Story

STORY - Accessibility Transcript: 

Introduction

"STORY" is a one-minute video artwork exploring the intersection of marginalization, recognition, and temporal perception. Drawing on visual motifs of fragility - brown paper, cardboard, and ephemeral lighting - the piece presents an immersive, transient environment constructed from found and vulnerable materials.

Over the course of sixty seconds, brief textual overlays emerge and vanish: phrases spoken to or by individuals experiencing homelessness, moments of vulnerability, resistance, and emotional survival. The transience of these phrases is intentional; they reflect the fleeting nature of attention and empathy in public space. The rapidity with which the text appears mirrors how swiftly such voices are ignored or forgotten.

The installation - a constructed shelter made of brown paper and tape - functions both as an aesthetic object and as a symbolic structure. It references not only physical precarity, but also the emotional and psychological architectures built by those living in unstable conditions.

The inclusion of Pearse's The Sovereign People at the film's opening anchors the piece within a broader sociopolitical discourse, connecting historical assertions of collective ownership and welfare with contemporary issues of displacement and poverty.

The total runtime underscores the artist's central premise: that a single minute - one act of eye contact, a greeting, a gesture - is all it takes to acknowledge another's humanity. In rendering this fleeting moment with care and detail, STORY invites the viewer to reflect on both visibility and silence, and the everyday power of recognition.

Full Accessibility Transcript

[00:00:00] - Opening Scene:

The screen is black. Faint sounds of a scratchy vinyl record begin to play. Bold red letters fade in: "STORY".

[00:00:04] - Historical Declaration:

 Over a faded red background, white text appears: "PROCLAMATION 1919". The voice of Pearse reads from "The Sovereign People":

"We declare that the nation's sovereignty extends not only to all the men and women of the nation, but to all of its material possessions, the nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the nation and we affirm that all the right to private property must be subordinate to the public right and welfare."

[00:00:28] - Transitional Moment:

The audio of the vinyl fades.

Visual flickering continues, simulating the scratchy texture of an old black-and-white film.

[00:00:30] - Domestic Setting:

A handmade brown paper coat with a red and navy check scarf hangs from the end of a bannister. Sunlight spills through a stained-glass window, casting fractured patterns on the scene.

[00:00:32] - Tactile Presence:

A white and brown English Setter dog lies on a bed, alert.

Across the bedding: a rough, handmade coat fashioned from brown paper and masking tape. The room suggests both care and impermanence.

[00:00:33] - Exterior Hardship:

The coat now hangs against a damp, cold, grey exterior wall. Rain falls heavily.

The texture of wet paper suggests fragility and endurance.

[00:00:36] - Displacement:

A crumpled brown paper coat lies on a cardboard mat over a patterned blanket. Nearby, tape labeled "FRAGILE".

Overlayed text flashes: "Move along SCUM" - then disappears.

[00:00:39] - Injury and Vulnerability:

Close-up: a hand wrapped in paper bandages.

 Shot in stark black-and-white.

[00:00:40] - Negative Space:

Negative image: the same hand reversed in tone. Sound of rain and distant thunder.

Offscreen voice: "Ah, you're very good. Thanks very much."

[00:00:40] - Empathy Fragments:

View shifts to a cardboard box installation - brown paper walls, reflective vest strips. Overlayed text: "I'M SAD".

[00:00:41] - Gratitude in Hardness:

Close-up: a bandaged hand reaches into the box installation. Offscreen voice: "Ah I appreciate that."

[00:00:41] - Flickering Defiance:

Bandaged fingers zoomed in.

Text momentarily flashes: "FUCK THEM out of sight".

[00:00:43] - Human Contact:

The box installation again.

Overlay text: "CHAT, EMPATHY, HUMAN".

[00:00:44] - Outstretched Hand:

A slow zoom on the hand - reaching, expectant.

[00:00:44] - Layers of Dignity:

Black-and-white image of the installation, softly lit - almost ghostlike.

[00:00:44] - Harsh Survival:

Color image of the same installation flashes briefly. Overlayed words: "RUBBISH, SURVIVE, SHIT".

[00:00:44] - Return to Monochrome:

A brief glimpse of the installation back in black-and-white.

[00:00:46] - Final Plea:

Close-up: the hand outstretched. Coins clatter onto cardboard.

Footsteps retreat.

Traffic hums in the background.

[00:00:46] - Verbal Assault:

Offscreen voice shouts: "Ye fuckin geebag... put it in the fuckin-" Raw, aggressive, unfiltered emotion.

[00:00:51] - Words of Survival:

Close-up: battered hand still reaching into cardboard space. Overlayed text: "VULNERABLE, STRESSFUL".

[00:00:51] - Fragile Shelter:

View of installation: brown paper coat, torn cardboard, faded check blanket. Scene is haunting in its stillness.

[00:00:51] - Interior Worlds:

Interior of the box slowly zooms inward.

Tattered paper, soft fabric textures illuminated against the gloom.

[00:00:53] - Final Human Exchange:

Voice offscreen: "Alright Anto, what's the story?" Casual tone - familiarity amidst hardship.

[00:00:54] - Echoes of Storytelling: Zoom continues into the fragile structure.

 Overlayed text: "STORY".

[00:00:56] - Rain and Silence:

Rain continues falling.

The image fades to black.

Final white text appears: "Anthony Carey © 2021".

[00:00:56-01:00:00] - Closing:

Black screen.

Rain sound softens and fades into silence.

