All of the videos and the video stills in this show were taken in
shopping malls in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, Georgia,
Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. When I first started this work, I was
interested in what I labeled “in-between” space. By “in-between," I
meant generic space that could be anywhere in the country, or
increasingly, the world. I wasn’t as interested in critiquing this
type of space as I was in seeing if I could create something personal
and beautiful inside of such a generic structure. I started off using
a 35-mm still camera but quickly switched to digital video as it
allowed me to capture more images before being stopped by mall
security. Since malls are considered corporate instead of public
space, it is illegal to photograph in them. Usually, I could get away
with taking 15–30 minutes of video footage before being stopped by
security. I then created still images out of this footage.
There is very little subtlety and sensuality included in most mall
architecture. This resulting hardness makes it difficult to find
visual openings that allow for something more personal, something less
controlled, to emerge. I did not set out to photograph people in a
mall; however, the images of people –in contrast to those of the
structure - were what I was drawn to again and again. Through
photographing people in these spaces, I became more and more interested
in how people navigate larger structures that are not of their making
and the little ways in which they can personalize their experience.
These creative actions often are not visible or conscious. However,
intimations of these actions show up in the gestures & faces of
people.
Although constrained by the limits of an overall structure, every
individual uses space differently. For example, malls are designed to
move people in certain determined patterns through the space. However,
no matter how deliberate the planning, designers simply cannot account
for the movement of individuals. For me, the beauty lies in the way an individual – conscious or not – plays with the structure in which he or she moves.
I also wanted to explore how such spaces affect the individual. In
particular, I was interested in how these cheaply constructed, generic
spaces and the ideology of development - the idea that we constantly
need to strive for newer and better things, ideas, technologies, etc. -
have affected me. I know I cannot enter a space like the mall without
feeling a sense of loss. Although difficult to pinpoint, I think it
has to do in part with a loss of the ability to be fully present. By
creating work in these spaces, I hoped to counter this loss by
increasing my ability to be present in a space that seemed to actively
work against it.
It is clear that malls themselves are entering their own
“in-between” phase. Currently, the news is filled with stories about
“the death of the mall.” The recession has sped this process up;
however, it can be argued that malls have been dying for a long time.
Malls are blatant spaces of commercialism – too blatant now, it seems.
This may be why they started to die long before the recession. Like TV
advertising, shopping spaces have had to become more sophisticated.
Now, “lifestyle centers” and similar outdoor mixed-use shopping
developments are taking the mall’s place and making the distinction
between public and private space even less clear.
The rift caused by the depth of the current recession has the potential
to change the nature and use of the larger structures inside of which
we operate. As constructed, the mall fits neatly into the ideology of
technology and development - as soon as it has worn out its use, it’s
torn down so that the new can take its place. However, in the current
economy, it is hard to imagine where the funds will come from to tear
these structures down and begin anew. It is quite possible that dead
malls will just be abandoned and left to haunt the landscape in a
perpetually in-between state.
--Carrie
Kenny