In July 2001, we were invited by Boréal Art/Nature to research and do the pre-production for a new web project, based on graphic work of Ernst Haeckel, a 19th-century artist and biologist (1834-1919).
Original objects and natural phenomena discovered and observed on site at La Minerve, Québec are digitized with a video camera and scanner onto a portable computer. The juxtaposition of these elements are grouped into a series of 2D computer studies for the web, including animations, video and text, inspired by the progression of associative and formal lithographic works which make up the KunstFormen der Natur series elaborated by Haeckel from 1899 to 1904.
Our fascination for this portfolio of strange and beautiful imagery is because it is usually invisible to the naked eye.
hex at Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Photo : Gisèle Trudel
hex _ nanospace 2001 media installation and audio-video performance
Hex is an multichannel audiovideo installation initiated during winter 2001 during a residency at Het Wilde Weten in Rotterdam. The installation is comprised of six (6) projection screens (1.5m x 3m each) made of fabric and resin modelled from low-reliefs, with three synchronized video programs and 5.1 surround sound.
Nanospace is a live version of Hex (two soft-sync video channels mixed live and audio performance). Hex and Nanospace find their sources in minimalist design and the fascinating new imagery of nanotechnology.
The two experimental works postulate that it is in the observation of nature that lie the technological solutions (recycling, bionics, green architecture, sustainable design) to environmental problems.
The works draw on the shape of the hexagon, utilized as a symbol as well as a structural system… a type of imminent trajectory of matter in transformation, and the ensuing imperceptible changes: from the molecular reality of carbon to a global planetary view.
Presentation venues
HEX Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2001
Nanospace Mutek, Montreal, 2001
Funding by Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
Nanospace photos, AElab in rehearsal at Mutek (Ex-centris, Montréal) : LA Lauzière
Sylva A process-oriented web project (QTVR) concerned with the concept of nature and representation.
Collaboration with German artist Florian Wüst, preliminary hosted by THING server in New York City. Final version produced in residency at TechnOboro, April 1999.
Cover photo : Denis Farley
Au naturel A continuation of the web project Sylva, an international videothèque programme about the landscape theme, including experimental and documentary works by Alexander Hahn (Switzerland), Tony Hill (G.-B), Marcel Schwerin (Germany), Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie (Québec), Crawley Fillms (Canada) and Gianni Toti (Italy).
three versions performative audiovisual essay, multichannel audio and video, approx 45 minutes
s8p antennas, transmission is a multi-channel performative essay integrating a central interpretative audiovisual component (20mn) which deals with the metaphorical interpretation of antenna principles and transmission. This piece engages a physiological response to the root subject of the project, the electromagnetic medium.
s8p originates from the Sparks series. It is a mix of documentary facts within a larger experimental genre with shifting perspectives which include interviews, autobiographical texts, animations, archival sources, metaphorical interpretations and original sound design.
Interviews with Jeffrey Stanley (screenwriter, New York), Velimir Abramovic (philosopher, Belgrade, Serbia) and Andrew Michrowski (director of PACE _Planetary Association for Clean Energy, Ottawa).
Shot on location in New York, the Nikola Tesla Museum (Belgrade), Museum of Science and Technology (Belgrade) and Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec (Varennes, Qc).
Produced with the financial assistance of Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Experimental documentary, color, NTSC, stereo total running time: approx 39 minutes Distributed by VTAPE
Photo cover : Ælab at Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec (Varennes, Qc). Photo : Sophie Bellissent.
Sparks is a modular video series comprised of 5 video capsules which finds its inspiration in the life of visionary inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).
Sparks mixes documentary facts within a larger experimental genre with shifting perspectives which include interviews, autobiographical texts, animations, archival sources, metaphorical interpretations and original sound design.
Interviews with Jeffrey Stanley (screenwriter, New York), Velimir Abramovic (philosopher, Belgrade, Serbia) and Andrew Michrowski (director of PACE _Planetary Association for Clean Energy, Ottawa).
The 5 capsules can be seen independently, in clusters of two or three, or all together, and can be interspersed within a thematic video programme. s1 Tesla and his time (1999, 7 min), an overview of his life work and prodigious personality. s3 Colorado Springs (2005, 6 min), the wireless transmission of electricity/energy. s5 Niagara Falls (2005, 5 min), the war of the currents (AC vs. DC), and Edison’s rivalry with Tesla. s8 Wardenclyffe (1999, 10 min), his laboratory in Long Island, N.Y. where in 1901 he tried to establish the basis for his ‘World Broadcasting System”. s11 Tesla and the future (2005, 8 min), the legacy of the inventor and a reflection on the perception of time.
Shot on location in New York, the Nikola Tesla Museum (Belgrade), Museum of Science and Technology (Belgrade) and Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec (Varennes, Qc).
Produced with the financial assistance of Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and The Canada Council for the Arts.
Also part of the group exhibition Resonance. The Electromagnetic Bodies Project. Curated by Nina Czegledy and Louise Provencher European tour: July 2005_September 2006 OBORO (Canada) ZKM (Germany) Conde Duque Medialab (Spain) TENT _V2 (Holland) Ludwig Museum (Hungary) Maison européenne de la photographie (France)
Presentation venues : tesla-berlin, Germany, May and November 2005, Carsten Seiffarth, artistic co-director www.mobilegaze.com, no. 1, 2000 Voices in my Head,Video Pool, Winnipeg, Feb 00, curated by Nicole Gingras PassArt, Rouyn-Noranda, March 00, curated by Monique Langlois Taste of Landscapes, Videomedjia, Novi Sad, Dec 99, curated by N.Czegledy
