Kristin Prevallet

Catalogue of Lost Glimpses

published in XCP: Streetnotes (Spring 2001)

The Catalogue of Lost Glimpses is a collection of images captured from avideo camera that was slung over the collector’s shoulder while walkingdown various streets. The video camera was always pointed in anotherdirection from the direction in which the collector was walking. So while the collector was walking straight ahead, the camera was pointing either up, to the side, or behind. Because the camera was not pointed in the direction of the collector’s eyes, the images collected were not intentional, and (most likely) did not at any point register with what wassimultaneously happening in the collector’s field-of-vision.

As we walk down the street, our eyes move in many different directions. What we see are fragments, parts, blurs, and abstractions, which we then
assemble to construct our reality. We might, within the same second, see a gumball machine, a doorway, a passer-by, a wall, colors, and a reflection in a window. But we do not categorize all of these things, nor name them. Rather we look away, and use the momentary glimpse described above to assemble another part of the street. All of these glimpses put together are vision; some resonate, and become memory.

The Catalogue of Lost Glimpses is an attempt to catalogue the objects of the street, to see what patterns emerge. From gathering and organizing 150 video stills from four different streets, several categories have appeared. The categories that define how we see the street may not be registered as important to the passers-by. But they are important to the street. These categories enable us to see that there is an alternate logic to the street when approached from the level of fragmented perception.