LINDA DUVALL Visual and Media Artist
Where were the Mothers?
Linda Duvall’s Where Were the Mothers? is a multimedia exhibit that explores the uneasy fluidity of truth, and reveals the contradictions in trying to assert a singular or absolute narrative. “We are deluged by reports of violent acts and seemingly senseless criminal activities, and we often look for someone to blame,” Duvall says. A common response is ‘Where were their mothers?’ Duvall explores the assumptions behind this phrase by focusing on the relationship between “people who have taken alternative life paths” and their mothers.
The exhibit presents the complicated narratives of people who have had run-ins with the law, lived or worked on the street, dealt with addictions or participated in illegal street gangs. Each of these participants collaborated with a professional musician to produce an original song about their mother. Condensing a lifetime of stories into three minutes of music both compresses and alters the original narratives. Duvall juxtaposes videotaped excerpts of the song production process alongside the finished songs.
A second layer of complication results from the staging of the encounter between two strangers – in this case the participant and the musician. Thorny issues of roles and authorship emerge. Who really shaped each song, and what preconceptions were brought to the interaction by each party?
The exhibit also includes Duvall’s interviews with other mothers whose offspring have deviated from conventional paths. Areas of discussion include issues of blame, available support systems for mental health or addiction needs, and the secrecy surrounding such stories.
Excerpts from The Meetings
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