Red Band Maxi: A Reflection

Red Band Maxi: The Multimedia component of the installation.

My event went fairly smoothly on Monday. I had an unfortunate hiccup when I tried to have my photographs re-printed in St. James due to an unwilling and unknowledgeable supervisor who made the entire process hell, but eventually, I got the prints I needed and scurried over to Alice Yard to set up. Sean Leonard met me there to set up the projector, and shortly after I arrived, Shannon, my maxi driver, arrived with my mobile "gallery." It was a very tight squeeze but Shannon masterfully backed his maxi into Alice Yard the way I had envisioned. With the help of my mother, father, and brother (who all flew in to visit and to see this event), I began mounting my photographs inside the Maxi while Sean found a mixing board andsub woofer for the sound of my video component. Turns out, the Maxi had fewer rows of seats than I originally thought, so I had some extra prints. I ended up putting one print of an interesting ceiling on the ceiling, a print of the inside of this maxi in the rear of this maxi, and put a few prints around the outside of the maxi.

The general feel though, I think, was still achieved, as people had to move about within and around the maxi to view all the photographs. I was also pleased with how the space formed around my piece. Once you walked up the Alice Yard driveway, you were met head-on with this big Maxi and you had to walk around it to get through the space.

If you walked to the right of the Maxi, you would immediately see the projected video on the far wall of the white box. I liked that you couldn't look at the Maxi without hearing the audio of the video, nor could you watch the video without spatially orienting yourself around the Maxi.
I was, however, disappointed that none of my Maxi drivers showed up. A lot of them had told me that they were going to try to come, but that it would be difficult because their attendance would involve skipping out on several hours of work, and many of them simply can't afford to do so. Regardless, I think the event was successful. At the end of the day, I think everyone did end up leaving there with a different perspective of the Maxis -- and hopefully, a greater appreciation for them, as well.

I've posted the images that I printed, as well as photographs of the set-up and the event itself on Flickr. Many of the images of the installation are courtesy of my multi-talented brother, Matthew Wise.

I really enjoy the images my brother produced. I find that in the flattened 2-Dimensional photo representation of the 3-Dimensional world, the 2-D photographs almost become 3-D and create a visual window into another world, as if there are several realities occurring simultaneously within the Maxi at my event.