Former East/ Former West

A still from artist Shelly Silver’s video “Former East / Former West,” from 1991. The left side of the screen shows an older light-skinned man with white hair combed to one side, wearing a blue mock neck sweater and a checkered blazer. He seems to be caught mid-sentence, with the words “Freedom is great…” written below. On the right, in a different shot, a young light-skinned woman with shoulder-length brown hair and a black jacket squints at someone behind the camera, her hair blown askew by the wind. The caption “I still wish for a better socialism” is written below.