Secondhand, 2019
Single-channel HD Video
3'41"
Secondhand is an archive of the past, present and future. A digital accumulation of items, the artwork features an assortment of memorabilia and organic ephemera collected from the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Historical and recent photographs, ticket stubs, receipts, rocks, leaves and wilting petals scan the screen, offering a secondhand experience for passersby.
The artist’s hands act as a stand-in for the viewer’s hands, collaging a present narrative through secondhand participation, rather than a reawakening of the past. The intention is for the audience to have an internalized experience – an interiorization of the exterior. As the hands caress and arrange the objects on screen, the aim is to produce a corporeal reaction in the public, for people to feel as though they are touching the artifacts, sensing the tactile elements of each item.