Ian Birse + Laura Kavanaugh | Canada | 2004 | live audio &
video performance
Instant Places is a series of installation-performances
that work with locally gathered audio and video in order to transform
the host gallery into an immersive space. The raw materials of the
particular place and time are transformed through a process of improvisation
using live sampling, microphone and mixer feedback, voice, contact
pickups and effects. The video work deals with the transformation
of recently shot and edited footage, using the real-time manipulation
tools VDMX, Isadora, and MAX/Jitter. Each project can be thought
of as an evolving portrait or journal that is specific to the conditions
surrounding it, while simultaneously allowing indeterminate and
personal forces a role in the outcome. Instant Places operates in
a state of flux between the subjective and objective, as input from
the world is perceived, framed, recorded, edited, and recontexutalized
in time and space.
The environments are arranged in such a way that a visitor must
decide at every moment what to focus on; in this way the process
of framing and selecting continues for the receiver.
The improv sessions, which are open to the public, take place daily
from 2 to 6 pm. The installation begins with an artists’ talk
on Saturday, April 10 at 3 pm and culminates in a performance event
and discussion on Saturday, April 17 at 3 pm.
The work of Laura Kavanaugh and Ian Birse involves improvised and
composed audio/video environments, and has been presented across
Canada and Europe. Their sound work employs feedback systems, microphones,
amplified objects, and live sampling/remixing. Documentation of
projects can be found at their website. |
