Category: Programming (page 21)

TAG TALES is a web-based interactive word game situated on screen in Studio 393 in Portage Place Shopping Centre. Tag Tales was conceived to be played in public areas where people shut down and turn on cell phones, mobile devices and portable computers.

Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music and spent much of the early part of the 20th century driving across America in a car that he modified to house his recording equipment so that he could record the folk music of the American people. He contributed a large amount of recording to what would come to be the Smithsonian Folkways Collection. The mission statement of Smithsonian Folkways states that their mission “is to document people’s music.’”

A panoramic image of the local cityscape suspended in a 3-D environment is displayed on the LCD screens, outfitted in the helmets. As the viewers wear the HMD’s, they become linked to a network where their physiological outputs are tracked and measured, in turn altering the panoramic images. The panoramas on the screen are commonly seen city images used in postcard, travel advertisements, and promotional items showing famous landmarks or buildings. Over time the image becomes entirely different from the original, exposing the panorama – a depiction that can be easily constructed and manipulated.

Wake Up Winnipeg is a durational performance, during which the artist provides a wake up call service to interested Winnipeg citizens. Video Pool will advertise this free service to members and to the Winnipeg public. The practical, service-oriented purpose of the wake up call is removed – the calls are made when the artist wakes up, not when the participant would like to be awoken. This will hopefully facilitate more room for potential development of relationships. The wake up call will be of a social and political nature and by delivering local news to people and offering the opportunity for interaction, discussion and debate, the artist wishes to stimulate greater awareness and engagement among Winnipeggers in the issues of civic governance.

As part of our annual “Art’s Birthday” celebration, Video Pool presented a screening of single-channel video works that deal with concepts of space and futurism, curated by Clint Enns. Enns writes: “Some of us thought the future would never come, but the future is here and it already looks dated. The films in this program deal with the concept of future from the perspective of our place in time, namely, 2010. We are literally in the 21st century, the world of the future. There are no flying cars, there is no world peace (and it doesn’t appear to be coming soon) and we have yet to make contact (or at least that is what the government is telling us). One of the main things that hasn’t changed is that both dystopian and utopian visions of the future are constantly being put forth.”

Dominic Gagnon’s Rip in Pieces America is a feature-length single-channel video assembled entirely of video clips sourced from YouTube. The video contains numerous first-person critiques of contemporary western culture; focusing on issues relating to the war in Iraq, the recent economic crisis, and various conspiracy theories.

In collaboration with Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg, Video Pool presented wind coil sound flow. Gregory built an acoustic electro-mechanical system that poetically reproduced the processes involved in operating an Aeolian Kite Instrument in the field, (a wind instrument based on an Aeolian harp). The kite’s towline is acoustically attached to a resonator which amplified the wind-induced vibrations of the towline and resonated harmonically. This process created a large one-stringed guitar played by the wind.

In an effort to have broader community engagement, Video Pool presented Turner Prize’s performative installation, Summer of Dreams. The artists built a geodesic dome in the public plaza at Portage and Main, where they invited the public to come in and share their past dreams.

(in)visible cities included live performances by an array of internationally renowned artists including: Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Vancouver), Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan (Winnipeg), FASTWÜRMS (Creemore, ON), Jessica Thompson (Toronto), and Nhan Duc Nguyen (Vancouver). Cultural theorist Jeanne Randolph (Winnipeg) will act as (in)visible cities’ rapporteur/blogger, providing insightful commentary as festival events unfold.