The ideas behind this project

The main ideas behind this project focus on engaging a community of people and energizing a space that has significant history.

The project began with an interest in using the Hyde Park Drive-In. As one of the few functioning outdoor theaters left in the mid Hudson Valley, this is a place that has significant meaning. It represents a vanishing public space in the history of the United States where families and friends could meet to relax outside of the home. Screens such as these have cult status and hold a vivid connection to a nostalgic point of view that remains prevalent in our culture. These types of environments allowed those attending to escape into another world that they could share with the stars of Hollywood.

Much of my artistic practice has been about bringing people together to meet and discuss ideas. In this type of work, I see myself as a facilitator for interaction. I provide a reason for meeting, which is documented and then translated into visual and auditory media. In this case, I was interested in developing a visual history of a specific community. Much like an oral history, I wanted to go out into the community to collect their ideas of who they are or were, leaving this open to all who are willing to donate their time. This is not about me trying to exert my understanding of what Hyde Park is. As a new member of the community, I could not begin to accomplish such a massive feat. My goal is to give the residents of the town themselves, the opportunity to describe who they are and how they want to be represented.

Upon gaining permission to use the site (which is being negotiated presently) and collecting these moments in time, I want to place this representation of the community up for everyone to see. It will allow all of us to take part in showing the meaning of the past and our hopes for the future.

The last part of this project that I would like to mention is how the video will be seen at the site. This is not going to be a historic film of Hyde Park. It will be a collection of moments that represents life in Hyde Park. These moments of video or film will be put into a computer and processed using a piece of software that will integrate them into environment. This is accomplish by putting out a video camera that documents motion, which then sends a signal to the computer to show a specific clip. The more motion in front of the camera, the more video will be seen on the screen. There will also be a audio aspect to the installation.