I'm building you an army
Three channel video installation
clip duration: 2 min.
In this piece, anonymous hands repeatedly create and animate soldiers, who slowly form a large group that becomes increasingly inept as it multiplies. The piece addresses a desire to create something out of nothing, to build a force larger than oneself to enact change that the individual alone cannot. The idea of multiplying oneself, transforming the individual into a group, is both empowering and ultimately passive. Though it becomes clear that the army is inadequate, it is the gesture of the attempt that interests me. It is the desire to repeat the action despite the futility of an act that can never extend or develop beyond itself that I find significant. That the environment in which this reenactment occurs is an obvious and often flawed construction is crucial to my practice. The tactility of the built scene and the suggestion of the duration of time spent in its production connect the viewer with the maker.
