Shabby but Thriving by A.K. Burns is a 36 minute video instillation at the New Museum. It features two projectors, two overlapping screens, and the viewing area is furnished with a stripped and gutted couch that has a blue under glow, and foldable stools. The intentionally dingy floor was also smattered with spilling bags of dirt, and white and neon yellow fishing lines extended from hand ornamentation on the walls. The two screens were set up in such a way that at times only one would be in use, sometimes there would be two different scenes playing at the same time, and other times the two screens were used in unison to create one whole image. Having one big screen and one smaller screen at an angle drew emphasis to important details and helped guide the focus of the viewer. The scenes were shot it in the New Museum’s 231 Bowery space, a prewar building adjacent to the Museum that houses the artist-in-residence studio.

The film had multiple subjects. In one portion it would switch back and forth between a semi naked white woman and a cross dressing black man taking out heaps of garbage through a basement and down a narrow stairwell. In another portion, there were children interacting with their environment in an empty off-white room, save for a couch. Both children dress in clothes that match the upholstery of the couch. One child is a girl wearing seashell pattern clothes that matches the couch as she plays with an aquarium. She grabs at the fish and sand in a way that is playful but childishly aggressive. It seems like she is trying to dominate this small ecosystem with what little power she has. The couch and the way she’s dressed contribute to a feeling of nostalgia, so that it almost feels like you are peering in on someone’s home movies from the 80’s. The other child featured in this project is a young boy with glasses wearing yellow plaid that runs around the room sometimes trying to swat at a fly. I was not able to tell if there was anything actually there, and the child himself also seemed confused and uncertain of what he was doing or why he was doing it. This contributed to theme of trying to exert control over surroundings even if it is to no end. Within the emptiness, the two children find things to give their day-to-day existence meaning, even if it harms things that are alive or imaginary.

Each subject interacts with his or her desolate and shabby environment in ways that are electric and dynamic. The blue under glow of the couch and the blue lights within the film made this otherwise nostalgic seeming piece become futuristic. The combination of found and constructed interiors blurs the line between what is real and what is imagined and felt. The description of the exhibit explains that the piece “ is organized around five elements: power (the sun), water, land, void, and body.” What really stuck out to me about this project was the way in which it drew attention to the ways we interact with our environment in both positive and negative ways. I am also drawn to work that explores issues of classism.