Room Shift

This site-specific installation was exhibited at Gallery Joe in Philadelphia, PA in 1997.  When the viewer first encountered the piece, they saw a live feed on a small black and white surveillance monitor. The feed on the monitor appeared to be captured by the surveillance camera at the top left corner of the room. The images on the monitor were of a young woman seated on a bench staring at a photograph mounted to the wall in the back room. Once the viewer turned the corner, it was revealed that the entire room shifted 45º to the right into the partition wall and that there was a second surveillance camera. This second camera was fixed on a photograph. The photograph was of that same room taken from the angle of the first camera. The second camera is what was providing the live feed on the monitor on the other side of the wall. The image in the picture frame was taken one day prior to the opening reception for the exhibition. The picture frame and the bench were specially designed and fabricated by the artist. Both were created to appear normal in the photograph and then transformed for the final installation.