The More That Is Taken Away
The More That Is Taken Away is a meditation on mass violence and what it means to inherit such histories. A nine-year solo attempt to come to terms with historical evil, it takes place at a mass-grave-like excavation behind my house in rural upstate New York. It is an evanescent memorial and a performance, a cycle to catastrophe and back. Begun in late 2011, work at the site largely concluded in 2019. Post-production continues.
The work's traces are a complete video record and a suite of large-format black-and-white photographs. These materials are edited and exhibited in a variety of ways, from a feature-length movie to a large installation with the photographs, projections, multi-channel video, and perhaps an artist book.
The project is supported by a 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship, plus 2019 Individual Artist and 2012 Film Finishing Funds grants from the New York State Council on the Arts.