Image composition : Gisèle Trudel
sparks
1998-2005
Experimental documentary, color, NTSC, stereo
total running time: approx 39 minutes
Distributed by VTAPE
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
Thumbnail : Institut de recherche d’Hydro-Québec (Varennes, Qc). Photo : Sophie Bellissent.