The String That Ties Us Together
My goal for this project is to raise awareness of ideas of home and how we are connected to our communities. Brooklyn is an extreme representation of the experimentation of the United States as creating a Utopian Society based on making a home away from home. The constant influx of immigration from abroad and from within America into neighborhoods in Brooklyn can raise tensions and connections. Utopia is a concept of an ideal society and Brooklyn is seen as a manifestation of that. As we strive to survive and create new community for our families and ourselves that is genuine to our culture, we create an energy that is felt as the Utopian pulse of Brooklyn. THE FILM: by: Ellie Balk, shot by Linn Edwards For this project, we connected Old Stone House to Brooklyn Historical Society with a red string. The 2.5 mile path shows both residential and commercial streets, traveling through 6 neighborhoods in this unique area of Brooklyn. THE MAPs: At both Old Stone House and Brooklyn Historical Society, I created a 4 ft circle map out of string. The maps show the neighborhoods of the surrounding areas of the both exhibition spaces and the red-string path that was taken for the film. I asked viewers to denote where they live on the map and to enter information in a log book stating their neighborhood, place of birth and "home".