Video Work — J. JOHN PRIOLA

View of the Empire State Building from the Seventh Floor, 2006
(single channel, silent, 1:06 looped)

As you look at the seemingly still image of the Empire State Building, split second flares of tourist's camera flashes from the 86th floor observation deck become noticeable. The piece asks for a quiet consideration to perceive the fleeting yet evidentiary moments of presence and existence and speaks directly to my desire to bear witness to the evidence of human lives and what is left behind in their wake.

This DVD was made possible by a grant from the John Anson Kittredge Fund. Thanks to Bruce Conner, Flint Jamison, Liz Siegal, Merry Scully, Gallery Paule Anglim, Joyce Burstein, Eli Ridgeway, Jose Ruiz, David Johnston and Trinity at the Broadway Plaza Hotel.

Bulbs, 2007
single channel video, sound, 13 minutes, looped
(49 second excerpt)

A series of specific and individual scenes of enclose plantings of Manhattan sidewalks in early spring. The structure and pacing of the piece facilitates a fluctuation between observation and overlooking, boredom and discovery. The first emergence of the bulbs embody the promise of what is to come and the ambient sounds of each location hint at a larger context.

Philanthropy
documentation time-lapse, Gallery Paule Anglim, 2011

PHILANTHROPY, 2010-2011, was a one-year project, cataloging and documenting donations residents set out curbside for pick-up by various non-profits, including United Cerebral Palsy, CARH, and Disabled American Vets. How people set out their items for pick-up reflects their personalities and is addressed in my work as still lives at the end of their driveways. It was exhibited at Gallery Paule Anglim in December 2011.

In the second smaller room in the gallery, viewers were invited to drop off donations to be collected by CARH at the close of the exhibition. The time-lapse video shows the collection and removal of the items donated.