slowing down

I am working on an installation about the elderly in America. The idea came about after visiting a few nursing homes in Reno as a possible new place for my mother. She has Alzheimer’s disease and recently broke her hip.

What really struck me was all the elderly people in wheel chairs waiting or moving very slowly. As I tried to walk down the hallway of one place, eight patients in wheel chairs were painfully crawling like snails, turtles. As I tried to maneuver my way through them, I felt so strange, like I had entered a clogged stream or a quick sand. I wanted to be respectful, so I slowed down myself.

I am working with conveying the molasses pace I experienced, a population hidden away, broken fragility and shining spirit.

This piece will be on display at the Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco on Thursday, 6-8pm, August 23, and also on Friday.

There will also be installations by seven other artists. We are all part of an Intersection class called, “Dream it and Build It”, creating a set or installation on a bare-bones budget. Instructors are Victor Cartagena and Josh McDermott.

Here is what I started with. Stuff from Chip’s place.

Here is where I am heading with the installation. Still in progress.

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