Holyland U.S.A.
4 mins 49 secs, 2012    

Holyland U.S.A is a video project completed in 2012 documenting fallow ground to holy land.

Located in Waterbury, Connecticut, Holy Land U.S.A. was a tourist attraction that focused on education of the Bible and the life of Christ that included ancient Egyptian inspired architecture models. Opened in 1958 as “Bethlehem Village,” it was later renamed Holy Land U.S.A. Once reporting 44,000 visitors per year, the park was open until 1984. Today, Holy Land U.S.A. is a shell of it’s former self, the results of neglect, weather, and vandals.

But this document is not only about a particular place per se as much as suspended states of mind. Devoid of sentimental longing for the past. The idea that text and subtext can entomb us like pyramids is the cross that this piece carries with the visuals as expletives.

                                                Amy O’Neill 2012