People We Love is by Kit Monkman is having its North American debut in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The work features seven floor-mounted high-definition screens, all exceptionally lighted to show a video portrait of a different face. Each person shown is gazing at a picture of someone they love. A picture you never get to see. It’s simultaneously compelling, revealing, and emotional.
Creating the work required extensive public engagement, with willing Pittsburgh-based participants quite literally becoming component pieces of the displayed artwork. The process required each person be quietly filmed gazing at a digital or physical photo of a person they love while listening to a guided meditation. The experience of doing so created some very personal journey’s that were then tastefully captured for inclusion in the video-portrait ‘gallery’.