Textilis108 (2008, digital film, approx. 15 minutes 22 sec.)
Textilis108, was inspired by a Prison Project hybrid exhibition Jander Lacerda was a part of in early 2008. He was asked to express ideas about freedom and incarceration, and about the role of social inequality in the persistence of a system that focuses on imprisoning citizens, while neglecting to delve deeper into the causes and remediation of societal illnesses.
Rather than trying to generate explanations – rather than focusing on his own personal response to these questions – the artist decided to take to the streets and ask the citizens of San Francisco to respond. People from all walks of life were approached randomly and included in the project. The diversity of viewpoints and observations obtained is reflected in the title (Textilis- a patchwork), and forms the body and soul of the artist's present work.
Jander Lacerda is not a "filmmaker". He is an artist who uses film as one medium among others to convey ideas about the human condition. He uses film as an especially effective medium to engage others in a discussion about society. Using a digital camera, he interviewed 108 people on the streets of San Francisco using one simple question: What does the "The Land of Opportunity" mean to you? Concerned with anonymity for the interviewees, and with avoidance of bias and preconceived ideas for the viewer, he chose to show only the eyes or the mouth of his subjects. Textilis is the Latin word for fabric, and by extension can mean the fabric or makeup of a society, the amalgamation of people from all walks of life, social and economic classes, from the homeless person to the business man, from the French tourist to the hot dog vendor, from the elderly man or woman to the student included in the film. 108 is a sacred number in Hinduism, Buddhism and other religious and spiritual practices and became for him the ultimate number to express the voices of all human beings; random and yet unique; individual voices and yet a collective view and understanding.
Sabine Gysens
September 2008
(copyright Jander F. Lacerda, 2008)
(film still)
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