On Friday, June 19th, I attended the reception for three shows at School 33 Art Center, including the reception of “Waiting for Something to Happen”, a solo exhibition by Dominique Zeltzman, located in the Project Space on the second floor of School 33. This exhibition is on view until August 22nd, 2015. Click through to read about the exhibition and to view more photos of the exhibition.
Approaching the Project Space, I am greeted by an interesting pairing: a series of tiny, miniature-sized prints, as well as a wall-sized projection of the video iteration of Dominique Zeltzman’s project, “Waiting for Something to Happen.” The prints are so small that one has to get up very close and personal to view them – they have a certain intimacy and preciousness despite the very ordinary subject matter that they depict. City streets, both in daylight and at night, are at once boring in their normalcy, but intriguing for a variety of reasons – the unexpectedly beautiful colors created from rainfall glistening on the asphalt, or the way an arrangement of cars rolling down the street somehow creates an aesthetically pleasing composition. The video projection, on the other hand, is overwhelmingly large, and fills the viewer’s field of vision. It’s as though you’ve stepped out into the scene and are peering about the streets of Baltimore.
More importantly, however, is the not-so-subtle social criticism present in this project. There is an undertone of uneasiness, even fear, brought about when viewing these images of the streets of Baltimore. Is it because of what we’ve come to expect from these communities? What does that say about what Baltimore has become, in the eyes of it’s locals and on a national scale? This is especially relevant following the events of this spring, and this piece is a meditation on those issues.
“An artification of the peripheral using of Baltimore City surveillance footage to create a video installation, sound score and collection of miniature prints. The work contrasts the poor resolution, clarity, intimacy, suspense and predictability of the images, while juxtaposing the drama of a potential crime with the monotony of the everyday.”
To learn more about School 33, it’s exhibitions and it’s programs, please visit the School 33 homepage at: http://www.school33.org/
To read more about Dominique Zeltzman and see more images of her work, please visit her portfolio website at: http://dominiquezeltzman.com/