REBECCA LIPSITCH

Rebecca Lipsitch is an 18-year-old artist who grew up in Boston, MA. Throughout her artistic career & process, she’s transitioned from creating 2D visual art in a traditional museum format to more experimental 3D experiential works.

Rebecca believes that some of the most impactful art doesn’t show the viewer how to feel, but rather immerses the viewer into feeling. Taking inspiration from artists such as James Turell, Jackie Sumell, and Ai Weiwei, Rebecca tries to highlight the dialogue between the art and the viewer. The feeling of a loss of depth, or succumbing to an experience or environment is only possible with the willingness and availability of the viewer, as well as the intentionality and deliberation of the art and artist. 

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For psychological isolation, Rebecca focused her process around the question: How can I artistically represent the psychological effects of being isolated for a long period of time? Having studied solitary confinement for the past few years, she drew on books like Six By Ten, documentaries like College Behind Bars, personal meetings with those who have experienced solitary, scientific studies of the psychological effects of prolonged exposure to darkness and of isolation. Rebecca was dedicated to creating an immersive experience to showcase a synthesized understanding of her research. 

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Rebecca focused specifically on creating feelings of nostalgia, anxiety, negative self-talk, boredom, and the loss of sense and time, all of which are common emotions experienced by those who are subjected to extended isolation. Using audio as a way to encapsulate the memories, hallucinations, sensory overload, and flashbacks one might have, she hoped to give a window into how abusive this psychological torture can be for those spending days, months, or even years in solitary. She used her own black and white photography as a visual stimulus in hopes of creating a wistful, almost universal longing for these memories, with attached quotes beneath each picture. Rebecca chose to use a bright, intense red light as opposed to fluorescent white light in anticipation that the red light would expedite feelings of anxiety, loss of clear visual abilities, temperature inconsistency, eye strain, headaches and more. 

Viewers are invited to listen to navigate through the experience and audio collage, as well as to take a look at Rebecca's website with a virtual 360 tour and bibliography.