#AllIsOneProject
Our Collective Pandemic Experience and more..
This is an Experimental Multi Media Art Project documenting our collective pandemic experience via having unstaged conversations with the participants and letting the audience be exposed to various points of views on some the most sensitive subjects.
The Initial Idea
How did it start?
The idea came to me in the midst of pandemic “season” here in NY. In mass media and in personal conversations I’ve started noticing more and more the habit of “dancing around” any sensitive subjects including inequality, injustice and discrimination in this country.
In a number of interviews and articles, one of the most common issues raised lately is our inability to have a conversation, to talk openly about what we feel and how we feel about what’s going on. And no solution has been offered so far while the divisiveness and separation is still growing among people.
So as an artist, I wanted to make my contribution and come up with an idea for an art project that will offer a platform for all of us to share and listen to each other’s thoughts and opinions and understand each other better without the fear of being judged or misunderstood.
I have imagined myself in a space where I am surrounded by voices of people from all walks of life talking about how and what they feel openly, teaching by telling me their stories.
Pilot (Phase 1) of the Project
In August 2020 I have tested my idea and the overall concept by working with 15 participants (who have all volunteered to be part of this project) and recording my conversations with them)
The process
With each one of them I had a 1:1 photoshoot and a conversation.
Every conversation has started from a very general question about their pandemic experience.
None of the conversations were directed, planned or scripted beforehand.
Because the idea was to discover the unique points of view and stories of the participants.
Participation in the project was fully anonymous.
To ensure anonymity the voice of participants was recordered via voice recorder and was then separated from the images.
Therefore, it’s impossible to say whose voice belongs to whom.
As a result:
As a result of the Pilot studio sessions I was able to identify 15 main themes that were coming up for people during this pandemic time.
The excerpts of conversations related to particular themes were then grouped into one soundtrack.
You can listen to them on my IG page (see the posts with Audio Waves and Yellow Titles)
Why do we need this project?
a -An opportunity to be exposed to various opinions and points of view that you would otherwise wouldn't have known of.
b- An opportunity to discuss some of the highly sensitive subjects that we are otherwise afraid to talk about in public.
c- A sense of comfort by describing the experiences of other people that are similar to yours during this crazy time in the world.
d - An Opportunity to educate ourselves how to be in one room with people holding the opposing views and listen to them without getting into a fight.