STATEMENT OF INTENT

Below is our first statement of intent:

Christiana Neouphytou and Ariella Abolaffio.

Working title: Ghosts

Our project is based on the idea of breaking the concept of personal space that often devolves into barriers stopping individuals from interacting, giving a chance to the audience to “get to know “ a stranger with whom they are forced to share a public space (like a pub, cinema, bus stop or road) and taking their time to morph another forgettable face into an individual.

We plan to accomplish this by creating an installation that converges film and new media into a form of interactive experience mixed with a familiar environment ; that will allow the audience to explore a common issue –such as the interaction with strangers in one situation that has been experienced by most people- and giving the audience the possibility to change said situation through the use of art and media, this will allow them to be free of the social limitations that would be present outside the art installation.

Human silhouettes (which we will create) with screens as faces, will be placed in a public space; displayed on the screens will be a loop of always-changing faces that will be forgotten as soon as they are seen, but the participant will be encouraged to sit next to the silhouette, by doing so (thanks to a sensor) the video will stop on a specific subject and this will allow the participant to connect to the person and even get a peak into their intimate thoughts (through headphones).

This is meant to remindthe audience that by taking time out of our lives to acknowledge others, the social barrier that often force us into our solitude will be weakened.

E. Degas “Absinthe drinker”

This impressionist masterpiece summarizes perfectly the issue that we are going to deal with: how people in public spaces can be so close and yet so distant, with seemingly insurmountable barriers between them.

The main influences on our work so far are Degas’ painting (as explained above). Bill Viola in the way he portrays people’s feelings and emotions, with a seemingly simple and minimalistic style and yet incredibly powerful and direct.