Cortlund and Halperin - 8 mm and Video Experimental   2006   6 min    Austin, TX 

INTERSTATE (part one) is the first in a triptych of short video experiments designed around original footage shot at a traveling circus animal encampment alongside a busy Texas highway.

This first segment documents the circadian rhythms of elephants and zebras at night through a constant, flashing stream of headlights.

The INTERSTATE project serves as a critique of popular media practices in the US— the fetishism of surveillance, the inhumane treatment of detained foreign bodies, and the detached compulsion of witnesses who stand by and watch. 

Cortlund and Halperin have been collaborating on single multi-channel films and videos since 1996. Their work has shown at festivals and microcinemas across North America and Europe. Their honors include a James Michener Center for Writers Fellowship, a Liberace Foundation Grant, a Hershey Foundation grant, and awards from the Texas Council for the Arts and the Texas Filmmmakers's Production Fund. They live in Austin, Texas.