One Hundred Pieces
The compilations depicted in this project are of stories regarding migration and displacement. The artist opened up a temporary phone-line with an answering machine which prompted listeners to tell her a story about a memory they recalled about a time of transition.
“Tell me anything—was there an object or person you left behind? How did you feel? Describe your home; your new home, your old home. What do you miss?”
Describe the way the sunlight hit your home in the afternoon; a detachment from a relationship; your first days here.
Contacting individuals through bulletin postings and social media, One Hundred Pieces resulted in a tale of eighteen-stories. Each voice recording is meticulously dissected and restitched to reveal the common themes of displacement.
The short excerpts of speech are diverted into two channels; creating both an immersive experience for the listener, as well as constructing conversations between strangers.
The audio is presented alongside a visual split-screen which weaves between abstract imagery signifying transition, and quieter moments of the domestic space and objects reflective of emptiness and longing. Cinematic movement and photographic stillness are analogies to the past and present. Flashes of archival footage function as nostalgic vignettes against the artists constructed interpretations.
Displacement is a motif in the collective memory of migrant groups. Although stories are disparate, they have a common denominator-- sounds of the morning, feelings of loss, or the notion of driving. These delicate moments are poignant details in the narrative.
www.tmys.tumblr.com
2016, 8:49 minutes
