‘FEATURE CREEPS’ (Data projection of live footage, OHP and Projection onto self-standing screen, HDV Camera feeding into Data Projector, Wind-up Toys various dimensions, March 2009)
My two most recent media installations have been investigations into the obsolescence of the object and the systems which serve the rapid accumulation of waste. ‘Feature Creeps’ is a mix media work originally installed as part of the E.Arts Department, Systems ’09 exhibition. This involved two projections installed in the corner of the gallery. A warm nostalgic glow emitting from an over-head projector is directed onto a self standing screen of the same era, on the adjacent wall shines a high definition colour image of the incandescent surface of the OHP. A small plinth displaying a variety of recycled wind-up toys is placed between the projection devices, inviting viewers to engage with the familiar action of the toy, and place it on the surface of the overhead, resulting in an inter-active system, which descends into obsolescence without human participation. The use of the dual projections was designed to bring the participant closer the consequence of their inter-action. The abstracted silhouettes of the over-head speak about our simplification of complex issues in order to justify the status-quo. In contrast the sharp imagery produced by the high definition camera and data projector ponder the complexity of our technological world, we can see in clear detail and large scale the toys first frantic movements and deceleration to stillness, and gain a sense of the fraction of control we have in the system. The projections are linked by the simultaneous movement of the toys, suggesting that simplification does not necessarily give a better understanding of the issue at hand, while acknowledging our sense of insignificance in a system dominated by technology.
‘INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS’ (Collaborative Single Channel Video Projection with Max Bellamy, Pete Gorman and Nikos Pantazis- HDV Format, April 2009)
As part of the ‘Instructional Models’ project exhibited at the Blue Oyster Gallery in April/May of this year, I participated in a collaborative single channel video work with Dunedin based media artists Max Bellamy and Pete Gorman, the original instructions for which were provided by Melbourne based artist Nikos Pantazis. As instructed by Pantazis, this work was based primarily in an artist studio space. To reflect the collaborative nature of the project we choose the neutral shared creative space of None Gallery’s basement. This provided the perfect location to look at issues of obsolescence. Depending on perspective it is goldmine or wasteland of mix-media artefacts, a literal ode to the obsolescence of the art object. Tasks given to us by Pantazis were carried out incorporating the years of discarded creations and obsolete technical equipment. Coloured bulbs flash on a rocket shaped sculpture, mannequin heads and masked humans move amongst piles of debris, and to it we bring something else to eventually be added to the heap; the projection of our own image. Framing the projection of live footage filmed from inside the space amongst the inside environment references the inevitable future of its very existence. The interaction between characters inside the projected image and ‘real’ environment suggests a vision of a world in which we simultaneously consider the past present and future of creation. Raising the questions of why creations loss their usefulness? When is preservation no longer necessary? And who is responsible for assigning this system of value?
A possible way forward can be seen in the ideas of media art preservation pioneer John Ippolito, creator of the ‘Media Art Notation system- a documentation tool for writing metadata for artworks. He states: ‘It is going to take more than manila folders and telecine machines to preserve anything more of our cultural moment than the lifeless carcasses of forsaken mediums. We need artists- their information, their support, and above all their creativity- to outwit oblivion and obsolescence.’ [1]
[1] Mitchell, Lissa. 2008. New Data. In The Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader, ed Su Ballard/ Stella Brennan,
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