migration (empire) - linear version

Doug Aitken is considered among the leading video artists of his generation. He is known for creating exquisitely produced and engaging videos that utilize the visual richness of the medium to capture the complexity of society and culture today. Aitken's close studies of wild, North American animals released within the artificial habitat of the motel are spellbinding. A horse occupies a room, watching wild horses run free on television; a buffalo, the tragic American symbol of the wild West, trashes the space. The animals' displacement from their native environment seems at once humorous and horrific, strangely familiar and prophetic.The work captures the country's strengths and contradictions - the sublime beauty of a landscape that is often impacted by urban development. Ultimately, migration provides a picture of America as it grows, changes, and finds its place in the twenty-first century.