The MCA Chicago’s exhibition Amalia Pica was the artist’s first major solo museum show in the United States. Pica uses simple materials—such as photocopies, lightbulbs, drinking glasses, beer bottles, bunting, cardboard, and other found materials—to create work that explores metaphor, communication, and language. She is particularly interested in the role of the artist in conveying messages to audiences and the translation of thought to action, and idea to object. The video features Pica’s commentary as well as behind-the-scenes footage of the artist installing her work.
Working on an extremely truncated production schedule, we completed all the production and post-production for this video in less than two weeks. We shot the interview, which I conducted, at the MCA the day after the artist arrived to begin the installation of the exhibition, and we shot the artwork for b-roll during the installation in order to have the video done by the opening. Including behind-the-scenes footage of the artist at work and providing solid commentary on the conceptual foundations and themes that run through Pica’s work, the final edit includes a wonderfully personal and relatable thought by the artist, “…I make a work and I think, ‘What would my mom think of it.'”
The video was featured prominently on the homepage of the MCA’s website, onsite, and pushed out through social media.
My role:
Producer, Interviewer, and Project Manager
Project collaborators:
Director, Cinematographer, and Editor: Mike Alfini
Graphic Designer: Scott Reinhard
Sarah Wambold 