Mylanotinasis/Brain Shivers
Allison Maria Rodriguez
b&w and color video, 3 minutes, 2006

Artist Statement

This piece is an exploration of the psychological experience of the subject/individual in relationship to pharmaceuticals.  “Conscious” space is juxtaposed alongside ”unconscious” space with visual and auditory devices utilized to negotiate the tension between the two.  The two settings employed are a bathroom and a basement.  One represents the exterior self presented to others (bathroom) while the other represents the interior struggle/process of subjectivity attempting to come into being (basement).  Eventually, these two spaces inevitably merge.  The piece is essentially a critique of social institutions/establishments and the modernist project’s desire to categorize and contain the various aspects of the self in order to define “normality”.  The piece is intended as a visceral experience of a psychological process.