As we develop and grow as a nation, is American behavior becoming irreparably homogeneous in terms of our activities? Are our social and cultural experiences, increasingly influenced by economic disparity, so common and uniform that we have begun to lose our individual identities? These are the questions raised by Sanford Biggers and Jennifer Zackin in their collaborative work, entitled a small world...

Although Zackin, who is Jewish, and Biggers, who is African-American, were raised in middle-class families in the 1970s, it is hard to distinguish a major difference between the childhoods each experienced. Through original 8mm footage shot by relatives during the two artists' childhoods (much of Zackin's footage was shot by her Grandfather Green, who now lives in the Phoenix area), we are exposed to the artists' early years. Shared commonalties, such as family vacations at historical sites, a day spent at Disneyland, birthday parties and even piano lessons, helped to shape the artists into the people they are today.

Presented as an installation with loveseat and shag rug, this silent video piece invites strangers to sit together in a living room type of environment. Within this physical context, Zackin and Biggers' work underscores the fact that, despite ethnic differences, the American cultural experience often provides a disquieting sameness to family activities within a particular economic stratum.

Jennifer Zackin received a BFA from Parsons School of Design, received a MA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, had a fellowship at The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and went on to receive a MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been included in the exhibitions: AIM 21, The Bronx Museum of Art, Bronx, NY; Freestyle, The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY and Santa Monice Museum, Santa Monica, CA; 2001 Biennial, Portland Museum of Art, ME; Hot Sheets, The Optimistic, Chicago, IL; TRANSPOSE, Indigo Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal; Culture Class, The Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD; 1999 MFA Exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Artlink @ Sotheby's Tel Aviv, Israel and Chicago, IL; Soap Stud, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL; Uncle Fun, Paperboy Gallery, Chicago, IL; Cows on Parade, Public Spaces, Chicago, IL; Inaugural Exhibition 1998: New Artists in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL; Bank Holiday, Skowhegan, ME; New Talent, Contemporary Art Workshop, Chicago, IL; 1998 MA Exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; At The End Of The Day: 20 Perspectives on South Africa, Gallery X, Chicago, IL; and 1992 BFA Exhibition, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY.

Her work is scheduled to appear in the 2002 Whitney Biennial.