Light Year 32: Addressing Home
December 7th, Dusk - 10pm
The Triangle at Pearl Street and Anchorage Place
Light Year 32: Addressing Home presents personal video responses to the topic of “What does home mean?” from students of the Art and Art Education program’s Video Art Class at Teachers College, Columbia University. For their second assignment, in the process of learning the medium video, the novel video makers were asked to envision places we call home. As times change, so does the meaning of “home”. A cave, a high rise, a tree, a hut, the places shift, but our relationship to family and those close is a constant element. We live in different cities, states, countries, and continents comprising diverse religions, races, cultures, and belief systems but in the end, we are all humans of this one earth that necessitate a home.
Organized by Jesse Jagtiani.
Concept by Leo Kuelbs for LIGHT YEAR.
Featuring work by: Evy Yiran Li, Hiroshi Haga, Wentian Ma, Wang Xi, Anamaria Amador, Junying Lu, Ziyun Tao, Daniel Ahn, Kasey Clark, Yang Yang, Xijuan Zhang, and Jesse Jagtiani.
About the videos:
Did I Spark Your Life? by Evy Yiran Li
The definition of ‘home’ may change several times during a person’s life. Sometimes, the transition from one definition of home to the next is the result of finding the love of another person. In our multicultural global world, young couples often are born on different ends of the world. These partners share parts of themselves with each other, which lead them to explore new definitions of home by exploring their differences and similarities through language, food, culture, and customs.
Home Alone by Hiroshi Haga
It is easy to feel lonely. But are you really alone? Look around your home and feel the presence of the people you have in life.
recharge to reconnect by Wentian Ma
We each have our own spiritual battery, and our unconscious mind consumes the battery. Home is a place, a person, a sound, a texture and an image that can recharge my spiritual battery from 0 to 100%. Unconditional love is the source of energy that pours into the battery, and it provides power for the light of true self to reconnect with the magical universe.
Dear Home Earth by Wang Xi
"Dear home: Earth" consists of three chapters: human life on earth, the abuse of mother earth, and the beauty on earth with its connectivity to the universe. I aimed to display the joy of life but also the human destruct of the planet. With this video, I want to raise people's awareness and express the need for humans to protect their home– mother Earth – the planet we all live on.
Silk by Anamaria Amador
“Silk” explores an inner sense of home, which is visually expressed by the symbol of the butterfly. The metamorphosis of a butterfly in her cocoon that enables her to be free to fly. A transformation within our inner home, that creates change in us, so that we can hopefully feel free in life. Home is any place where you can connect with your inner self.
Normal Days in My Life by Junying Lu
"Normal Days in my life" presents a view into my ordinary daily life. Every day I feel I have to wear a mask to pretend to be a confident, outgoing and positive person. I am tired to hide behind this mask. My home is a place where I can take off the mask and be my real myself.
this is us by Ziyun Tao
“this is us” was filmed during a road trip to Upper Peninsula. We may have moments of wanting to escape our life but one always finds ‘home’ in love and each other.
Finding Home in NYC by Xiyuan Zhang
People come from all over the world to live in New York City for different reasons, such as jobs, love, culture, and fulfilling their dreams. At first, it might be hard and they might be struggling in this crowded metropolitan. However, with some luck and determination, finally, the stranger will find a home in this exhilarating city.
Ayuwah by Daniel Ahn
Ayuwah is a Native American tribe after which the state of Iowa was named. I was born in Davenport, Iowa and am ethnically Korean; thus, who I am is a result of the melting pot experience in America. In my video, I explore this merge from the Asian-esque instrumentation to the style of dance called bopping, which I learned from my African-American teacher. The video “Ayuwah” highlights my multicultural upbringing and my parents’ fingerprints in my life that deeply influences the way I view the world.
Making Space by Kasey Clark
“Making space” follows the point of view of an artist, who, unable to write, embarks on a personal journey to feel at home again, finding freedom, beauty, and space, in the ordinary experiences of everyday life.
Space Station by Yang Yang
We are afraid of loneliness. We are afraid of isolation. But sometimes we need a space of our own. A space of being nobody. A space that we can hear the sound of our heart.
That Trinket I Treasure by Jesse Jagtiani
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines home as, "one’s place of residence, the social unit formed by a family living together, or a familiar or usual setting: congenial environment." That Trinket I Treasure presents memories of a field trip taken with friends shortly before the artist was required to leave the country after many years of living in the USA. The video represents the search for home, memories of yesterday, and the longing for moments of belonging.
About the organizer:
Jesse Jagtiani is an artist, researcher and educator of German-Indian descent based in New York City. Currently, she is a doctoral candidate (ABD) and studio art instructor in the Art and Art Education program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her teaching practice includes courses in video art, photography, performance art and digital art. She received her undergraduate degree in visual communication from the Berlin University of the Arts (UDK), Germany, and her MFA from the School of the Museums of Fine Arts (SMFA), Boston. Jagtiani works interdisciplinary within diverse media, such as video, photography, performance art, digital art, sculpture and installation. Jagtiani has long-term professional experience working as a digital media artist in the media production industry and is the co-founder of the media production company Rundblick.tv based in Berlin, Germany. Presently she is the manager of the Myers Media Art Studio at Teachers College, Columbia University. Jagtiani’s artwork has been exhibited throughout Europe, the United States, and in Asia.
About LIGHT YEAR:
LIGHT YEAR is an ongoing project presented by 3_Search (Leo Kuelbs Collection, Glowing Bulbs and John Ensor Parker) in collaboration with the DUMBO Improvement District and NYC DOT. Originally created in celebration of the United Nations’ declaration of 2015 as the Year of Light and Light Art, LIGHT YEAR has hosted the work of over 100 artists and curators from around the world.