DISINTEGRATION IS A FILM AND MUSIC INSTALLATION THAT TAKES AUDIENCES THROUGH 1,460 DAYS OF HEADLINES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES FEATURING DONALD TRUMP.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Every day since the 2016 election, I collected one headline from the New York Times on Donald Trump’s presidency. At first, the headlines were like bullet points to remind me of the day before so I wouldn’t forget. But soon, I realized that this was not only a study of Trump’s presidency but also a personification and character study of the New York Times through its headlines.

Today, human attention is a scarce commodity, and the media jockeys for our attention. Their efforts to do this result in a hyper-sensationalized assault of news stories delivered at an incalculable speed, essentially in real-time.

THE HEADLINES IN SUCCESSION, ONE AFTER ANOTHER, SERVE AS A REMINDER OF THE HAUNTING AND ADDICTIVE IMPACT OF THE NEWSROOM ON AMERICA’S NERVOUS SYSTEM.

This barrage of information has a parasitic grasp on our psyche, impacting our ability to cope with this unprecedented political landscape. We’ve moved from an era of information scarcity to an era of overabundance, effectively creating a new censorship through noise.

It was never my aim to paint Donald Trump or the New York Times in any particular light. It would have been too obvious to create a piece that was basically, “Donald Trump bad, and New York Times good.” They both seize and hold our attention as a means to their own ends. And we are also responsible. There is no innocence: all parties are responsible for participating in the chaos and confusion.

A simple black screen hosts a white headline with its publication date. The screen flashes one headline, then another, and another, creating nervousness and anticipation that leaves you craving the next while fearing what is to come. The film is scored with a one-minute performance of the Star-Spangled Banner stretched over two hours; which, at moments, is both haunting and mesmerizing.

DISINTEGRATION is the kind of piece that will live on in different formats and incarnations, and this is its first. Although all the elements are quite confronting for any audience, I hope they are also moving and poignant.