Jeanne C. Finley

I Saw Jesus in a Tortilla

Entirely comprised both from dissolving still photographs and a simple narrative story line taken verbatim from a newspaper article in the The Arizona Daily Star is I SAW JESUS IN A TORTILLA. It recounts the story of Ramona Barraras, a New Mexican woman, who saw the face of Jesus while rolling her husband's burrito. In an attempt to manipulate the media to her advantage in publicizing this miraculous event, the media ultimately exploited one of the most significant events of Mrs. Barraras' life.

A.R.M. Around Moscow

A.R.M. Around Moscow documents the American dating service A.R.M. (American-Russian Matchmaking) as it attempts to bring American men together with Russian women.

The Big Bounce

An exploration of the visual, political and scientific development of satellite communications from the first message bounced off a balloon to the current communication industry. The first message sent to the other side of the world was developed during the 1950s and Eisenhower administration made this balloon satellite technology internationally available as a gesture towards world peace. As the military uses began to dominate the industry, it has evolved into a highly secretive, complex system. THE BIG BOUNCE: SATELLITE DREAMS was created for "Past, Future, Now!" and exhibition curated by Ashley Lauren Saks.

Red Boat Crossing

Jeanne C. Finley’s Red Boat Crossing utilizes archival footage, miniatures, narration, onscreen text, and experimental techniques to recreate her mother Cecily Barker’s service as a psychiatric social worker for the battle-wounded on a Red Cross vessel. It’s an admiring tribute to quiet heroism that’s equal parts documentary and poetical reverie.

Journeys Beyond the Cosmodrome

On the vast Kazakhstan Steppes, nine 16 year-olds prepare to graduate from the Akkol orphanage. Rockets launched overhead from the nearby Cosmodrome inspire their dreams as they write about and perform their imagined future-selves. Guided by the nomadic spirit and natural beauty of the Steppes, the orphans explore questions of time and truth in relation to the challenging reality of their lives. Traditional Kazakh culture, global popular iconography, and space travel are infused throughout their performances and imaginatively used as protective talismans on their journey into an uncertain adulthood.

Journeys Beyond the Cosmodrome

On the vast Kazakhstan Steppes, nine 16 year-olds prepare to graduate from the Akkol orphanage. Rockets launched overhead from the nearby Cosmodrome inspire their dreams as they write about and perform their imagined future-selves. Guided by the nomadic spirit and natural beauty of the Steppes, the orphans explore questions of time and truth in relation to the challenging reality of their lives. Traditional Kazakh culture, global popular iconography, and space travel are infused throughout their performances and imaginatively used as protective talismans on their journey into an uncertain adulthood.

Involuntary Conversion

This apocalyptic linguistic comedy meditates on the relationship between language, meaning and social decay and is scripted from "double-speak" language found in a variety of media sources. Drawing its title from the Pentagon's term for crash, Involuntary Conversion evokes the hollowness and free-floating anxiety that characterizes late 20th century culture. In a voice that could belong to a hypnotist or a government spokesman, a disembodied speaker recounts a string of events whose common thread is a sense of impending disaster. The mood is suspended somewhere between nightmare and deadpan and is propelled by a narrative as enigmatic as the language it exposes. The iconic shape of a fighter jet floating in a perfect sky has the creepy feel of a video game and the texture of television is used to make the images feel domestically ingrained.

Involuntary Conversion

This apocalyptic linguistic comedy meditates on the relationship between language, meaning and social decay and is scripted from "double-speak" language found in a variety of media sources. Drawing its title from the Pentagon's term for crash, Involuntary Conversion evokes the hollowness and free-floating anxiety that characterizes late 20th century culture. In a voice that could belong to a hypnotist or a government spokesman, a disembodied speaker recounts a string of events whose common thread is a sense of impending disaster. The mood is suspended somewhere between nightmare and deadpan and is propelled by a narrative as enigmatic as the language it exposes. The iconic shape of a fighter jet floating in a perfect sky has the creepy feel of a video game and the texture of television is used to make the images feel domestically ingrained.

Accidental Confessions

Scenes from a demolition derby event are combined with statements taken from automobile insurance claims in Accidental Confessions. In these claims, drivers were instructed to summarize the details of their accidents in the fewest words possible resulting in absurd and contradictory statements.

Accidental Confessions

Scenes from a demolition derby event are combined with statements taken from automobile insurance claims in Accidental Confessions. In these claims, drivers were instructed to summarize the details of their accidents in the fewest words possible resulting in absurd and contradictory statements.

Beyond the Times Foreseen

The ideal marriage as defined in the 1950s is presented and then reveals how the failure of that ideal affected some of the baby boom generation through various types of abuse in BEYOND THE TIMES FORESEEN

Common Mistakes

Common Mistakes uses four synonyms for the word "mistake" (fallacy, error, accident, and blunder) to present a sample of widely held "truths" that later proved to be misconceptions. The mistakes are illustrated with documentary, before and after photographs, diagrams, and video footage, and are prefaced with a clip from a children's educational film on how to prevent accidents.