Alexandra Bell (b. 1983, Chicago, IL) is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates the complexities of narrative, information consumption, and perception. Utilizing various media, she deconstructs dominant histories to explore patterns in news reportage and society at large. Bell holds a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in Print Journalism from Columbia University. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Excerpt from Claudia Rankine and Alexandra Bell in conversation (full interview coming soon):
“I think my interest in this kind of approach, this “mining” of the archives, is in some ways a very recent one. I don’t get over things. And I was really interested in how certain texts that have been produced have become records, and kind of sit there, even when they don’t reflect, in some ways, “broader opinion.” And so when I picked up the Mike Brown article it always stuck with me. I was uncomfortable with picking something that wasn’t current. I really felt like I wouldn’t be able to get people to look back, especially because of how the news cycle moves. And then at some point I became sold on only doing that, this idea that there was some way to go back and actually change the history of something, to create something that could stand as a new record. I started doing a lot of reading and thinking about historical revisionism and marginalia and then just tried to think of ways to be more immersed in the text.”
Photo Credit: We Are Not Pilgrims
Used with permission of the artist. All rights reserved.