“A Walk Down Main Street” – Fleischmanns, NY
Photo and Video Exhibition – Painter’s Gallery
A TermiteTV Walk

Alan Powell – Project Director
Collaborators: Juliana Fernandes, Wanda Kossak, Roman Kossak, Mateus Castro, and Christine Acurantes.

Artist Statement – Alan Powell

     Walking is a central part of my artistic practice. I tend to walk through an environment repeatedly, slowly documenting the observed environment. I do not see with a monolithic Renaissance eye. I scan, pan, and sample my environment using the electronic tools related to video, sound, and photography. I rarely rely on one image to convey my sense of a place. I have been coming to Fleischmanns for thirty years and finally buying a second home on Main Street four years ago. Fleischmanns is everything I wanted in a small community. It is connected to nature, a dynamic cultural scene for its size, and a diverse and interesting community.

        Since the early 1970’s I have worked in electronic arts, which has included single channel video tapes, installations, artist books, and electronically generated flat art work. I was educated in video and wet room photography at R.I. School of Design. My undergraduate education was based on modernist practice. My aesthetic and cultural art practice is based in post-modernism and cultural studies. I have been involved in artist collectives (Electron Movers 1973-1978) (TermiteTV 1993 – present). I am a strong believer in collaboration and art being connected to the social. This project could not have happened without the continual input and hard work of my collaborators. A portrait of Fleischmanns expresses my devotion to community and the many kinds of people that make a community function. Fleischmanns is a living, changing community, that has a diverse population, and older buildings that are constantly evolving. I embrace the piles of things that indicate surplus, recycling and new possibilities. The practice of video and photography has always been central to my artistic practice. With the development of digital photography and new media in general, my video practice and photographic practice have become much more integrated into a singular practice.

Alan Powell is a professor of Communications and Media at Arcadia University, which is near Philadelphia, PA.