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Monday, June 4, 2007

episode 13 - that's what my hands are for

6 comments:

roberta said...

hey david, it's both of us here. We saw that still that was your opening for episode 13 and had to stop what we were doing and watch it. We're glad we did. Whoooo. that was amazing.
xo libby and roberta

David S Kessler said...

thanks L&R. those girls were really incredible. this is the first part in a series of stuff that I shot while exploring the streets with Ellie Brown. i think her presence there accounts for much of their candor.

Jay Dedman said...

you know why this is so good.
a great example of pioneering videoblogging.

Anonymous said...

I used to think these girls were terrible human beings. Now I just see them as pathetic victims.

I have a restraining order against the one in the tube top. She stalked me for four months. Trust me, she uses weapons. She broke down my front door. Stabbed my neighbor. Chased me with a crowbar. Broke into my car while I was in it and tried to beat me with a stick. Threw rocks at me. Smashed my boyfriend's tail lights. We called the cops on her over 15 times.

All because I told her to stop and go away when she was throwing glass bottles at some guests at a party I had.

Bored, I guess.

I even watched her and her little girl gang chase an old helpless woman down Front Street.

My other neighbor has to park his truck in Jersey because she kept slashing his tires.

Relentless. Hurting people. The most anger, violence and pure rage I have ever witnessed.

Not helping, not protecting kids.

You think it's all artistic and anthropological to come document this shit, but she literally made my life a nightmare for four months.

I guess I am still angry that a group of young kids led by such a disaster of a person could have made me feel so intimidated. What a relief to know that she won't come near me or she'll have to go to jail.

It made me furious and scared at the time. Now, watching this, I just feel sad.


I live here too. We're not all like that, but we all have stories.

David S Kessler said...

I'm sorry that she made you feel that way for so long. this was the first time I had ever seen this girl and her friends. It was the same day that we talked to Michael, who is great and Miss Wendy. The girls were friendly toward me and Ellie and I think we really felt like she was showing off a bit for the camera.
I'm just interested in people talking about themselves.
I'm making art, yes but I would not say anthropological, these are just moments captured in a space that fascinates me. I may consider myself to be somewhat of an outsider but I'm not so detached. I live there too.
I try to talk to as diverse a selection of people as possible. i would love to meet and talk to you too if you would like to. just email me.

Anonymous said...

The girl in the tube top assaulted me and two friends just last night on our way back to our house near the El. Her and puberty-posse followed us to our house shattering bottles and 2 x 4's as we tried to get in the house. The girls who were with her thought this was hilarious.

Only fifteen minutes later as we were telling the story to some friends while we were walking out of the house, we had to help other friends talk this girl out of another fight with more of our friends from the same building.

All because we just walked past her. Since then I've found about a half dozen other people that have been assaulted. Some sexually.

We're pressing charges. She deserves a jail cell. I don't care if she has kids. On the contrary, they'd be better off in the hands of child welfare. A part of me feels bad for the kind of life that must've made her act like such a menace. But still, if I had last night to do over again I would've knocked her out with half a brick and called the cops. It would've done all of Kensington a huge favor.

an ongoing video project by David S Kessler

Shadow World is a project I am currently working on. Set under the el tracks in north Philadelphia, it is an exploration of this unique, fascinating and often intimidating space that (at least for this year) I call home.
-David S Kessler