FOUR PARALLEL LINES

Mary Ellen Strom and Ann Carlson
2007
5 minute loop

This video was made in collaboration with four men, Jose Bautista, Joel Gomez, Lisandrow Vicente, Carlos Hernandez who work as day laborers in California. Four parallel lines are drawn on a stretch of beach using 6 by 2 inch lumber. This scene references Walter De Marias, 1968 earthwork in which he drew two parallel mile long lines in the Mojave Desert. During the scene the ocean eventually washes the workers line drawings away. In this work, art historical references are deployed to frame or give focus to the lives of immigrants and their labor.

Exhibited at:

2013 Lines a Brief History, Pompidou-Metz, Paris, France, curator Helene Guenin
2013 Forms in Flux, Nagoya Museum of Fine Arts, Nagoya, Japan, curator Satoko Inokuchi
2012 Global: Arte y Cambio Climatico, Fundacion Union-Espacio Cultural Contemporaneo, Montevideo, Uruguay,               curator, Agustina Benvenuto
2012 The Art of All Possibilities, Biosphere 2, Tucson, AZ, curator, Ellen Skotheim
2012 The Menil Collection, Houston, TX in conjunction with Richard Serra Drawing Show
2011 Drawing Center, New York City, Pathway: Drawing In, On, and Through the Landscape
2011 Galerie LeLong, New York City, Interventions in the Landscape
2010 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Permanent Collection Show
2010 International Curatorial and Studio Program, Brooklyn, NY
2009 Decordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, New Performance Video, Solo Exhibition
              Ann Carlson and Mary Ellen Strom
2008 Trinity University Gallery, San Antonio, TX, Eligible Traffic
2008 Artadia Awards Boston Exhibition, Mills Gallery, Boston, MA
2007 Sculpture Center, Queens, NY, In-Practice
2007 Alexander Gray Associates, NYC, Work
2007 Augustus St. Gauden’s Gallery, Cornish, New Hampshire, Work

 
Public Collections:
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Four Parallel Lines, Fonds régional d'art contemporain, FRAC Lorraine, France

FOUR PARALLEL LINES was produced at the Headlands Center for the Arts Residency Program.