Dilmar
Gamero Santos

The Power of Experimentation at Elfreth's Alley, Philadelphia, PA (2020-2022)

Interdisciplinary and Multimodal Media Project.

The experience of collecting and validating archival information is the foundation of history: its creation, interpretation, and recording. Observers have built most public records based on what is present and absent in the assemblage of documents, images, and found objects in particular settings. An example of these processes is the record of Elfreth's Alley; a residential street considered a National Historic Landmark for its structures built between 1720 and 1830, that has been home to everyday Philadelphians for three centuries and is still a thriving residential community for artists, artisans, educators, entrepreneurs, and everything in between.

In this exhibit's experimental experience, the record of the Alley life has been deconstructed to expose the understanding and perception of personal narratives that offer alternative views of collective memory and public history.

The experimental processes in the creation of these objects based on analog experimental photographic processes and algorithmic new media creations with partial unpredictable results have been used to analyze and question ideas of presence and absence of ethnic groups, the exercise of power and control, patterns of privilege assigned to race, gender and ethnicity, as well as concerns of domestic and child labor, environment, gentrification, and social networks, offering a rich description of the Alley.

In the collaborative work with the museum professionals of the Alley, the artworks prepared for this exhibit have multiple intellectual, theoretical, and creative layers. They are metaphors, memorials, and personal interpretations motivated by the power and desire for experimentation in dialogue with the Museum spaces. They build a contemporary archival record of the Alley based on the interaction with the community and scholars of this historical place.

https://www.dilmargamero.com/thepowerofexperimentation.html