Iris Taylor preparing to present her lecture, A View from the Edge

Random Access Memory

Artist: Kay Burns

ID : 49176

Description: 2000 [colour, 3 min. 38 sec.]
(Documentation of installation)

Random Access Memory portrays memory as a construction of fragments based on lived experiences combined with ancestral memory. It conveys how memory diminishes and becomes distorted over time, and addresses how the senses of vision, hearing, and touch can awaken memories. The potential for non-sequential access within technologically delivered information reflects human memory - randomly recalled fragments from which we construct an understanding of our own history in the world

The exhibition space was dark, and relatively minimal; divided into two main areas. In the outer area, the video was projected high up on the wall, flanked by aluminum screens that functioned as both conductive and reflective surfaces for the light cues in the space - lighting effects that altered the installation environment in response to the viewer's touch of the screens. The aluminum screens also allowed filtered light and diminished image to pass through to other screens and on to the black wall behind, creating an ephemeral environment where memory images are both fragmented and distorted. The audio in this outer area was delivered through headphones in conjunction with the video projection. The area behind the black curtain is the hidden domain of ancestral memory. Within this area, a touch-sensitive, plexiglass, back-projection screen is the focus of the space. The viewer's entry into the space triggered the initial audio delivery to small stereo speakers through floor sensors embedded in the rug. I constructed the projection screen to contain thread-like wires hooked to 11 sensors which, when touched, activated changing imagery and audio. The viewers' touch of the images on the screen is the interface for this inner area, thereby building a connection between the primal nature of touch as a trigger for memory - touch that remains as allusive as distant memories because the sensation is distanced by the smooth surface of the screen rather than the tactile surfaces inherent in the imagery.

Production Centre: EMMEDIA, Calgary</a

Des mesures :

Collection:

Date de réalisation : 2000

Matériaux : vidéo

Collection virtuelle : Original CCCA

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mind behind academic perceives in spite of sound

Artist: Kay Burns

ID : 49173

Description: 2000 [colour, 1 min. 55 sec.]
(Documentation of Installation)

mind behind academic perceives in spite of sound is a new media piece that was developed for the exhibition 1000 Words Exactly at The New Gallery in Calgary, Alberta in November 2001. For this exhibition 10 artists were invited to produce an artwork that in some way deals with the writings of a critic/theorist and to create a work incorporating 100 words each, thereby filling the gallery with 1000 words exactly.

mind behind academic perceives in spite of sound is a random poetry generator created with Macromedia Director. For the project, using a total of 100 words, I structured word lists of different categories (nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.) and then devised 7 possible sequence orders for the word categories. When triggered, the program chooses one of the 7 sequence orders at random, which in turn randomly chooses words from the categorized lists and then puts the poem sentence up on the screen. For the most part, the sentences appear to make sense because of the grammatical structures built into the project.

Our incredible desire (need) to comprehend language forces our mind to make sense out these series of words even if it is essentially non-sense. Given the historical connection between poetry and spoken word, the 100 words have also been broken into audible syllables which are played back randomly with the changing poetry text. Again, our dependency on language as a primary source of communication is reinforced by our inclination to make sense from this altered spoken language.

Production Centre: EMMEDIA, Calgary</a

Des mesures :

Collection:

Date de réalisation : 2001

Matériaux : vidéo

Collection virtuelle : Original CCCA

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(Quad Cam Project) Out of Place: HomeCam

Artist: Kay Burns

ID : 49172

Description: 2001-02 [colour, 3min. 46sec.]
(documentation excerpts)

Le Quad Cam is a 4 directional camera system that I developed for an ongoing body of work. The underlying ideas behind the quad cam projects relate to issues of surveillance, observation over time, reality TV, and the ability to recreate a 360 degrees view of a given environment. In its exhibition form, 4 TV monitors situated in a square formation facing towards the centre play back the recorded video from the four directions mimicking the view points of the four cameras, and headphones are available in the centre of the structure to provide a sense of spatially specific audio (sound coming from behind, beside, etc. depending on the location of recorded events).

Out of Place: Home Cam (4 channel video and 4 channel audio) is a project that explores ideas and issues about displacement; in this case, the displacement felt by relocated Newfoundlanders residing in Fort McMurray Alberta. Approximately one third of the population of Fort McMurray is made up of dislocated Newfoundlanders who have gone seeking the abundance of work available in the oil industry and tar sands. They are in the midst of a cultural transition as they come to terms with the experience of leaving their home and way of life for a completely different lifestyle in a landlocked isolated community. This Quad Cam project takes the words of the displaced Newfoundlanders and juxtaposes them with the imagery of the places they left behind and was screened at the Newfoundlanders Club in Fort McMurray, Alberta in April 2002.

Production Centre: EMMEDIA, Calgary

Des mesures :

Collection:

Date de réalisation : 2001-02

Matériaux : vidéo

Collection virtuelle : Original CCCA

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Dislocation/Relocation: Stories of Displacement

Artist: Kay Burns

ID : 49171

Description: 2003 [colour, 2 min. 37 sec.]
(Installation Documentation)

Enter. Interior, 1960s outport kitchen... The old furniture and the old wood cook stove belie the progressive technologies of the modern era in this remote location. In these island homes, there is no electricity, and no plumbing, but here there is warmth and a dedication to the laborious lifestyle of those who make their livelihood from the sea. A toy box in the corner speaks of the children who dwell in this place, although not for much longer. Their scattered viewmaster toys show a yearning for and a curiosity about distant places. A window looks out to sea. In the window, image and sound tell fragments of stories about the government resettlement plan and the islanders' apprehension.

A controversial resettlement program was implemented by Premier Joey Smallwood in the 1950s and 60s in Newfoundland whereby the provincial government essentially forced the inhabitants of outport communities on small islands and peninsulas to move to 'centralized' communities. This was to provide an economic solution to the costs of building roads and providing electricity, healthcare and education to the outlying communities, but in-turn it carried with it many other long-term effects of dislocation, unemployment, and emotional upheaval. People of the outport communities built their identities through generations of families who thrived through a particular way of life. Aspects of that identity were lost with the resettlement program and the changes to the fishing industry.

Computer terminal... web page... what is displacement to others. Eight stories told, each with a snapshot... the experience of displacement is diverse. Written stories by others are added into the mix over time and portray the range and complexity of the sense of upheaval and confusion through displacement, the experiences of many tell the tale of what it means to be displaced.

During the research for this project and others, it has become clear that many people feel a sense of displacement whether they moved here from elsewhere or even if they've lived in one location their whole life. Displacement relates to a severed connection to place and the culture of that place, and often to a sense of longing and loss in relation to a place left behind. The exploration of one incident, one fragment in history led to an exploration of the ubiquitous role of displacement in the understanding of identity.

Web site: Snapshots and Stories of Displacement

Production Centre: EMMEDIA, Calgary