peter d'Agostino 70s
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coming & going: Washington (METRO)
Peter d’Agostino © 1979 / 2020
Three channel video installation
Preview: 1 of 10 min loop Edition: 5+2 AP
Designed as a video installation for L’Enfant Plaza station, this work consists of
three channels of video on three projection screens overlooking the platform.
On the screen to the left is a modified travelogue of Capitol sites, including
the White House, the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial,
and TV excerpts from a Redskins football game.
The screen to the right shows passengers boarding and exiting trains
throughout the system from Airport to L’Enfant Plaza as viewed from
video monitors within the METRO’s surveillance system.
On the center screen is a continuously rolling text: a chronology of historical
events that led to the design of the Federal City by architect Pierre L’Enfant.
Conveyed through L’Enfant’s correspondence with President George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson between 1789 and 1792, it summarizes the architect’s
attempts to implement his master plan and the bureaucratic controversy
that led to his resignation and his historical obscurity. ( L’Enfant was not
officially recognized as the city’s original master planner until 1903.)
The soundtrack keys the visual images as they phase in and out
of synchronous relation. It is composed of sounds from a METRO ride,
music from the revolutionary period, a lecture concerning the politics of
operating the METRO system, and a tour guide’s brief comments
on the history of the District of Columbia.
Exhibitions: Washington Project for the Arts, 1979
California Video, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2008 [ Catalog ]
coming & going: Washington (METRO)
Peter d’Agostino © 1979 / 2020
Three channel video installation Preview: 1 of 10 min loop Edition: 5+2 AP
Designed as a video installation for L’Enfant Plaza station, this work consists of three channels of video on three projection screens overlooking the platform. On the screen to the left is a modified travelogue of Capitol sites, including the White House, the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, and TV excerpts from a Redskins football game.
The screen to the right shows passengers boarding and exiting trains throughout the system from Airport to L’Enfant Plaza as viewed from video monitors within the METRO’s surveillance system.
On the center screen is a continuously rolling text: a chronology of historical events that led to the design of the Federal City by architect Pierre L’Enfant. Conveyed through L’Enfant’s correspondence with President George Washington and Thomas Jefferson between 1789 and 1792, it summarizes the architect’s attempts to implement his master plan and the bureaucratic controversy that led to his resignation and his historical obscurity. ( L’Enfant was not officially recognized as the city’s original master planner until 1903.)
The soundtrack keys the visual images as they phase in and out of synchronous relation. It is composed of sounds from a METRO ride, music from the revolutionary period, a lecture concerning the politics of operating the METRO system, and a tour guide’s brief comments on the history of the District of Columbia.
Exhibitions: Washington Project for the Arts, 1979 California Video, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2008 [ Catalog ]