Elusive Landscapes
by Onajide Shabaka
Live screening/ performance at Legion Memorial Park
(photo credits: Onajide Shabaka © 2010)
The second in a series of outdoor venues, Elusive Landscapes, is a public art project that is mobile, nomadic, and self-contained. Multimedia artist Dinorah de Jesús Rodriguez brought her 16 mm projectors and electric generator to Legion Park, located off Biscayne Blvd. and NE 66th Street. This small neighborhood park is one your author has visited numerous times in the late 1990s. The night time projections onto the exisiting trees and foilage created a very strange, broken up image, collaged onto the existing environment. The several film loops used had been drawn on by the artist, in addition to the preexisting images already on the film. The looped soundtrack further influences our perceptions by providing a filter through which to view the work, and engage in the given surroundings.
Elusive Landscapes is a public art project by multimedia artist Dinorah de Jesús Rodriguez. Her work for this project consists of hand-crafter 16 mm film loops depicting natural landscapes and projected directly into the landscapes themselves. The project will be presented at five public parks in Miami from June to October 2010. Each even will be tailored to its unique park venue, with seven original film projections designed specifically for each site. A site-specific soundscape will accompany each presentation, created by composer and sound designer Ricardo Lastre.
The project definitely broke our perseptions as to what a film screening could be, but did it go too far in moving away from an easily viewed projected image? That question will most likely be answered differently at the various locations. It’s not about sitting down in a movie theather and watching the Titanic. How important is the on-site dialog that occurs during the projections? If Legion Park is the example, on-site dialog is, and will continue to be important. Certainly, the images were not easily viewed. Perhaps the placement of the projectors were as best as possible, but it seems the veiwings left us wanting more. The project will take place through the end of November, 2010, at various locations, ending at Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Miami Design District.
Diaspora Vibe Gallery
3938 N. Miami Avenue
Miami Design District
Miami, FL 33127
305.573.4046