SITE SPECIFICITY

I had an awesome (but equally utopic) idea. How great (and site-specific) would it be to walk around town with a TV transmitter (more expansive version here) and broadcast my piece for TVs in people's home to receive? Or... Hack a station's broadcasting system! I wish I still worked in television, and I wish people still watched non-cable television with rabbit ears antennas.

KARL MARX AND GUY DEBORD

I have become increasingly intrigued by Karl Marx's writings on capitalism and his views on the relationship between mass production and mass consumption. A century after Marx's Capital, Guy Debord referenced in his book La Société du Spectacle the alienation resulting from the replacement of social life by representation.

In my piece, I would like to address a new alienation, that of the recording and mapping of identity and relationships. Starting from Marx's idea of the reproduction of commodities and Debord's view on the reproduction of society, I would like to explore the reproduction of indentity. In this new society, where individuals market themselves in search of collective approval, representations mediate interactions between people and between multiple recorded identities of a single self.

Now, the challenge is to translate those concerns and integrate them in a piece that is both demonstrative and engaging.

THEMES TO KEEP IN MIND (CONT'D)

More thoughts:

> Referencing the virtual records/memories of people, events and emotions we keep through photographs, video recordings, journal entries, etc.

> Highlighting and questioning these records' limited capacity of recreating 'the moment', by their lack of context and physicality

> Representing the metaphorical distance between reality and constructed reality, with notions of physical distance, imprecision and absence of sound

> Exploring the consequences of the shift in interpersonal communication on human relationships

TECHNOLOGICAL BRAINSTORM

Other possibilities for technical exploration:

> Using 3D modeling for testing (I learned Softimage XSI a few years ago and could probably manage to create a decent virtual version of my shooting and presentation spaces, but don't have access to it right now, and learning another software would be extremely time-consuming)

> Using Quicktime VR (I'll have to do a little research, as I'm not familiar with this)

> Using an omnidirectional camera (probably way expensive and hard to find, but extremely cool, nonetheless)

> Looking at facilities at SAT and other multimedia centers (I don't think it's compatible with my budget and timeframe, but it's worth investigating)

EDITING TEST (CONT'D)

I tried pasting all 8 channels together, making multiple and have them move in the opposite direction asfrom the movement, to cancel the rotation, but couldn't find the exact speed and got lost in the process. 

Click on the image to see it full size.

The transitions (black lines) between the different channels were visible, too, so it didn't look too good. I will have to try again later.

EDITING TEST (CONT'D)

Having the same image (ie. framing) in the same channel all the time worked in theory, but is just not possible in practice. I would need to use multiple cameras, and still then I would have to modify the footage in postproduction to keep it stable. 

As an alternative, still using the same footage, I selected really short clips (1 frame), which I slowed down (2%) and mixed together (22-24 frames cross fade), using only the frames with the reoccurring image (approx. every 1.5 second).

For some reason I couldn't upload the video with Blogger, so I uploaded it here. It looks bad and weird, but it's a useful illustration for something that's really hard to explain with words. 

EDITING TEST

With all 360 degrees represented (imagine first and last channels linked). But that's not what I'm after.

FIRST CAMERA TESTS

Crappy camera test. Works well.

Infrared camera test. Works fine, but the camera angle should be parallel with the ground to insure continuity.

MIRANDA JULY

Another interesting reference is Miranda July's Joanie 4 Jackie project. The concept of the video chainletter is just brilliant.

Like in Gillian Wearing's piece I referenced earlier, there's something about the way interpersonal communication circulates on video that makes it both more distant and more real. I will definitely investigate this paradoxical impression in my work.

JIM CAMPBELL

I'm crazy about Jim Campbell's Ambiguous Icons series, which was exhibited at the MMFA last year. Today I came across an older piece of his, entitled Memory/Recollection, which kind of relates to the piece I'm working on, both aesthetically and conceptually.

I like the way he reconstructs history through the manipulation of time. I will be working with similar intentions, but in terms of meaning and space. I also really like the look of the monitors he is using.

SHOOTING LOCATIONS

Original ideas:

> On top of the mountain at my parents'

> A dirty back alley, maybe in Chinatown

> The vast terrain vague by the canal near Des Seigneurs

More possible locations I visited or thought of during the holidays:

> A large field in Ile des Soeurs after an ice storm

> The rooftop of the Friendship Cove, a loft/live venue in Griffintown with a fantastic view of the city

> The Pound, an industrial loft/live venue in Little Burgundy

> At school, during peak hours, maybe in the Hall Building

Related thoughts:

> I'm glad it's winter, the white snow will act as a wide canvas and emphasize the subjects

> If I'm going to shoot outside, I need to keep in mind that all the equipment has to be self-powered

EDITING TECHNIQUE

Click on the image to see it full size.

This is how it would work with a still subject and a moving (rotating) camera.

I need to find the formula to match the speed of the rotating camera with the number of frames to offset each channel.

If the offsetting matches the rotation speed perfectly, each channel will show the same 'frame' (geographically speaking) and if the spacing between the monitors is right, it will give the illusion of a 'stable', continuous, 360 degrees environment.

BASIC EDITING CONCEPT

The basic idea is to duplicate the same video footage on two different channels, creating the illusion of continuity by offsetting the video in the second channel by a few frames (30 in this example).

This is how it would work it a moving subject and a fix camera.

THEMES TO KEEP IN MIND

Starting with:

> Contextual impacts of the environment on relational interactions

> Intimacy in the public sphere

> Deconstruction and reconstruction of space

> Exhibitionism and voyeurism

CAMERA TESTS

I tried the wireless security camera kit I borrowed from the video depot.

Camera > (wireless) > Reciever > (RCA cable) > VCR > (RCA cable) > Monitor

Both cameras worked fine, one gave a clearer image than the other, but I will have to try with different lighting. I will also need to try it outdoors, with either a portable mini DV deck or mini DV camera. But I did like the texture and 'life' VHS brought to the party.

I will upload short video excerpts soon and play around with them.

ROTATING PLATFORM TESTS

I tried placing the camera on my turntable, but it spins too fast. Slowing it down 'by hand' is not constant enough.

GILLIAN WEARING

Gillian Wearing's Confess All On Video. Don't Worry You Will Be in Disguise. Intrigued? Call Gillian Version II is great and relates to my intents. 

In my piece, the role of the mask will be played by the distance, the absence of sound and the lo-fi aesthetics. 

KELLY MARK

As suggested by Donna, if the multiple monitors idea fails, I could project from different windows of a building, kind of like Kelly Mark's Glow House. 

I'm not sure how I would translate the 360 degrees effects with this presentation though, or how I would maintain continuity between the different channels are still create the sort of 'stability in chaos' I'm after.