Final Project medp160

Final Project

Unfinished Conversations - MOMA exhibition

Watching the three-screen installation, I did have a feeling of being overwhelmed with the visuals and overlapping audio that were being shown throughout the seating. Scenes of Stuart Hall’s interviews and discussions, followed by photos of his earlier years and of his family, along with images of war, all being played while Stuart himself talks about the different experiences of his life.Seemingly incoherent, the images show help portray the erratic behavior of Stuart’s own mind. How when he is discussing certain topics, certain images will play out in his minds and thus, will be shown on one of the three screens. It is important to note that using 3 screens for this piece helps visualize the way Stuart’s psyche works, as an active brain will have many images flowing through at the same time and most of the time these images aren’t relate able when put together. Even though it is hard to show a person’s stream of consciousness without losing the audience, John Akomfrah did a great job capturing a good bit of it, just enough so I was able to follow along and understand the depth of the topics discussed. As for the topics that Stuart Hall was elaborating on throughout the course of the piece, I was interested in his thoughts on identity and society and how the tone of one’s skin color can greatly affect your relationships between friends and family. Being born and raised in Jamaica, to then move to the United Kingdom to further his studies, Stuart felt the affects of his color from two different fronts. His take on the matter offered me a unique first-hand experience of how an individual comes to terms with their identity or, more accurately, how one learns who they really are through their experiences and self-thought.