Robert Ladislas Derr
Self, 2003
Self combines a 23" x 30" video projection of my contemplation in front of a tombstone and 23" x 30" color photograph of me in a moment of contemplation. It illustrates the dichotomy behind the theory of self. Existentialism is inherently modern in the belief of the autonomous self, where as in post-modern theory, it is believed the author is dead. In Self, the photograph illustrates the modernist myth of the author undeterred by cultural and social situations. The individual becomes the focus beyond the concept of self; this is illustrated by my head blocking the name Self on the tombstone. In the video, there exists an oscillation between the self and death of the author. I am questioning the polarity between the modernist and post-modernist concepts of self.