Space End: MADDY TALIAS + WILDER YARI

06.02.2023—07.09.2023

SPACE END

MADDY TALIAS + WILDER YARI

Choreography by Marla Phelan

Audio Composition by Kinlaw

Produced by Erikx DiSantis

When Maddy Talias (they/them) and Wilder Yari (they/them) were conceptualizing their video installation SPACE END, Talias talked about witnessing their dad struggle with mental dissolution, and described dad’s mental state as being akin to ‘walking through rooms in a motel’; memories and states of being might be familiar, but they were ultimately transient in that person’s mind, twisting back on themselves in a loop. For other members of the family, the best course of action in those moments was to simply to wait, and watch, until that person came back to the present moment.

SPACE END tells that story in a cyclical collage, switching back and forth between struggling family member Kevin (Kevin Pajarillaga)’s mental state physicalized in literally moving from space to space within a motel, and a metaphorical plane where he and another family member Eloise (Eloise DeLuca) play out the struggles and triumphs of their dynamic in the face of his decline. In a place removed from physical limitations, Kevin and Eloise can express their tenderness, confusion, aggression, and longing to be close to one another. After reaching a heightened and difficult moment of self-reflection for Kevin, we are left with Eloise, watching her loved one struggle, ultimately forced to bear witness without the ability to assist.

SPACE END is a thoughtful reflection on a loved one struggling with dementia, a dual portrait attempting to capture and empathize with two halves affected by the same disease and imbued with deep personal significance. Voicemails from Talias’s own father play throughout, soundtracked by Kinlaw’s soaring audio composition. Talias and Yari further expound on the theme of familial ties via production itself, which was made possible by an almost entirely queer cast and crew giving their time and talents to make SPACE END possible, thus in turn bearing witness to something they might not understand or be able to change.
CREDITS:

Crew

Directed by Wilder Yari

Director of Photography - Maddy Talias

Produced by Erikx DiSantis

Choreographer - Marla Phelan

Composer - Kinlaw

Sound Design - Kinlaw + Colin Alexander

Editor - Sophia Lou

Colorist - Carlos Flores

Executive Producers - Dick and Carol Fallon, Debbie Fallon

Production Designer - Genevieve Andrews

Stylist - Louis Mairone

Sound Mixer - Jared Grove

Title Designer - Jenni Bennett

Assistant Director - Isadora Dias Vieira

Steadicam Op - Jesse Sanchez-Strauss

1st Assistant Camera - Beth Fletcher

2nd Assistant Camera - Kendall Edwards

Gaffer - John Izarpate

Key Grip - Johnathan Saavadra

Swing - Kelley Nesper

PA - Jay Chen

PA - Cayley Oram

Underwater Cinematographer - Jenny Baumert

BRoll Camera Op - Tee Vaden

Equipment - Greenwood Cinema Rentals + Quixote

Picture Car - Maya Frank

Cast

Kevin Pajarillaga

Eloise Deluca

Ehizoje Azeke

Kya Azeen

Bernice Cross

Marla Phelan

Tilly Evans-Krueger

K Hover

Julius Lavin

Essence Grant

Kyle Cramer