statement on When I'm Alone

Emplacement is an extremely broad and compelling idea. In this video i am specifically focusing on an environment where one feels completely comfortable, where there are no pressures to put yourself in any particular "place", other than your own. A place where you know where everything goes and you are in control of where it belongs. And living in a world where we feel overwhelmed by the idea of emplacement and putting one's self or other's in a place or category to seek some sort of order, it is empowering to know that you have a level of control over your own surroundings.

I am concentrating on one's personal living space or bedroom. This space can reflect on their personality, tell about their cultural background, and what kind of people they are. The way that people keep their environment reflects on who they are. In my bedroom i know i am the empress of my domain, it is my kingdom, my sanctuary. It is where i can do no wrong. It is where i keep all my relics and clothing. Being a sentimental and nostalgic person i tend to hold onto things to preserve memories. i have a wall of envelopes collected over the years from dozens of different people in my life. I have maps of my favorite places that i've collected and cut up to create my own maps. I have drawings, records, masks and encyclopedias. i have my accordions and cameras that i've acquired. My room is for me to be free to do what i want in it, i change clothes, i cry, i sleep, i try to decide on which shoes to where, i listen to records, i play my instruments, and i dream there.

I intend to expose my tendencies to be a slightly neurotic and indecisive dreamer. I constantly find myself, going back to things and doing them over again, or drifting off and starting to do something else. I find comfort in looking at certain things in my room. My room is personal, but ready at all times to be public. The things i have are not entirely for me, but partially for the public, for guests when they visit my room to elicit another idea of who i am, by the things i own. Don't get me wrong, these things do not make me who i am, but certainly do contribute to my life through stories and memories.

When I'm Alone from Marcella Simien on Vimeo.