February 23, 2006
Dynamics of Human Interaction Articulated by Technology
CROWDS / CONVERSATIONS / CONFESSIONS
March 11–June 10--Max Dean and Kristan Horton, Atom Egoyan, Laiwan, George Bures Miller, Don Ritter and David Rosetzky.
Crowds/Conversations/Confessions brings together the work of seven international artists who explore the dynamics of human interaction, articulated by the use of technology. Their works play with modes of interpersonal communication, from the discursive structure of conversations to the one-sided delivery of confessions and public addresses. Each of the works promises a form of engagement, communication and personal contact, but each also suggests that this is a fiction, a promise of technology that can never be fulfilled.
In George Bures Miller’s installation Conversation/Interrogation an office chair faces a suspended television. As a viewer sits in the chair a shot of a man (the artist) appears on the screen and begins a conversation. The viewer quickly realizes that the interviewer is talking to them. The questions asked by the on-screen interviewer shift between the banal and the manipulative, so it is never quite obvious what the intent of the conversation is.
Vox Populi is a responsive installation by Don Ritter that provides the opportunity of leadership to anyone. Visitors are invited to speak from a lectern equipped with a microphone and teleprompter that displays the text of a number of speeches by historical figures such as John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and George W. Bush. When assuming the role of leader and depending on how well one delivers the scripted texts, the video-taped crowd responds with various degrees of support, ridicule or hostility.
Be Me by Max Dean and Kristan Horton is an interactive video installation that uses new animation software to investigate the idea of self-image and the inviolate nature of personal identity. The viewer takes a seat, and a projected image of the artist asks, “So, do you want to be me?” “Then say something”. The participant’s response, their voice, expression and movement animate the projected image. Dean’s face thus becomes a site onto which the words, sounds and gestures of another are projected.
In Australian artist David Rosetzky’s installation, Custom Made, a series of videotaped characters move in and out of focus, addressing the camera and then dissolving away. Each character seems to be confessing to us, offering a deeply personal description of an important relationship. In each case we try to imagine the unseen other and empathize with the speaker. Through their words we have a glimpse into another life, one that is very familiar and intimate, yet always separate from ours.
Canadian Filmmaker, Atom Egoyan’s installation, Hors d’usage: Le recit de Marie- France Marcil, was derived from a soundscape exhibition created for the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal based on old sound recording machines and private tapes contributed by Montréal residents. In this work, a woman is confronted with long forgotten memories, a time from her past that is only recalled through her interaction with the recording. Hors d’usage continues Egoyan’s exploration of the relationship between technology, memory and human relationships.
Using similar “low” technology, in this case 16m film, Vancouver artist Laiwan’s installation, Kiss, speaks of how true intimacy may not be possible when mediated by technology. In this work, a couple is endlessly denied the culmination of their affection, the two projections being structured to ensure that their images can never meet.
Opening Reception Friday, March 10, 7 pm
Posted by jo at February 23, 2006 10:24 AM
