Video Artist Creates Community Portrait with 'I'm Nobody! Who are You?'

Is it possible for a portrait to truly capture an individual?

Maya Ciarrocchi, a New York video artist, is attempting to answer this question in her latest project – "I’m Nobody! Who are You?" – which she is creating while in-residence at .

The project explores identity and the audience-subject relationship. Ciarrocchi for the video installation, most of whom are Arlington or Washington residents. Participants run the gamut from lawyers to burlesque performers.

They are all filmed in a full-body shot for 10 minutes. They can do whatever they want during this time, as long as they look directly into the camera and stay within the shot.

“I’m just going to try to be myself and pay attention to the moment while I’m in it,” said Heather Doyle, a district resident who participated in the project. “That’s going to be me in this 10 minutes. It’s not necessarily who I’m going to be by the time the exhibit goes up.”

Once the individual filming sessions are complete, Ciarrocchi will edit the video so participants are paired and sessions are displayed side-by-side. Each pair will get five to six minutes of screen time, with the entire film running approximately one hour.

Ciarrocchi's goal is to create a context where the volunteers consider their role as an artistic subject being viewed by an audience. Ciarrocchi also seeks to instill a spatial awareness of the body.

“I was particularly interested in how people define a place,” she said.

Community is another important component. Art often is specialized or self-involved, Ciarrocchi said – two qualities she sought to avoid.

“It’s inviting the community into the art-making process,” Ciarrocchi said. “Once people are involved in the process of making a work of art, then they have ownership of it.”

Each volunteer claimed that ownership differently.

Doyle, a professional dance artist, considered marking through choreography during her session – that is, alluding to specific movements without performing them.

Kristina Bilonick, a Washington artist, had a very different perspective.

“It was like a meditative experience,” said Bilonick, who used the filming session as an opportunity to diffuse.

The video portraits thus far have been as diverse as Arlington itself.

If you’re interested in participating in Ciarrocchi’s project, she will be filming volunteers through Tuesday. Interested parties can contact her at mayaciarocchi@gmail.com to schedule an appointment. The installation will open Sept. 28 at Artisphere and will run through Oct. 31.