UPCLOSE: IN YOUR SPACE, 2009
Installation Project, 26th of July Bridge, Cairo, Egypt
21 October 2009
The project that I decided to pursue in Cairo, Egypt was an interactive public installation. The location was a pedestrian crossing below an off ramp of 26th of July Bridge on the island neighborhood known as Zamalek. The pedestrian passageway can be seen from the patio area of the Sawy Culture Wheel, an art space and performance center. The theme of the work is centered on the personal experience of a Cairo resident and how he/she relates to this major cosmopolitan city.
Having compiled a database of drawings and tracings of Cairo's urban landscape I have created compositions with extreme detail that incorporate the larger perspective of the city in the form of high rise apartments and skyscrapers and more intimate images of street life in a vibrant community. These collaged compositions were arranged in the pedestrian passageway hung from a clothesline, each printed digitally in full color. These prints were arranged starting with the furthest perspective of the urban space - the city seen from afar - and end with close-up images of people and private residences. The audience, in this case the pedestrian traffic that crosses the bridge, was able to take with them a suite of images from the installation. I was present throughout the duration of the piece and replaced the images taken from a large inventory of prints. By selecting a suite of prints the audience member decides what series of images he/she enjoys and or relates to most. When all of the prints were gone the piece was complete.
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