Steffani Jemison

Jemison’s video work Personal was commissioned by the Brooklyn Museum in 2014. Jemison – herself Brooklyn-based – shot the work in and around the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Both visually and conceptually Personal brings together the separate aspects that mark her work, straddling the ground between the personal and political and the passing of time. Split into three vignettes, each focusing on an African-American man walking to and fro within the contained spot of the scene, Personal references early cinematic works. The three vignettes are presented without order or sequencing, one following the other without visual cue. The shots remain self-contained, honing in on the restrained movements of the protagonists at the various locations: an outdoor athletics and basketball court, Brooklyn’s Fulton Park and an unfinished mural depicting both Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama. With Personal Jemison weaves together dissonant layers of time: motions go backwards and forwards, people move in contrasting directions. Throughout, the video appears to be moving in differing directions, morphing time into a disorienting, disjointed reality. Shot around the time of the police killing of Eric Garner, Personal explores notions of loitering and waiting around, calling into question the reality of racial progress. Trapped within the loop of the video, the men remain static within their motions.