“Tree People” debuted as an 11 minute, 8-channel video installation within the exhibition “Model Home Part 1: After Wisconsin Death Trip”, at an experimental art space called The Poor Farm, in rural Wisconsin. The installation makes use of a grid of flatscreen televisions to assume the appearance of a nineteenth-century puppet theater. This tableau sets up a conversation between two digitally constructed “hand puppets” who discuss a fictional video game. Animations of historical “fortune teller” style games, such as the ouija board and magic eight ball accompany the characters to address themes of destiny, history and death within emerging, interactive forms of entertainment.

AWARDS: