2005 Rockefeller New Media Foundation Proposal
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The web based project "The Other Americans" will present an electronic poem of the fiercely independent and self-reliant voices that evoke the character of individuals who are living in rural America. The nature of the project is to give voice to the spirit of independence that is alive in communities where the mainstay profession is or used to be that of the family owned farm. I would like to create an archive of voices, moving images, and words that celebrate the spirit of the solitary individual in a world that is increasingly structured, monopolized and corporatised. The community that I have chosen to present is situated in Delaware County, New York. The focus will be on the dairy farmer whose livelihood has been decimated by the advent of giant corporate farms. The web project will weave together a history and memory that will engage the "moment", the "moment" of the "present", the "past" and its "future". It intends to discover the experience of being alive, of living the "everyday", the very poetry that is the act of living. It will present the struggle of individuals who remain true to themselves, their hopes and dreams, in a world that is increasingly dominated by mass culture. The project will emphasize the spirit and humanity of the individual who thinks for himself or herself.