Testimonial

Testimonial is a site specific installation designed for a tiny space in the Palazzo Giustinian Lolin which was once the entrance for arriving guests on the Grand Canal in Venice. Venice was once the New York City of its day, diverse and complex. The world, East and West, met up here. The installation is a steel, gridded, glass wall facing the wrought iron gridded glass entrance off the Grand Canal. The viewer can only enter the room without being able to go further because the glass wall stops further access. One glass surface in history juxtaposed against another from another time. The contemporary glass wall is etched with the fragments of testimonies of diverse lives from all over the world in the 20th Century. The focus seems to be on these other lives, but in the end, the emphasis shifts onto ourselves, our identity, and our place in the grid of histories - of our place in time. We all carry our biography in our heads, yet rarely interrogate ourselves about it, or step outside to look at the consequences. This small, sunny room is a place that invites contemplation gently urging us toward deeper self understanding, and better understanding of other lives in the river of life.