Introduction

"STORY" is a one-minute video artwork exploring the intersection of marginalization, recognition, and temporal perception. Drawing on visual motifs of fragility - brown paper, cardboard, and ephemeral lighting -

the piece presents an immersive, transient environment constructed from found and vulnerable materials.

Over the course of sixty seconds, brief textual overlays emerge and vanish: phrases spoken to or by

individuals experiencing homelessness, moments of vulnerability, resistance, and emotional survival. The

transience of these phrases is intentional; they reflect the fleeting nature of attention and empathy in public

space. The rapidity with which the text appears mirrors how swiftly such voices are ignored or forgotten.

The installation - a constructed shelter made of brown paper and tape - functions both as an aesthetic object

and as a symbolic structure. It references not only physical precarity, but also the emotional and

psychological architectures built by those living in unstable conditions.

The inclusion of Pearse's The Sovereign People at the film's opening anchors the piece within a broader

sociopolitical discourse, connecting historical assertions of collective ownership and welfare with

contemporary issues of displacement and poverty.

The total runtime underscores the artist's central premise: that a single minute - one act of eye contact, a

greeting, a gesture - is all it takes to acknowledge another's humanity. In rendering this fleeting moment with

care and detail, STORY invites the viewer to reflect on both visibility and silence, and the everyday power of

recognition.

Full Accessibility Transcript

[00:00:00] - Opening Scene:

The screen is black. Faint sounds of a scratchy vinyl record begin to play.

Bold red letters fade in: "STORY".

[00:00:04] - Historical Declaration:

Accessibility Transcript: STORY

Over a faded red background, white text appears: "PROCLAMATION 1919".

The voice of Pearse reads from "The Sovereign People":

"We declare that the nation's sovereignty extends not only to all the men and women of the nation, but to all

of its material possessions, the nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing

processes within the nation and we affirm that all the right to private property must be subordinate to the

public right and welfare."

[00:00:28] - Transitional Moment:

The audio of the vinyl fades.

Visual flickering continues, simulating the scratchy texture of an old black-and-white film.

[00:00:30] - Domestic Setting:

A handmade brown paper coat with a red and navy check scarf hangs from the end of a bannister.

Sunlight spills through a stained-glass window, casting fractured patterns on the scene.

[00:00:32] - Tactile Presence:

A white and brown English Setter dog lies on a bed, alert.

Across the bedding: a rough, handmade coat fashioned from brown paper and masking tape.

The room suggests both care and impermanence.

[00:00:33] - Exterior Hardship:

The coat now hangs against a damp, cold, grey exterior wall.

Rain falls heavily.

The texture of wet paper suggests fragility and endurance.

[00:00:36] - Displacement:

A crumpled brown paper coat lies on a cardboard mat over a patterned blanket.

Nearby, tape labeled "FRAGILE".

Overlayed text flashes: "Move along SCUM" - then disappears.

[00:00:39] - Injury and Vulnerability:

Close-up: a hand wrapped in paper bandages.

Accessibility Transcript: STORY

Shot in stark black-and-white.

[00:00:40] - Negative Space:

Negative image: the same hand reversed in tone.

Sound of rain and distant thunder.

Offscreen voice: "Ah, you're very good. Thanks very much."

[00:00:40] - Empathy Fragments:

View shifts to a cardboard box installation - brown paper walls, reflective vest strips.

Overlayed text: "I'M SAD".

[00:00:41] - Gratitude in Hardness:

Close-up: a bandaged hand reaches into the box installation.

Offscreen voice: "Ah I appreciate that."

[00:00:41] - Flickering Defiance:

Bandaged fingers zoomed in.

Text momentarily flashes: "FUCK THEM out of sight".

[00:00:43] - Human Contact:

The box installation again.

Overlay text: "CHAT, EMPATHY, HUMAN".

[00:00:44] - Outstretched Hand:

A slow zoom on the hand - reaching, expectant.

[00:00:44] - Layers of Dignity:

Black-and-white image of the installation, softly lit - almost ghostlike.

[00:00:44] - Harsh Survival:

Color image of the same installation flashes briefly.

Overlayed words: "RUBBISH, SURVIVE, SHIT".

Accessibility Transcript: STORY

[00:00:44] - Return to Monochrome:

A brief glimpse of the installation back in black-and-white.

[00:00:46] - Final Plea:

Close-up: the hand outstretched.

Coins clatter onto cardboard.

Footsteps retreat.

Traffic hums in the background.

[00:00:46] - Verbal Assault:

Offscreen voice shouts: "Ye fuckin geebag... put it in the fuckin-"

Raw, aggressive, unfiltered emotion.

[00:00:51] - Words of Survival:

Close-up: battered hand still reaching into cardboard space.

Overlayed text: "VULNERABLE, STRESSFUL".

[00:00:51] - Fragile Shelter:

View of installation: brown paper coat, torn cardboard, faded check blanket.

Scene is haunting in its stillness.

[00:00:51] - Interior Worlds:

Interior of the box slowly zooms inward.

Tattered paper, soft fabric textures illuminated against the gloom.

[00:00:53] - Final Human Exchange:

Voice offscreen: "Alright Anto, what's the story?"

Casual tone - familiarity amidst hardship.

[00:00:54] - Echoes of Storytelling:

Zoom continues into the fragile structure.

Accessibility Transcript: STORY

Overlayed text: "STORY".

[00:00:56] - Rain and Silence:

Rain continues falling.

The image fades to black.

Final white text appears: "Anthony Carey © 2021".

[00:00:56-01:00:00] - Closing:

Black screen.

Rain sound softens and fades into silence.

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