Steffani Jemison (American, born 1981). <em>Personal</em>, 2014. Digital video projection, color, sound, TRT, 6 minutes 45 seconds

Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. White Fund, 2015.8. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.8_view01_SC.jpg)

Steffani Jemison (American, born 1981). Personal, 2014. Digital video projection, color, sound, TRT, 6 minutes 45 seconds Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. White Fund, 2015.8. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.8_view01_SC.jpg)

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Personal

Steffani Jemison

Contemporary Art

In Steffani Jemison’s Personal, three black men— professional actors based in Brooklyn who responded to an ad Jemison placed—move improvisationally through various locations in Bed-Stuy. Shot against an unfinished mural, in a public park, and on a playing field, the actors walk forward, backward, and in slow circles, with the world around them largely unaffected by their movement.

Jemison moves between letting the footage play naturally and reversing it, making it unclear if the action is unfolding in real time or not. Techniques of repetition and reversal confuse time, space, and sequence. These strategies provoke viewers to consider the impact of inherited narratives and question notions of linear progress, particularly in relation to black Americans.

ARTIST Steffani Jemison, American, born 1981

MEDIUM Digital video projection, color, sound, TRT, 6 minutes 45 seconds

DATES 2014

COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2015.8

CREDIT LINE Alfred T. White Fund

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Steffani Jemison (American, born 1981). Personal, 2014. Digital video projection, color, sound, TRT, 6 minutes 45 seconds Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. White Fund, 2015.8. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2015.8_view01_SC.jpg)

EDITION Edition: ?/3, 2 Aps

IMAGE screen capture, Timestamp: 00:25, 2015.8_view01_SC.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2020

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Personal

Steffani Jemison

Contemporary Art

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