Schryver Installation
Last night the weather held and I was able to show a short section of video at the home of Susan Schyver. The video was from her parents 1952 wedding at the St. James Chapel in Hyde Park. I projected the material directly onto the home that her father built after this wedding, in which Susan now lives. Shot on 8mm film, the images flicker, showing the wedding party just after the ceremony and for a few short moments of their reception.
As I didn’t promote the installation, it was a surprise to many. People walking their dogs stopped to chat, cars passing by slowed, not sure what to make of a home with video projected against it.
At one moment during the presentation, I asked Susan how it felt to see her parents splashed across the facade of the house. She mentioned it was a bit odd at first. Thinking of all the history that she and her parents share at the home, it made her reminisce about her parents who have pasted away. She mentioned that is was hard to translate emotions into words, but she was amazed by seeing it. She joked that maybe we could paint the images directly onto the house.
This is what I feel can be so successful about this project. The objective is not just to project these images onto the landscape, but to create an association between people and the places that makes them think about this relationship. Having a family of my own and thinking very much about what is “home,” I think about how memory is situated and how by striking a specific moment, a flood of thoughts well up inside.
