Tali Blankfeld
between you & me
How did your life end up going down this path? “Between You & Me” is an interactive video installation exploring this question.
http://www.taliblankfeld.com
Classes
Thesis
Thesis
Major decisions we make in our lives can lead us down various paths. This installation leads us through the journeys of individuals who have made meaningful sacrifices in their lives. With these stories, the installation asks questions about how our identities are formed and what role external circumstances have in the directions our lives have taken. Blending personal events with recurring answers demonstrating patterns in the adult life cycle, "between you & me" connects us to one another in moments of our greatest struggles as human beings.
With “Sophie’s Choice,” William Styron wrote about a mother facing one of the most heartbreaking sacrificial decisions known to man–having to decide which of her children would live while the other would die. As we see in the film, her life has been forever changed as a result of having to make this choice. By looking at people who have faced similar, critical moments where they’ve decided to sacrifice something and learning more about how their lives have been changed as a result, "between you & me" explores the weight of these decisions and their effects on our lives. In examining the outcomes of these sacrifices, we become aware of how major decisions such as these shape our lives, leading us down a path we might never have known.
User Scenario
“Between You & Me” is discovered through a series of curtains. Individual participants must pull one curtain aside at a time to watch the video projection on the following curtain; the video will play once the previous curtain is pulled. Each video segment lasts between 20-45 seconds and consists of a documentary-style interview. One person can enter the installation at a time to view it individually and will be asked to put on a pair of wireless headphones in order to listen to the audio that accompanies the video. Along with the projection, each curtain has several phrases handwritten on it, taken from answers out of interviews submitted via questionnaire format online. Interviewees consisted of people ranging from ages 22-70 years old, from all over the world, who submitted their answers anonymously. Questions from interviews are available for users to read behind the final curtain.
With “Sophie’s Choice,” William Styron wrote about a mother facing one of the most heartbreaking sacrificial decisions known to man–having to decide which of her children would live while the other would die. As we see in the film, her life has been forever changed as a result of having to make this choice. By looking at people who have faced similar, critical moments where they’ve decided to sacrifice something and learning more about how their lives have been changed as a result, "between you & me" explores the weight of these decisions and their effects on our lives. In examining the outcomes of these sacrifices, we become aware of how major decisions such as these shape our lives, leading us down a path we might never have known.
User Scenario
“Between You & Me” is discovered through a series of curtains. Individual participants must pull one curtain aside at a time to watch the video projection on the following curtain; the video will play once the previous curtain is pulled. Each video segment lasts between 20-45 seconds and consists of a documentary-style interview. One person can enter the installation at a time to view it individually and will be asked to put on a pair of wireless headphones in order to listen to the audio that accompanies the video. Along with the projection, each curtain has several phrases handwritten on it, taken from answers out of interviews submitted via questionnaire format online. Interviewees consisted of people ranging from ages 22-70 years old, from all over the world, who submitted their answers anonymously. Questions from interviews are available for users to read behind the final curtain.