FACES OF YONKERS
multi-channel video installation
2018
FACES OF YONKERS is a large-scale, multi-channel video installation where the faces of Yonkers residents are collaged and their eyes, noses and mouths are simultaneously displayed together in various combinations to reflect both the diversity and the unity of the city.
Several versions have been made by adding new faces to each time. The faces are filmed by setting up a locked-off camera and neutral backdrop in public spaces visited by members of many communities and then manipulated in post production to fit the frames. The final video is then presented in some of those same spaces and communities. It was viewable 24/7 in the gallery’s windows, as to be accessible to anyone and everyone. It would added to the neighborhood revitalization effort, increased the sense of life and vibrancy on the street and helped to raise the level of visibility of public art to both the local Yonkers community and visitors from all over.
The full-motion video offers both artistic and compelling elements, as the eyes, noses and mouths of the composited faces independently move, blink, smile, look around, etc. Its ever-changing configurations and vibrant illumination gently and unobtrusively engage viewers and passers-by. The local faces to strengthen the connection to the community, who in turn visited the piece hoping to catch a glimpse of themselves.
The multi-channel video was designed to (almost) never show the viewer the exact combination of images, so it lent itself to repeated viewings. It engaged the community by featuring the local residents as the focal point of the piece. This empowered people who had never been exposed to art, or the process of creating art, and offered the idea that while we are all unique individuals, together the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and essential to the piece’s success.
This project was made possible, in part, by a grant from ArtsWestchester with support from Westchester County Government and its Board of Legislators
Exhibitions:
Version 1: The Public Appliance Gallery (2014)
Version 2: The FIT/Urban Studio Pop-Up Gallery (2015)
Version 2.5: YOHO Open Studios (2017)
Version 3: YAW show at 66Main (2018)
Version 3.5: Blue Door Gallery's FACES:PORTRAITS show (2020)
