My intent for “Frontier” was to create a visually-rich abstract environment by blending together a wide assortment of video imagery, ranging from natural phenomena (water, sky, etc.), to rapidly-scanned street scenes, to manipulated faces shot off a television screen. Central to the visual field is a slowly moving window frame structure that allows these various visual sequences to be seen together, viewed both inside and outside the animated “window” openings, allowing for an ongoing figure/ground play of contrasting imagery. While these image pairings play out, additional visual elements eventually course across the picture plane like storms, sometimes obscuring the window frame structure beneath. I collaborated with Elliott and also Argentinian composer Martin Gendelman. The predominant soundtrack element derives from Elliott’s composition for chorus, “Hathors”, in which Elliott channels vocalizations from an extraterrestrial people.
"Frontier" was selected for the "Catalyst: 35 Years of Washington Project for the Arts" exhibition at the American University Museum at the Katzen Center, Washington, D.C. in 2010. It was also exhibited at the 2011 Maryland Film Festival and the Athens International Film & Video Festival. And "Frontier" was selected for the "Under Cover" exhibition at the Decker Gallery at MICA, a project of the Exhibition Development Seminar, January 27-March 11, 2012.
