i and i

Description: Michael Klein’s video-audio work i and i invites the viewer to share a private experience that often takes place in public, listening to music on a portable MP3 player. Klein asked people on the street what they were listening to. He then captured the results on video.

The video consists of two separate audio channels. One channel is a 5.1 surround audio mix that records the ambient streetscape portrayed in the video, played out loud over speakers. The second channel of audio places the viewer into the mental space of the MP3 listeners through headphones. The viewer moves from the public space of the Artspace lobby to the private, internal space of the subject through wearing the headphones.

This work was exhibited in the lobby of the Artspace building creating a means of broader public engagement.

From the original press release:

Video Pool: i and i - Michael Klein, May 14 – June 11
Michael Klein – i and i
May 14 – June 11, 2010
Art Space lobby – 100 Arthur St
Presented by Video Pool Media Arts Centre

Opening reception: May 14 at 7:30PM
Exhibition continues every Tuesday – Saturday, 11:00AM – 4:00PM.

Michael Klein's i and i is a video installation that bridges the gap between subject and viewer. The experience of listening to music on a portable listening device is very private and one that acts as barrier in contemporary urban life. In this project, the viewer listens along with the subject and is in tune with their reactions, subtle as they may be. By allowing the viewer to listen to a music track together with the video's subject, the subject's bubble of privacy is shattered.

Klein states:

"The title i and i comes from a phrase most commonly heard in Reggae music. In fact, it comes from Rastafarian speech which eliminates the pronouns, you, me, us, them, as divisive words and replaces them with communal I and I. I and I embraces unity. The project unites the individual (viewer) with the individual (subject)."

This project would not have been possible without Lisa Corne, Max Klein, Lily Klein, Alex Keim, Fraser McCallum, Danny Flood, Bryan Borzykowski, Jessica Rose, Kelly Mark, Phil Klygo, Jinhan Ko, Dean Baldwin, Joe Pert, Jon Tupper and Ihor Holubizky.

Michael Klein was one of the first members of Video Pool where he taught workshops, curated video screenings and had work included in many exhibitions and screenings. He was included in Video Pool’s Ex-Patria project and last exhibited in Winnipeg at Plug In ICA’s 30th anniversary exhibition, Back In The Day 2002-1972 which he also conceived and co-curated. Recent exhibitions include Molly to Molly at *QueenSpecific in Toronto, Citizen Dandy at the Art Gallery of Windsor and Here Now or Nowhere in Grand Prairie, Alberta. i and i was previously exhibited at the Confederation Centre for the Arts Gallery in Charlottetown.
Klein also operates the gallery, MKG127 in Toronto.