Full Description
This iteration of I'm Nobody Who Are You? was commissioned by New York Live Arts for its Ford Foundation Live Gallery Wall. The installation is comprised of a series of life-sized video portraits, presented in pairs, of individuals who are connected directly or tangentially to New York Live Arts. The work breaks boundaries by allowing the viewer to observe other people for longer lengths of time than would exist in standard social conditions. By observing paired portraits, viewers create relationships, and consequently narratives, between the participants despite the known conditions of the filming. I'm Nobody! Who Are You? challenges the viewer to consider how they construct their appearance for others and respond to the same construction of others. Ultimately, I'm Nobody! Who Are You? asks viewers to consider the artificiality of their assumptions about communities, individuals, institutions, and the arts.
Work metadata
- Year Created: 2012
- Submitted to ArtBase: Saturday Apr 28th, 2012
- Original Url: https://vimeo.com/37977316
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Work Credits:
- mayaciarrocchi, primary creator
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Artist Statement
I’m Nobody! Who Are You?, whose title is adopted from the Emily Dickinson poem of the same name, is comprised of extended full body portraits presented in pairs. To create these portraits, I instructed each subject to maintain their focus on the camera lens while I left the room and timed them for ten minutes. I asked the participants to resist the urge to “perform” for the camera, and to simply be present in time and space for the duration of the session. On completion of the recording I asked the participants to hand write a single page stating their name, their occupation and anything that came up for them during the shoot. This text was hung in the gallery as a companion to the projections so as to identify the participants and add their personal mark to the work.
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