REFLECTIONS
a multi-media public art installation by Ashton S. Phillips
Part walking poetry experience, part participatory documentary, and part experimental sound art installation, Reflections is a response to this moment, designed to give voice to a diversity of people living through the current crisis and to make space in the public square for reflection on our shared experience of living through a pandemic.
Dozens of participants from across LA County and other quarantined regions of the world were interviewed as part of this project. Participants were asked:
What have you learned about yourself from living through this time?
Has this experience changed you?
What is one memory from this time that you think will stick with you forever?
What do you hope the world learns from this experience?
The 7 compositions included in this installation are comprised of clips from these interviews arranged thematically and collaged with the sounds of places, events, and materials that participants invoked during their reflections. The themes, which emerged organically in response to open-ended questions, include:
scarcity and abundance;
gratitude and inequity;
inwardness and action;
vulnerability, humility, and connection; and
grief, resilience, and radical joy
Total runtime: 70 minutes, with 7 unique tracks, each running approximately 10 minutes.
Thank you for being a part of this.
From the beginning, this work has been an effort to amplify unheard voices and create space in the public square for contemplation, multiplicity, and healing in the midst of what is, for most of us, a uniquely challenging, eye-opening, and life-altering time. It could not have happened without the trust, generosity, and vulnerability of the many people who lent their voices and time to this effort.
This installation was generously sponsored by the Glendale Arts and Culture Commission, through funding from the Urban Art Program, and support from Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and Glendale Community Services and Parks.
Video courtesy of City of Glendale | GTV6
“Be resilient. That’s the message I have. Be resilient.”
— Reflections Participant