Youth Outbound

2019

 

Installation. Tent (Canadian tire "Outbound" brand), rope, extension cord, trouble light, portable speaker.

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Trips to the woods with friends were important outposts of privacy, self-discovery, and emotional independence throughout my adolescence. Youth Outbound reflects on one such trip, its events, and - as the shelter of a tent becomes a chrysalis (moves from landscape to portrait)- its psychic resonance.

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Nestled within the structure is an LED trouble light and a quiet, tinny speaker playing recordings of my voice. I call back witnesses - Douglas firs, the seaweed, pain receptors, and particles of pollution - as compassionate containers to disperse the weight of the struggles, traumas, and secrets my younger self absorbed while feeling alone.

 

I remember that the desire for privacy and isolation can be a longing to be better seen.