(2014)
HD video, color, sound
Single-channel video created for the exhibition Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and beyond, Brooklyn Museum, NY.
Video excerpt upon request: steffanisteffani@gmail.com
"It involves, among other things, a combination of forward and reverse motion—sometimes the video is running backwards, other times the participants are walking backwards—so that it is often hard to tell which way time is flowing. When a large man mills about an unfinished mural of Obama and Mandela, for example, there are periods where it's difficult to determine if time passes or slips back. The effect invalidates the notion of “racial progress” that these icons are intended to suggest while also making us aware of the distinct orders of temporality in the frame—mural time, video time, historical time. The poignancy of the video is invariably amplified by the fact that the police are murdering people of color right now with a frequency and impunity that calls into question any smugly progressive racial narrative. Jemison's work is open enough to allow a wide range of responses, but it seems worth noting that I couldn't help but see the man in front of the mural as another potential Eric Garner."
- Ben Lerner, "Looking Back on 2014," BombMagazine.com
