Sprawville

Sven Påhlsson

31 March 2002

3D Animation. DVD colour video with sound. 13′ Collection MUSAC

Sprawville is a trip around various suburban areas, structured by notions of economic and social stratification in which there is no room for difference, and hence for individual freedom. Identical rows of single-family houses, and huge car parks in which the only difference between the vehicles is found in the colours or in formal characteristics that are repeated ad nauseam, form an urban map devoid of any human element that might bring it to life. These are elements that draw an itinerary through the American dream.

The changes to the landscape make use of video-game programming techniques, and are limited to modular elements – vehicles, trees, refuse bins – whose repetition builds up a scene inhabited by absent individuals: a presence only hinted at by these daily-use objects.

– CARLOS ORDÁS