Someone in My Car is a multi-chapter narrative of courage and kindness in the face of the unknown—both the physical landscape of the city and the social terrain shaped by those who passed through the back seat of my car. The work examines the ride-sharing economy as a system that simultaneously contributes to the global precarization of labor and enables fleeting yet meaningful encounters between strangers, opening the possibility of connection beyond transaction.
This multimedia installation draws from my year-long experience as a ride-share driver in Houston. It brings together photographic portraits, moving images of the city, and audio recordings of conversations, alongside invoices and data that foreground the economic structures underlying these interactions.
Through mapped urban detours, recorded encounters, and a critical engagement with gig economies, the work navigates the tension between extraction and intimacy. It also considers how precarious labor might be re-signified as a form of contemporary flâneurism. Shifting between the perspectives of driver and passenger, Someone in My Car invites reflection on mobility, labor, and relationality.
A YEAR AFTER MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY FROM CARACAS, I BEGAN RENTING MY BEDROOM IN BROOKLYN THROUGH A SHARING PLATFORM, OUT OF ECONOMIC NECESSITY.
TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN ANONYMITY AND INTIMACY FORCED UPON ME BY THIS SITUATION, I BEGAN TAKING PORTRAITS OF MY GUESTS. I ALSO MADE VIDEOS AND INTERVIEWS AND CREATED MAPS CHARTING THE ORIGIN OF EACH VISITOR AND DETAILS ABOUT THE ECONOMIC TRANSACTION BINDING US THROUGH MY BED.
BY DELVING INTO THE EXPERIENCE OF SHARING PRIVATE SPACES WITH COMPLETE STRANGERS, THIS PROJECT EXPLORES SOME OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE GLOBALIZED SHARING ECONOMY.
1989 BEDFORD AVE, 2017