I should stop hitting curbs (2024)

Silent experimental film exploring frustration, numbness, and psychological fragility in day-to-day living through visual juxtaposition of the human figure with an unusual vehicle.

Description

The emotional numbness that comes with an unbreakable routine is a familiar feeling for many. In places where cars are the primary mode of transport, a person’s vehicle becomes a part of this daily cycle. The image of the dashboard while traversing a long commute is but a commonplace memory, and the tired loneliness of the heart reaches no ears but the engine. However, as involuntary participants of the human experience, cars have the potential to show the strains of life in unexpected ways. In the case of the vehicle in “I should stop hitting curbs.”, its physical appearance and functions reflect the frustration, fragility, and emotional suppression of its driver. The juxtaposition of the broken side mirror, dead key fob, and glitched rear camera with the driver’s pale, harrowed complexion reveal how our possessions can tell more about us than we might believe. Furthermore, they expose the effects of a daily routine not only on a person’s spirit, but also on the things that they own. "I should stop hitting curbs." is a silent film featuring performance by the artist Alessandra Henriquez inside of her Dodge Journey 2015.

Background

Around the middle of 2023, the feed of my car’s back-up camera became distorted and would appear as a strange red glitch instead of capturing the environment as it was intended. Later that year, I hit a trash bin with my right side mirror and, after it came clean off, I had to tape it back into place. It came to my attention that not only am I a hazard on the road, but also my daily commute has been a ritual of torture not just for myself but for my poor car. Inspired by this notion, I decided to further explore the mental state in which I find myself when I first get behind the wheel as well as the relationship between my damaged car and myself.