Statement of Intent:
This project, consisting of over one hundred photographs, aims to represent a social group constructed under the influence of a specific environment. Focusing on transport devices, specifically escalators for this piece, we wish to investigate the ways in which public structures shape the way we experience space and in particular, the way it shapes our interactions with others.
Shot in a shopping mall, and over the course of an entire day, we observed the repetitive situation in which temporary communities were formed within the confinement of the escalator. The physical form and shape of the escalator regulates social behaviour and reinforces the practice of societal norms. It seems that the closer the physical proximity of one individual to the next, the more disconnected one becomes. In George Simmel’s The Metropolis and Mental Life, he analyses the structure of the city and the power it holds in constructing the way we act, physically and mentally. He states that, “for the reciprocal reserve and indifference and the intellectual life conditions of large circles are never felt more strongly by the individual in their impact upon his independence than in the thickest crowd of the big city. This is because the bodily proximity and narrowness of space makes the mental distance only the more visible.” The temporal and spatial situation reveals itself through confinement, which can be found all over the city. Detachment appears to act as a barrier in which the individual is able to deal with the situation they are in: an awkward and uncomfortable moment. Throughout the day, the awkwardness we experienced not only increased through observation but through the process of shooting as well. Fear becomes embedded within discomfort of a temporarily close proximity and the mere suspicion of being photographed. As a result of the process, we found discomfort surfaced itself in many ways, including our possession of a camera. Although the fear of surveillance was never our initial intention for the piece, it revealed itself in the fear of the subjects and the outcome of the photographs, opening up new ways of thinking about the direction of the project.
We chose to eliminate the railings of the escalator in an attempt to remove any obvious indication as to why these people were standing closely in a cramped environment. Keeping the context of the situation may have hindered the audience from viewing the space in a different way. The viewer brings their own associations to the image, which would have satisfied their curiosity too quickly as to why these people temporarily exist in a close, yet emotionally far away, space. This project aims to investigate the formation of space and its impact on the way we interact with it and others who share it. When we see these formations and associate them with recognizable contexts, we no longer question as to how these communities are shaped and reinforced. Therefore, the removal of context appears necessary in order to focus solely on the moment and the brief formation of a community.
Artist Bio:
We are fourth year BFA students at UBC who work in multiple disciplines. The theme of surveillance and spectacle has been a re-occurring theme in each of our works and currently aims to explore ideas of the social portrait.
Supporting Illustrations:
Medium: photographic installation
Size: series of photos when on the wall cover roughly 4 by
5 feet.