Natalie Bookchin, “Long Story Short” (2016), video still (image courtesy the artist)
In 2012 and 2013, artist Natalie Bookchin spoke with over 100 people living in poverty in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. She visited homeless shelters, job training centers, adult literacy programs, and food banks. In the process, Bookchin compiled footage for her 45-minute video Long Story Short, which shows these men and women speaking before a camera about their personal experiences with poverty.
Screening this Wednesday at BRIC House, the video is deceptively simple, showing the subjects in square frames before a black background (you can watch the trailer here). While individually filmed, people often seem to be in conversation, responding to the same questions with similar or identical answers. Sometimes they speak in unison, as though in a chorus, like when they say they can’t afford “to keep a roof over our head.”
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Bookchin, who is also featured in the BRIC House exhibition Public Access/Open Networks, which focuses on the creative ways in which artists have taken advantage of video and the internet’s public reach.
When: Wednesday, April 5, 7pm
Where: BRIC House Stoop (647 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
