Monday, August 18, 2008

SHOWCASE TACOMA DREAMS - IN TRANSIT


InTransit by Justin Gorman was another site specific art installation that utilized an existing landmark, in this case a bus stop. Pierce Transit even closed the bus stop for the two days of Showcase Tacoma, so people could experience the multimedia installation without buses pulling up and departing every so often.

Photographs from Justin Gorman's "Reflections" series were attached to the glass of the bus stop shelter in order that they could be viewed from both sides. The "reflections" are pictures of the reflections of bus passengers as "seen" in the windows of the buses, in other words, the way that the buses "view" their riders before or after they embark on their journey. When I reflect upon it, I find this to be very fascinating. In addition to anthropomorphizing some of the machines we utilize, it also gives us a different perspective on our quotidian, and oftentimes banal, journeys.

The photographs were accompanied by videos of various bus rides and train rides (on SoundTransit's Sounder Commuter Train) Gorman took during his commute to and from work for a year. There were also blog entries kept, that were published in hard copy for the installation. Lucky "passengers" at the exhibit were treated to the artist reading from the blog while they watched videos and viewed photographs, seated on an old bus seat beneath the shelter.

It was truly a wild ride. You can take part of it online at the InTransit website.

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You can view more pictures of InTransit at the troysworktable Flickr page.

2 comments:

In Transit - Tacoma said...

Troy-

Thank you for your kind words! Quotidian? Where were you when I was writing for grants.

Sincerely,

Justin Gorman

troysworktable said...

Justin:

No need to thank me. Your piece is truly a wonderful and inspiring work of art. Thank you.