touch, picking up of pieces (with hands covered in white cotton gloves provided). There was a need to comprehend the instructions presented, and friendly folks available to answer any clarifying questions.
I found myself reacting with surprise and enjoyment as the nine sections of the installment drew me into experiences in unique and interactive ways.
You may be wondering what this has to do with my entry for the MJFF. This is it:
On her website, Amy Stacey Curtis writes that "without participants my work is incomplete". While traveling home from Winthrop, I thought much about how the unique set-up of this particular installation allowed for me to experience another person's ideas in a different way. By walking through, and physically touching things, my perspective shifted and I became more enveloped in the artwork than I would have been otherwise. No, if you're wondering, I will not be bombarding my interviewees with hugs and other such physically interactive displays.
However, I believe that it will be important to keep in mind that I am making something; a film, a collection of other people's ideas, concepts, and stories. How it is really the experiences of these individuals, all reacting in unique ways to the same list of questions, that will make the collective experience more remarkable. How it would be so neat if I were able to gather these folks' stories in a way that allowed for deeper interaction than simply gazing at them as they are interviewed.
I will do my best to stay true to these folks' experiences, to depict them as they express themselves. Because, just like Amy Stacey Curtis suggested, my work would definitely be incomplete without participants. This film may be in part a way for me to discover deeper meaning in my own Jewish identity, but I consider it an additional goal to portray my interviewees as the unique individuals that they are. Because all together, these individuals create an interactive community displaying the variety of Jewish identity in Maine.
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