Thursday, January 28, 2010

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

ASCIImeo



These are screen shots of my Full Disclosure video which has been transformed into ASCII code through the use of an awesome video player called ASCIImeo. It was designed by Peter Nitsch.

Amazing!

[via today and tomorrow]

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

i'm a bit choked up about this



Kate McGarrigle passed away from cancer earlier today leaving this little French-Canadian queer feeling quite sad and reminiscent.

I remember my mom and I taking road trips to visit friends in southern Ontario, driving down the Trans-Canada highway, with our windows down and listening to Kate and Anna McGarrigle blasting from the car speakers. They were my favorite to listen to and we'd play the tape, recorded from my mom's collection of scratchy vinyl, over and over again until I'd fall asleep or we'd finally arrive. It was an epic and formative experience to say the least.

I called my mom today and we talked about these road trips and how close to home this felt. My mom is the same age as Kate and I've always associated the two in my mind. When I listen to a McGarrigle sisters album or watch them in concert or on t.v. I tend to think about my mom raising me in her little house in the middle of the Laurentians.

There's also something specifically Quebecois-Canadian about these memories, just like Kate's music. I don't know, it's hard to pin down: road trips; nature; folk music; two languages under one nation/person... And of course, there's also something profoundly motherly and warm about her music, at least for me. I think that's why I'm so choked up about it all.

My thoughts are with the McGarrigle and the Wainwright families. I wish them all the best.

Rest in peace Kate.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Alternorthern Exhibit

So... when did you figure out that you had AIDS? is one of three video works that I will be exhibiting as part of the Alternorthern exhibition at the LAB in San Francisco next month.

Here is an excerpted description of the show from the LAB's website:

“Alternorthern” was conceived in the tension that exists between nationalism, globalization, and individualism: the exhibition is a product of both cultural values and cultural hybridism. The nine artists in this exhibition function similarly in that they use their own identities to make gestures that transgress time and space. Each artist in the exhibition is Canadian, yet each creates work that speaks to issues pertinent to both Canadian and global geographic and political landscapes.

The show runs from February 12th to March 6th. The opening is February 12th from 6-9pm.

Hope to see you there!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

mysterious emails from abroad

I received two very enticing images in my email today. No context was given. No name was offered up. They appear to have been sent from an AT&T networked mobile phone with a 714 area code (Orange County, CA).

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

I do not recognize the person with manicured nails and long, black hair posing in the first image.

I do recognise that the teddy bear bun looks delicious!

It seems whoever sent these knows that:

a) I'm going to be San Francisco in a month;
b) I'm a bear;
c) I like bread.

Curious... If you have any information about these or if you were the person who sent me these wonderful images, please let me know.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

new video work

COVER

v. To place something over or upon to conceal or protect.

n. (music) A rerecording of a previously recorded song; a cover version; a cover song.

This video explores the play between the different meanings for the word cover. For the duration of a song I will cover a set of speakers with my body. This gesture will muffle the sound and change the sonic character of the music, in effect producing a "cover" version of the original.