Trivial Pursuit / Trailer (2002)

 
 
Trivial Pursuit / Trailer
Reece Terris (in collaboration with Kristina Jaugelis)
Photograph / Installation (trailer and interior)
2002
 
 
Exhibited as both installation and photograph, Trivial Pursuit / Trailer is a 1970s trailer that has had one side-wall cut away exposing the fully furnished interior of the vehicle.
 
The photographic version of the work shows three people casually seated inside the trailer parked in a surrounding forested area. The image depicts a typical North American camping scene, yet the set-like quality of the trailer and the inclusion of such typical pastimes like television, board games, and alcohol, suggest that our relationship with the outdoors is marked more by containment and distraction than any meaningful communion with nature.
 
As an installation, the piece is presented without occupants and the interior of the vehicle is sealed from the outside with a transparent Plexiglas panel.
 
Within this configuration, the trailer comes to symbolize a vehicle of leisure and wealth as well as one of basic shelter and protection, commenting on middle-class pursuits of recreation during times of inflated real-estate costs and severe shortages in affordable housing throughout most major North American cities.
While the piece pretends to offer a nostalgic return to the wholesome charm of localized travel, the vehicle is weighted with a consciousness of its nomadic status as a symbol of class.