Organization: Personal Practice
Role: Artist
Year: 2019–Present
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Images from 2023 Installation, Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Photos: Estere Rozkalne
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Review by C. Torgersrud, MSc (Kungliga Tekniska högskolan)
‘Out Freedom Way’ provides a sensitive view of American unexceptionalism from the inside.
As the piece opens, the screen frames the façade of a gun shop on a busy suburban road which would not be out of place in the outskirts of almost any state. The piece moves steadily through a series of moments on this stage, transporting the viewer through the course of a year.
While the jaunty orchestral soundtrack can at first be seen as a trite metaphor to the patriotic flair common of rural America its sudden disappearance makes the room tone of road noise and wind almost deafening. While this choice feels harsh at first the audio/visual connection of pedestrian presence and deft scoring choices generate moments of anticipatory levity with each pedestrian sighting. The play of sound and subject softens the unblinking quality of the scenes, lending a sense of levity and playfulness. While the pomp filled orchestration can draw illusions to the tuba following a fat man, the audio in this work feels much more kind. Instead of mockery the deft scoring feels cautiously optimistic.
In addition to the musical interludes the persistent gaze of the piece comes off as a contemplative choice. This staging is simultaneously public by definition while yet feeling extremely intimate in its presentation. The vignettes are elegant in their simplicity and touching in their editing. As the piece progresses the juxtaposition of the simple stage with the jaunty scoring builds an almost childlike sense of anticipation drawing the viewer deeper and deeper into the scene.
With the obvious commentary of the American overdependence on automobiles laid bare the more insidious implications of this careful staging are able to develop.
The mundane pastiche focuses the viewer squarely on the dichotomy of the American idyll. Everyday life flows past the lens, past the viewer, but yet, one cannot forget what we are looking at. The set piece of this stage, while mild in appearance, radiates potential violence. Nestled among homes, decorated with the seasons, its stand still and monolithic like a tomb LED signs blinking like a gauche lantern.
This choice of staging device forces the viewer to engage with this dissidence. While this scene may be abundantly common, if not even slightly comforting, to the American viewer the reaction of the outsider provides an energy to the potential life of this work.
A thoughtful meditation on automobiles, guns and the future of the American psyche, ‘Out Freedom Way’ provides a nuanced look at the crossroads from which we can observe, contemplate and engage with the fleeting zeitgeist of the American dream.
