4D WORKS
The Sewing Room
June 2023
Color video, audio
(00:03:18)
The Sewing Room focuses on one of the most-loved and productive places in my home. This video documents the room as it is throughout the process of sewing a dress, capturing all the intimate nooks and crannies of the room that would be missed when taking a glance at the space. When left alone with the lights off and electronics dormant, it is a typical, quiet sewing room. But when the lights go on and the machines are powered up, the room becomes alive with activity and creativity.
A Faithful Friend and Companion
May 2023
Color video, audio
(00:01:04)
In A Faithful Friend and Companion, I used various promotional films found in the Detroit Historical Society video archives. The clips I used spanned from the 1920s to the 1980s and included such films as the 1925 clip, What Makes Detroit a Great City? Industry and Henry Ford, the Detroit: Today and Tomorrow series filmed during Mayor Cavanagh's time in office, and the tourism film, Michigan U.S.A, from 1965. Through the use and manipulation of these clips my goal was to emphasize the notion that though the car industry may have built Detroit and created a population boom, the car was also behind the mass exodus that began after World War II when auto factories left the city. he numerous accolades given to Detroit in these films can be seen as ironic from a modern perspective, pointed out by my use of image and audio distortion and repetition, as well as the many clips of the highways and freeways leading which took Detroiters to the suburbs.
Sharing the Pittsburgh Cookie Table: A Socially Engaged Food Experience
June 2023
Through this experience, I wanted to share the love and joy that comes from a Western Pennsylvanian tradition I've grown up with, the Pittsburgh Wedding Cookie Table. The Cookie Table is typically a large dessert spread filled with cookies and individual treats made by the wedding couple's family and close friends. The table is something every wedding guest can look forward to, not only because of the sweets but because of the family recipes they will likely be able to taste for the first or even the hundredth time. It is a table full of love and deliciousness and is a tradition that helps to bring two new families together.
In order to bring this experience to my classmates I had each of them tell me a favorite cookie or one that had some special meaning to them. Then I made or bought each type of cookie and had everyone share their reasons behind why they chose that particular cookie. This allowed my class to share memories with one another, try new treats, and bond over the Cookie Table, just as wedding guests and family bond over the tradition. I also had a little bit of classic "wedding music" playing in the background to top off the event.
The Cookie Table is a labor of love that brings people together and I feel that Sharing the Pittsburgh Cookie Table did exactly that.