Interstates. Not innately interesting. No one looks at an exit ramp and thinks, ’wow, that’s gorgeous!’ The word brings up images of endless concrete, featureless structures, and bland landscapes. But I find the interstate to be a fascinating liminal space, unique to contemporary America. The sealed environment of our cars, the high speed of travel, and the limited access of the interstate itself, all serve to separate us from our fellow travelers, the landscape we traverse, and the obligations of our busy lives. I feel I step outside the confines of time and space and can let go of demands on my attention and just be; with the thrill of speed and my forward momentum, with the illusion of freedom from responsibilities, or with an internal journey of contemplation and reflection.
“The Seventh Bardo” was shot entirely while driving on the interstates of the Southeast. I grew up in the Southeastern cities of Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia during the 70’s, a time when the new interstate system was a major agent in the transformations going on in that region. As a young woman, the interstate symbolized freedom from isolation and was a doorway to exciting new experiences. As an adult, I often turned to the interstate in times of uncertainty, seeking the kind of introspection that I could only find on a long drive through its empty landscapes. ‘Bardo’ is a Tibetan term, meaning ‘an in-between space’, and usually refers the state of existence between death and rebirth. I am proposing that driving on the interstate is a kind of bardo. It’s in between the place we’ve left and our final destination, with hours and miles to traverse in-between.
A meditation on the modern journey, the landscapes comprising The Seventh Bardo re-envision the view outside the window as a no-man’s land, far removed from the ordinary routines of daily life. While the landscapes are shot handheld, the portraits are taken by cameras mounted on tripods and using a remote cable. From the tens of thousands of images shot, I select photographs of people who appear to be lost in thought and recontextualize them as the denizens of a transcendent limbo. In exhibition, the landscapes are printed large, reflecting the monumentality of the interstate structures and vast spaces. The portraits are a more intimate size, scattered between the landscapes in small groups, mimicking encounters on the highway.