Kristin Lucas
Kristin Lucas’s Video Checkout is an interpretation of the process by which some technologies become obsolete. Visitors to the installation are invited to “check out” VHS tapes cast in concrete, recalling the recent – but swiftly outdated – ritual of renting movies. Once a contemporary experience, the act of borrowing a video is now one of history as Lucas adds an almost archeological element through her use of material. Video Checkout forces us to ask whether the VHS tape is truly as useful as a concrete block, or whether our nostalgia for its cultural contribution still grants the medium some value; is the phase-out of the movie rental store just another point for the digital self, or a point lost for human interaction?
See many more of Lucas’s projects at her website here, and a review of the installation here.
