AlexanderMedia
(design technology software)
Tallapoosa, Georgia

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a unique project
Relativity
Lisa Gray and Kedar Gore
 Creative Director
Carol LaFayette
The Art Institute of Atlanta

"The sun was shining. They brought me right down the road."
Copy
(Lisa Gray)

In Memory
Pink Berns
Feburary 25,1918
November 24,1999
After hours of cruising the information superhighway, a quite frequent activity for us, we took a drive in search of a place that would overpower our urge to create art that would be technical and complicated. We found ourselves in the wooded hills of Northeast Alabama where the photo-oriented part of our two person creative team said "Nice shot!" It was a simple view of what we call an 'old timer' sitting on the front porch of a shanty in the woods. An emotional curiosity overtook us, so we journeyed toward the door in anticipation of permission to photograph this intriguing place.
The subject of this unexpected venture projected a lack of complexity and seemed to exist with ease: a man with a voice full of contentment, a hardly audible southern accent, full of invitation, residing among a layout of unpretentious and genuine design. This man presided over an inviting space with no secrets and nothing to hide or steal.
As we drifted toward the entrance of his single room residence, this wonderfully pleasant and lively gentleman of 77 gave us the okay to browse through his incredibly designed site. Upon hearing our admiration for the unusually simple yet functional archival installation, our host began a story with an illustration of contentment... contentment to live as he has for the past 75 years, in the same house to which his parents had brought him on a sunny day in December, when he was barely old enough to walk. By this time we were in agreement that the configuration in which we stood was more than a "nice shot," it was also a window to an image that would form a narrative of history, technology and communication.
"I have a lot of company out here."
It was an honor to be allowed to step into the life of an individual with such an emotional and energetic nature. Understanding his level of contentment and satisfaction was beyond our software and posed quite a dilemma in the context of our learned values; it required explicit dissection of simple elements. We hoped to build an accurate and comprehensible look into a timeless, apparently unaltered existence that stands nestled in the woods among an audience of pines and poplars, in contrast to our virtual and ever-changing structure.
While sharing thoughts with our host on technologies and humanities and questioning the concept of "the free spirit," we found that in his world, distance is part of his space. To reach answers or acquire amenities deemed necessary, he has only to move about within his adequate area. As we reach for answers or attempt to satisfy our needs we reach into a space that has no apparent limits. As we go online, distance is unknown. As we try to expand our virtual atmosphere we lose the authentic experience that governs the life of our host.
"It looked like this when I come down here 75 year ago the 24th of this month. I cant recollect too good I was 2 year old when I moved down here. I recollect comin down the road though, in a little red wagon...they pulled me in a little red wagon. The sun was shining. They brought me right down the road. Mamma and Daddy had a one horse wagon."
We began our tour with the barn that encompasses a history of hard work. Standing dormant, belonging right in the heart of this authentic montage, the oak structure now houses only lack of interest for any task once performed inside. It abides contented and unaffected. A picture of our host making use of its former vital contents is only a ghostly image, viewable exclusively by chance access to a man and his memories, quite unlike our ability to locate any desired image through technical means. To replace our folders of phone numbers and addresses with the homemade address book that lies on a dresser near his antique telephone would be more difficult than learning the latest software that would do it for you.
Another of his technologies is the well that, unlike the barn, is still very much in operation. Providing the only source of water for all practical uses, the well is a simple, pure, and adequate facility. Our host points in the direction of the stream from which flows the water that fills his well. It would be a more difficult task for us to identify the origins of the bitstream from our online server. The wood-burning stove that sits in the center of his comfortable home provides heat as well as means for cooking...we imagined a personal quest to find something in our residence that would supply two such essential needs at one time.
"Always had plenty to eat, ham, biscuits, that big boy, milk and butter, and eggs. I mean eggs of all kinds. We had plenty to eat back in them days. We had pure lard. Cans that big. In summer time it was still just like it was froze, but it wasn't froze it wouldn't melt. It was good when you cooked them ole eggs and everything in it. It's hard to get nowdays."
"I have them of all kinds. Boy! They're the purtiest things you ever seen. Red Birds, Little Wrens, and all. Sparrows and Mockin' Birds, Brown Threshers."
The front porch where he spends the majority of his leisure time plays host to various birds. It is decorated to attract his friends who bring with them a beautiful assortment of songs. The nature tape we played to relax with on the way out here now seems a bit mechanical. Hanging beside the birdhouses made from deserted hornet nests are several strands of pepper, drying, in order to plant in the spring. We believe these would add a little spice to anyone's life.
"I got, let's see, about 9 or 10 of them "hottest they are in the world" pepper. I got em hanging up out here. I'm gonna sow them seed. That stuff is hot."
A view from the door of this structure was a view of great expectations--we longed to reach for them. We left with a sadness that comes with moving toward something "better" while not being sure we were ready to lose what we were leaving behind. Some things we avoid while embracing other things in an effort to save time. After sharing moments and memories with our host, we briefly questioned what exactly we were in a rush to save time for. This facet of our existence seemed somehow unjustifiable in light of our journey. We lingered on this thought as we returned to our partition of society and the technology which we spend most of our existence trying to improve upon.
"Ya got everything now, well ya'll come back. God bless you and we'll see ya. "