Shot in video-8 at the 1988 Chicago Auto Show, this work examines the artist's personal history with automobiles against the back-drop of an auto plant closing in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The personal stories of real life relationships between people and their cars is dramatically counterposed to the glaring commercialism of the automobile industry and the economic crisis that industry has imposed on the American union workers.
In describing his work, Stashu Kybartas has said, “I have chosen to work in video and performance because these are storytelling media. I want to tell my stories and the stories of others because I believe that through telling one’s story, one can be healed.” Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Kybartas’ work confounds traditional documentary by interweaving memory, reflection, historical and personal documents, interviews, and historical research to flesh out the past and provide history with a human face.