The crashed car was fast becoming a permanent component of the neighborhood’s ecosystem. International Center of Photography (ICP) student Rafaella Castagnola first encountered it outside of a police station in Brooklyn where, after many months, it had accumulated graffiti and was becoming the backdrop for callous selfies. The frightfully mutilated vehicle suggested a human story that, however tragic, Castagnola felt should be told.
But which story was true? With curatorial guidance from Joanna Lehan, adjunct curator at ICP, this mixed media installation features the materials of Castagnola’s obsessive investigation.
Following a trail that may, or may not, have traversed personal boundaries as it touches on the subjects of gentrification and the value of human lives, Castagnola’s A Chronicle of Chance Intersections embodies the desire urbanites feel to find meaning within the glimpses that the city provides inside the heartbreak of strangers.
Castagnola is a 2019 graduate of ICP’s One-Year Certificate program in New Media Narratives. ICP, the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture, will open a new integrated center at Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side in January 2020.
Artist Bios
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Rafaella Castagnola
Rafaella Castagnola (b. 1994, Lima, Peru), a visual artist based in New York City and Lima, explores the grey area between conceptual art and journalism. After studying graphic design at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, she graduated from the International Center of Photography’s One-Year Certificate program in New Media Narratives. Rafaella works mainly on long-term photographic projects produced across platforms as installations, books, interactive websites, and videos.
She constructs narratives using journalistic techniques, extensive research, and archival material. Abandoned spaces and discarded objects are among the subjects she investigates to reveal forgotten life stories and explore themes of geographic change, death, the intrusion of the unknown and the effects of chance.
Organizations
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The International Center of Photography (ICP)
The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. Cornell Capa founded ICP in 1974 to champion “concerned photography” — socially and politically minded images that can educate and change the world. Through our exhibitions, education programs, community outreach, and public programs, ICP offers an open forum for dialogue about the power of the image.
A Chronicle of Chance Intersections
Featuring: Rafaella Castagnola
Curated by: Joanna Lehan
Locations
View Location Details Download a detailed map of this location Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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