HISTORY LESSONS

In this work I present a grid of 77 antique magic lantern slides from the late 19th century- early 20th century that are mounted on a 50″ flat screen tv. These slides were collected from flea Markets in New York City and on Ebay.com,  and are of people and places in the Americas and Pre-Israel Palestine. I chose these locations because they are connected to my personal biography and also are places which have completely transformed due to colonialism and immigration.
The slides are illuminated by video footage of flashes of lightning,
Photographic lantern slides took off in the late 19th century as a popular form of entertainment and education. These large format slides cannot be seen unless they are back lit. I chose to illuminate them with footage of lightning to make them appear momentarily before they become dark again, like a passing memory that appears for an instant in the present.
Sometimes they light up according to key words, for example all the trees light up, or all the boats, or all the women, etc and so it becomes like a living archive illuminating the slides by certain categories.
The lighting also connects the technological with the natural.
I examine the bridge between the magic lantern slide and the LED tv, the images show the cultures and landscapes that have collapsed as a result of this technological progress. I bring to the surface a buried history. An awaking from colonial amnesia, revealing what the world was like at the turning point of the 2nd industrial revolution