Overground, an urban picture

Overground is a three-channel media installation that explores issues affecting the contemporary American city: geography, infrastructure, housing, landscape, monuments, vernacular, and ultimately meaning. The project began in 1999 as a straightforward documentary about a grass roots mayoral campaign in San Francisco, California. After the election, the project evolved into an analysis of the interaction between the natural, built, and social environments of the city. The issues of the campaign became frames through which to examine a deeper narrative of urban spatial systems. The project evolved into a cinematic essay on the alignment, misalignment, and overlap of physical and social spaces. Although specifically about San Francisco, the project also alludes to the broader story of urban America. This video simulates the effect of the original side-by-side projections and sound track in the installation. Original music is composed by Mark Mulcahy.