Angulas - Street of Gold
video installation
(component of an exhibition also titled "Angulas-Street of Gold")
Script: Y. David Chung
Camera: Matt Dibble
Editing: Dibble & Chung
Music: Pooh Johnston 1990
This 22 minute video was
a part of a larger collaborative exhibition called "Angulas - Street
of Gold" which included a mural, video installation, and live performances
of an original play called "The 5 Stations of the Cross". In addition
to those mentioned above the project also included the work of photographer
Claudio Vasquez, musician Charles Toberman, and performance artist Quique
Aviles.
Angulas depicts a week in the life of a recent new-comer to the U.S. who has found himself in a multi-ethnic community in Washington D.C. called Mount Pleasant. "Enrique", the main character played by Quique Aviles, has work washing dishes and is among many fellow Salvadorans, but is still experiencing confusion in the midst of the collision between his expectations and the reality of his new surroundings. The title "Angulas" refers to a Spanish dish full of linguine-like strands of baby eel, and serves as a metaphor for the exotic cultural mix he finds in the "border zone" neighborhood. The sounds and images of television and advertising act like a chorus, constantly reminding Enrique of an idealized American lifestyle in contrast to what he experiences on the street. Eventually the two begin to merge in his daydreams, as products such as a giant bar of soap and a honey bear seem to appear before him as he walks.
Angulas was produced using
a vertical television format; the camera was literally turned on it's
side. Although this required some modifications, it proved to be a liberating
way for the videomakers to work, allowing them to use a format common
to still photographers when faced with the human figure or a tall building.
It proved to be an intriguing way of looking at the world, and reinforces
the experience of seeing as a new-comer sees. The tape is available
in a standard version as well as the "Verti-vision" format which can
be viewed on a standard television placed on its side.
EXHIBITION HISTORY:
Jamaica Arts Center,
Jamaica, NY, 1990
Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD, 1991
1708 East Main Gallery, Richmond, VA 1991
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Margo Machida, Exh. Cat., 1990
Paul Clements, "Through a Strangers Eyes", Museum and Arts Washington,
Jan/Feb 1991, 20.
Margot Starr Kernan, "Angulas Installation at M.A.P. Shows Vertical
Video", Association of Maryland Area Media Artists Newsletter, Spring
1991.
AVAILABILITY:
Videotape available through dockyard
media