We gape at the idiosyncrasies of alien cultures but are inured to peculiarities in our own. To the extent that we are products of our culture, it stands to reason that objective introspection is problematic, but would we recognize some of our own quirky behavior if we observed it in the context of a foreign culture? That’s the approach I took in two of my installations, Ritual Prototypes for the Afterlife (2009), and The Japanese didn’t think much of me at first, and they never liked my films (2011). The video component in the former work explores the subject of enculturation by supposing to what degree a life could be transformed when one’s culture is replaced utterly by another. The narrative is an interview with the aging Tutankhamen who tells the story of his returning to life at the age he died (19), appearing in a Cairo suburb in 1967 after an unexpectedly long journey to the afterlife. He finds himself without family, social structure, status, or any remnant of identity, and his language, religion, and politics are literally ancient history. He quickly realizes the implications of his situation—and the wisdom of discretion—and with only his innate intelligence, curiosity, and will, adapts to his new environs and builds a life for himself.
            The latter installation’s video component also uses the interview form but primarily as a vehicle for presenting allegorical content. The alien culture in its narrative is ostensively Japanese, meaning that except for a few stereotypical references and a character based loosely on Japanese filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Kurosawa, the issues addressed are actually American in nature. The crux of the narrative though is a series of allegories presented as screenplay plots. While these story lines seem patently absurd, they should elicit some uncanny associations for anyone familiar with political events of the past few decades.