(A Sense of Place), 2016
HD Video
3'35"
Combining micro and macro images of Vancouver as a "coastal city", this video montage contrasts grand, scenic imagery with realistic (yet slightly dystopic) scenes of industry and shoreline debris.
From afar, Vancouver is an idyllic international city. It is host to films that portray it in an obscure approach, erasing its identity as a city with unique character and a checkered history. Up-close, small details are familiar to those who live here, who walk the coastline and see the city every day. Little moments, such as toes in the sand, rocks and shells trickling along the shore, a lost sock, a forgotten tennis ball, or a sunken boat add to the sense of place that the viewer experiences.
Exhibited on six video screens in the downtown core of Vancouver, B.C., this temporary public artwork sought to give passersby a glimpse of their city; to bring them out of their daily routine and offer a quiet ebb and flow of city-scapes and somatic close-ups of the beach.
Emilie Crewe’s video seeks to characterize the 'personality' of Vancouver by bringing to light the contrasting natural and manmade elements of our city. In response to the use of the city as a stand-in for other cities in films, and Gertrude Stein’s idea that 'There is no there there,' Crewe’s video attempts to locate Vancouver in the ebb and flow of micro and macro images of this place.
- City of Vancouver Public Art Program. Our City. Our Art. Our Vancouver.From afar, Vancouver is an idyllic international city. It is host to films that portray it in an obscure approach, erasing its identity as a city with unique character and a checkered history. Up-close, small details are familiar to those who live here, who walk the coastline and see the city every day. Little moments, such as toes in the sand, rocks and shells trickling along the shore, a lost sock, a forgotten tennis ball, or a sunken boat add to the sense of place that the viewer experiences.
Exhibited on six video screens in the downtown core of Vancouver, B.C., this temporary public artwork sought to give passersby a glimpse of their city; to bring them out of their daily routine and offer a quiet ebb and flow of city-scapes and somatic close-ups of the beach.
Emilie Crewe’s video seeks to characterize the 'personality' of Vancouver by bringing to light the contrasting natural and manmade elements of our city. In response to the use of the city as a stand-in for other cities in films, and Gertrude Stein’s idea that 'There is no there there,' Crewe’s video attempts to locate Vancouver in the ebb and flow of micro and macro images of this place.
Video Stills:
