The Waves
2019, Immersive multi-channel video installation with sound, 60 minute loop
The Waves is comprised of 60 minutes of immersive video of ocean waves that were recorded during the golden hour preceding sunset. Surrounded by the waves, there is a four-sided, life-sized video construction on which I tell four versions of a story about a personal interaction with the waves. In each rendition, I tell exactly the same story, with exactly the same words, but I tell it with a different emotional affect each time. These include joy, anger, sadness, and fear. In the installation, the four stories are being told simultaneously. From up close and in front of a single screen, the audio of each rendition is clear and distinct, but from afar, the four audio streams intermingle and come across as a cacophony of human drama. When the story is finished, the four versions of myself fall silent together for a matter of minutes and only the sound of the waves can be heard.
For me, this piece is about being humbled into one’s rightful place in relation to the natural world. I believe such a humbling is a necessary first step towards the realization that humans are embedded within nature, as opposed to being outside of it.