Amie Siegel Asterisms 

Production | Exhibition Grant

Asterisms is a large-scale sculptural and video installation that considers the material and physical movement, labor practices, and social dynamics within the Middle East. Asterisms consists of five unique videos of varying lengths and aspect ratios arranged systematically in the form of a constellation. Derived from the superimposition of the various projection formats, the shape of the video installation resembles a stylized star, or ‘asterism’—an informal group of stars. Upon entering the installation space, each video plays individually in an irregular sequence, culminating in a montage of various enthralling scenes such as overpopulated labor camps, and the stunning process of melting and sculpting gold bricks into luxury objects and jewelry. Through implicit associations, and spectacular, gliding tracking shots, these videos examine the United Arab Emirates and its unique economic developments. Siegel shot footage for the film on location in the Emirates in 2018. This included filming migrant labor camps that supply manual work for gold factories and oil recovery; shooting the surreal landscape of a royal palace where Arabian horses are bred and trained for show; and capturing the process of constructing artificial islands for real estate in Dubai. Taken together, these vignettes form Asterisms, a video installation that meditates on the specific context of the United Arab Emirates in order to explore geological and social displacement processes on a planetary scale. Asterisms expands Siegel’s work with the moving image, employing lyrical visuals and fostering new discoveries and relationships between cultural signifiers.