This was my second version of a proposal for exhibiting my year long video and photo project “Monitor” as an installation at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) in Grand Rapids, MI. This one had a sculptural environment as part of it, but now I’m not as enamored with the idea. Anyway, below is the video hosted on YouTube, as well as a higher resolution video link, and images of the proposal with the project description:
And here’s the rather long-winded (even for me) proposal:
Summary: The installation project that I am proposing for exhibition is a year-long video and photographic documentation of an environmental intervention titled “Monitor Landscape”. After placing a computer monitor in a field, I proceeded to videotape and photograph the monitor several times a week for the duration of a year. During that time, I performed a burning and minor excavation around the perimeter of the monitor that mirrored its rectangular shape by manipulating perspective and point of view. Over time, the excavation eventually filled in with new growth, asserting the cyclical regenerative power of the seasons in nature over the destructive machinations of mankind. The final version of the video will be a 6 to 10 minute single channel loop with sound, and the still photos will consist of approximately 300 individual photographic prints. (see accompanying sample video and images 1 – 5)
Artist’s Statement about this specific installation: As I refer to in my Artist’s Statement, I approach my specific subjects with open-ended questions about time, site, archetypal structure, the entropy of nature, and the longing for meaning. Viewers are then prompted to consider their individual complex relationship with both nature and technology. This installation of both video and still images uses a variety of time frames, metaphor, and the contrast between personal interior space and global exterior environment to question this relationship and the industrial infrastructure which supports our technological way of life. The images of a discarded computer monitor in an “empty” field over the span of a year confront the viewer with their own place within the environment on a fundamental level, and how our sense of time and priorities are limited. The implied conclusion is that nature will outlast us, and ultimately surround our discarded attempts at technological perfection with the messy but loving embrace of flowers and greenery, but the implied question of our own mortality as a species remains unanswered. The title of the installation, “Monitor Landscape” is seemingly straightforward, but also has a dual meaning. The images are of an object called a “monitor” in a “landscape” , but I am also “monitoring the landscape” over the period of a year, for signs of distress, but also for signs of new life and regeneration. The intended effect is to offer the viewer an open-ended look at a few simple actions over a long period of time, rather than simply offering a dialectic about e-waste and the negative impact of technology on the environment.
Installation Proposal: The specific installation proposal consists of 3 possible variations. All 3 will include the video and loop (see video #1) either as a projection or playing on a small monitor as well as the series of approximately 300 still images (see images #2-4) mounted on the walls (see image #5).
Variation #1 is the most basic version, and will simply consist of the approximately 300 photographic prints distributed on the two side walls of the space in long filmstip-like configurations. The prints will be printed to adequate size and arranged to cover the walls virtually from floor to ceiling (see image #5). The video will be projected on the back wall (preferably from a ceiling mounted DLP or LCD projector) and scaled to fit the wall.
Variation #2 will also utilize the approximately 300 photographic prints in a similar fashion, but will additionally be distributed onto the back wall. Instead of projecting the video on the wall, a video monitor playing the DVD loop will be placed on the floor amidst a pile of debris of aged and distressed construction debris, such as broken concrete, sheetrock, and metal wall studs all with a grey-white powder coating resembling ash. The monitor will be angled up at the viewer and consist of a computer or video monitor that will be framed with the distressed shell/frame of the original monitor used in the project. The DVD player will be hidden in a short cabinet underneath the corresponding pile of debris. The pile of debris will be randomly distributed in a pile on the floor, but with a clearly defined equilateral trapezoid perimeter that is designed to match the the parallax view of excavation rectangle in the video. This means that the shape will register as a rectangle that mimics the rectangle in the video and still images when viewed at the proper angle (set to be the average viewer distance and height from the actual monitor in the space). Enough space will be left at the edges to allow viewers to circumnavigate the room and view all the photos.
Variation #3 will be the same as #2 above, except that the photos will not be on the back wall, and the debris will extend across the floor and up the back wall with 2 concentric rectangular shapes that will be framed throughout the creation of an additional sculptural installation of an interior “destroyed and abandoned room” with a video monitor in the center (see image #6). The sculptural installation will appear to be that of an old abandoned or destroyed interior living space. The materials used to create this scene will be broken sheetrock walls with aluminum studs, plywood flooring ripped up to expose wooden joists, exposed electrical wiring and plumbing in floors and walls, various dust, wiring and debris on the floor. All the materials will be their natural colors, which will be white, silver or off-white, which will allow the video loop to be simultaneously projected from the front or ceiling onto the entire scene. The monitor itself will either be simply be a whitened screen for the projection of the monitor screen from the video itself, or depending on available installation time and budget, there is also the possibility that the monitor itself could be used to also play the entire video frame, as in #2 above, and have the projection only play on the peripheral debris. (see image #7)
Notes: I am personally most attached to Variation #3, but it is more involved and will require some support from UICA to install. I can easily present and prepare Variation #2 without any additional material or preparation, and Variation #1 will require a video projector, which can be rented if necessary. I am also open to other ideas from UICA preparators or curators. I have also included images/videos of 3 other works to show my past work in terms of scale and sculptural abilities (images/videos #8-10). Additional works can be viewed on my website at www.davehebb.com if you would like to see the full scope of my work.
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| Tags: installation, Monitor, photography, proposals, video | Category: portfolio | 
