GROUNDED (sweeping 100 miles)
January, 10th – 13th, 2020
In partnership with Texas State
Grounded ( sweeping 100 miles) is a dual projection installment and on-going film experiment documenting the process of pushing a broom 100 miles from one city to another via a first-person point of view. Grounded was a continued exploration to question the mechanics and the status of the production from a previous piece titled, Laborers. A cinematic short film composed of two symmetrical screens. Myself, performing an activity through opposing principles, “nothing leads to something.” Which carry forward the earliest outlook of knowledge, continuous connectivity, and understanding of life between diverse groups of people.
The view from the Broom moving across the land marks a change in the status of the observer, from an outsider to someone a bit more directly involved. From this perspective, something new is triggered.The reality of sweeping so far adds a kind of dream element to the video, which helps carry the spectator’s attention. It traps the viewer in the narrative as a way of abstracting the self. No delusion by what is happening, the movement is uneventful and physically demanding yet, so remarkably performative and communicative.
The presence of dirt adds a very physical presence of time. Viewers may think of other things while experiencing this moment yet, the simplicity of the pushing movement seduces the viewer’s eye to negate reality. It’s the direct movement that creates a pattern mirroring before our eyes when interpretation from any audience comes first. The dual projections springs ideas on the speed of our digital age. A homage to the past or the future, from an era when technology is accessible everywhere. The Broom, the symbol of production. It seems like there is a lot of work going on back and forth between every site location as an attempt to reproduce the land where two places meet.
On one side of the space, you have the view of the broom sweeping, directly inspired by a labor’s task. Sweeping a floor that had already been paved is history repeating itself. On the other side, glimpses of the situation from a distance. Parallel stories that are apart of the same story. Upon reflecting on this data trajectory, the shape was a wondering path repeating a cycle of a constant movement forward. The only ease I had was when my mind entailed a thought that contained a memory itself. I couldn’t move forward without thinking about the effort of pushing. However, from this place, I’m able to reflect on a duration of time that is now behind me.
