"This is Not a River". Completed for Time Studio. Fall 2022. Photography, video, text, found objects, illustration.
This is Not a River, inspired by The Treachery of Images by Rene Magritte and the work of Andy Goldsworthy, is a multimedia installation that explores both realness and deception through land art, stop motion video, photography, sculpture, drawing and text. The work explores ephemeral art and what it means to represent an experience. The short film shows the creation, and subsequent destruction, of multiple land art pieces, showing how this type of experience can disappear back into the environment with no trace unless there is documentation. It asks whether or not art is valid or real without witnesses other than its maker and whether or not the documentation itself is even a real or accurate portrayal of the art. The various elements around the video are all diverse portrayals of one subject, using the example of a river. This forces the audience to think about which portrayal is most real or if a portrayal can even be real. As shown in the video, for the artist, their experience with a river was real, as in perceived by the senses. The audience, however, only views a river through pixels and paper, making them wonder if they’re really experiencing a river at all, or only a deceptive imitation of one.
