Document:Q10104

"Where are you from?" explores aspects of mass migration, world travel and global processes. Notions of belonging articulated through mobility are revealed through 3-language video-clips (English/French/Spanish) with testimonies from citizens-at-large that I have collected since 2002 in several world cities. The clips are hyperlinked to a vocabulary of frequently used words extracted from these archived testimonies. This is an evolving piece, with new video-clips archived and uploaded on a regular basis.
In 2002-03, I set off to trace my personal geography through 6 cities, as shown in the alternating documentary photographs taken in Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and Paris. I video taped 10 to 15-minute conversations with people I encountered. I opened dialogue by asking a simple question that everyone can relate to: "Where are you from?". Through my prompting, based on a system I have developed through cultural research, I involved participants in conversations about their quest for a better life.
Often located elsewhere, the quest for a better life is endemic of modern living where no place is contained and no home fixed. In his book 'The Location of Culture