Proposal for Giant Stories final

I live in a good neighborhood for going out, or finding many, many adults under 40 hanging out in bars. Last night I was walking home and passed by a cab that had picked up 4 people. A girl was talking, but seemed little uncomfortable with not being hidden in the back. The cab driver definitely seemed like he’d prefer her sitting in back. Another cab was behind that one, and it had 1 or 2 people in it, one passenger talking on the phone. I wanted to know what the person in the next cab might have been doing, but it was empty. So I got the idea to make a video of people in taxicabs, as some kind of an ‘idiot with a tripod’ video featuring people in taxicabs.

I think the subject is interesting because people in cabs have a personal-public existence. I think cab passengers feel sort of self-important. Compared to the subway, bus or walking, it’s not cheap to ride in cabs. And, when you’re in a car there’s some kind of boundary between you and everyone else; it feels so good to get out of it and have some fake privacy. This self-important privacy is fake because taxicab passengers are not car owners, who have the pride of owning a car to help them feel important and so their privacy is really their own. For taxicab passengers, there’s a driver so they’re never alone and they just stepped off the sidewalk where I’m still standing. Plus, they’re in a car painted to indicate that they’re in a car that’s not their own. So, I like the idea of peeking into their false privacy.

To do the project, I will set up at a couple of intersections in NY, and focus the camera on people in cabs while they wait for the light. I’ll try to get a couple of intersections, maybe 5 major ones. And get some video of people at different times of the day, starting with early morning (if possible), mid-day, to night. Possible intersections might include: Columbus Circle, 14th Street and University, 1st Street and 1st Ave, 6th Ave and ???. Or, maybe I’ll just take video of intersections on the F-line so it’s easier for me to get home. I’m not sure how I’ll present the videos right now, but I was considering some kind of structure/installation.

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