...for the view was duplicated there

"…for the view was duplicated there" (STILL FRAME), 2019, 3-channel video, loop (Sound in collaboration with Lau Nau)

"…for the view was duplicated there" (STILL FRAME), 2019, 3-channel video, loop (Sound in collaboration with Lau Nau)

"…for the view was duplicated there" (STILL FRAMES), 2019, 3-channel video, loop (Sound in collaboration with Lau Nau)

This 3-channel video depicts a fragmented colonial cityscape. The video reimagines the site as a haunted kaleidoscopic world, that has been reclaimed by a feminine feline force. Each part of the city is digitally collaged from photos taken during American occupation of the Philippines (late 19th/ early 20th century). I took photos from the American colonial text “Our Islands Their People” (1899), scanned and printed them to create physical papier-mâché sculptures. I photographed the sculptures and manipulated them digitally alongside other images. All of the original photos are of colonial Spanish and American government buildings, ruins, churches, and schools in the Philippines. I performed in front of a green screen, imitating a tiger, and digitally placed myself in this urban jungle. I wanted to play with the trope of the explorer who goes into the “foreign wild jungle” in attempt to conquer. Suddenly, there is a moment where the explorer realizes they are not in control. The explorer encounters a predator, realizes they are not alone, and have been watched the entire time. I wanted to embody this moment of tension, the pause before the attack, the silent reveal of the power shift. The title of this piece comes from an excerpt of an American text, describing the landscape of the Philippines. The text, "The Philippines Past and Present" (1914) was written by zoologist and public official Dean Worchester during the beginning of American colonial occupation.