Taut is a multichannel video installation highlighting the experiences both of mothers who migrated and of their children who were left behind. It explores memory, motherhood, and ideas about familiar bonds and the trauma experienced with distance.

The video installation Taut consists of six films running simultaneously on outdated box TV’s propped on top of each other. Ideas around nostalgia, memory and how we preserve these in home videos inspire me to use televisions from a particular era. Each film focuses on individual moments unseen and unshared between mothers in the UK and their sons in Jamaica. Three films center on the pressures the mother has in providing for her son, despite her distance. In parallel, three films center on the son’s pressure to maintain a sense of stability while dealing with his loneliness and feelings of abandonment. I am curious about viewpoints and shifts in perspective within the installation—each film presents a single story, but we are able to view a much fuller picture with distance. However, I am wondering,

Can objectivity be achieved in such a subjective reality?

The complete overview of Kaleb D’Aguilar’s featured work can be found in the Kingston Biennial 2022: Pressure Catalogue, which is available for sale in the NGJ Gift Shop.