search for balance

I prefer my video works to be housed in the context of an installation. In “Getting out of my bed,” although it’s been shown as a stand alone video, it was always my intention to develop it into an installation. In its most recent showing, the work was installed on top of a twin sized mattress, with a black light tube sitting at a slight angle against the LCD monitor, playing the video on loop. Even with the technology inherently imbedded into my work, I like to offset the digital value of my choice of medium, with the tangibility of common objects, all courageously living together in a single space. It gives my work a sense of balance, that I would never leave the real world for the sake of living in some sort of meta-verse and oppositely, its my reassurance that incorporating a form of current technology, my work can stay updated and contemporary.

The intrinsic technology hasn’t changed too much. A frame of image after a frame of image, to form a moving image has been the concept since its inception. The technology aspect presents itself as how many frames per second can this screen show? 30, 60? Is it shown in pixels or the outdated scan-line or even going further back to actual strips of film? Are these pixels shown with light crystals (LCD) or projected (projection screens) or shown with fast moving fans that emit light (holographic fans). Are these images ever shown in IRL? Maybe they just live in virtuality and is happy with that version of itself.

I never give much thought to the technology involved. These questions are never a concern. My only interest is based on the question of how to best communicate the concept, what medium and format is the most appropriate and how that essence will be conveyed.

Video art could be a form of art that can sustain itself entirely digitally. From creation to exhibition, it can be housed digitally and be fulfilling without ever being IRL. As much as I need to incorporate video screens into my installations and enjoy visually seeing my work in real life space, being entirely digital serves a tremendous practicality. The financial benefits has always been a plus and not having to think about the monetary aspect of a project is rare with most artists. But with the fluid nature of creating and distributing work digitally, I try to be more selective of the works that I create for online consumption, as to not add to the already absurd amount of content and noise.

One of the interesting traits that attracts me to the moving image as a medium is the acceptance of current technology. My primary concern as an artist in the macro sense has been the human condition. In the micro sense, the works that I’ve been pulled towards recently, relates to our thoughts on language and its reflection of social conditions. AR has been a medium that I’ve been working with to depict an object with regards to those set of conditions. Using AR technology built into a commonly used app, Instagram, I’ve been able to develop work that can be experienced by anyone with a smartphone. Common objects like the $20 bill or the playing card is substituted in the virtual world with works that I have created.

The process for developing my AR works really started with what I want to communicate and what kind of medium or technology I can use to communicate these thoughts most efficiently. As a video artist, I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with new technology. I remember playing with my father’s VHS camcorder, using the in-camera effects to make amateur music videos and projects that required poor acting. Experimenting has always been a tremendous factor in my studio process so I like to surround myself with equipment and materials. I search ebay for used projectors, cheap hologram fans, pi-raspberry lcd screens, old CTR monitors and newer lcd monitors. The equipment mostly go untouched, until a specific project comes up but its the ability to handle the various equipment, wanting to experiment that has driven my artistic progress.

The AR technology that I used to develop my works was spark, a program created by Facebook. It’s a simple program that allows me to code without being immensely proficient in the language. Taking ordinary objects and using the overlay function to replace the real world image with a work that I’ve created, the technological aspect to creating my pieces is usually the easiest step. The approach I had was to depict our vices, or at least the vices that concerned me or my experiences. Narrowing down my subject, I wanted to build on objects that someone might carry in their pockets and that could be found in normal environments. I always like to start off a series with three works; and depending on how I like the direction, I would stop or build off of them.

The most common and constant source of thought for me has always been money or at least our concept of it. The most direct symbolic form of this is the billfold. I dug into my wallet and found a clean $20 bill that I would use for my first piece, “BILLZ.” With these AR pieces, I can distribute the work online, and follow my work via the statistics that the Spark Hub provides. I can see the impressions along with the usage rate. It’s a workflow that top down, is self sustainable. I’m able to create something all digitally, that can be experienced exactly how I intentioned, without ever leaving the virtual realm, but at the same time, you need real world interaction for the piece to work. You need to physically have a $20 bill, a jack of diamond playing card or a pack of Parliament light cigarettes.

Although, experimentation is a pivotal point of my art practice, learning new mediums or in some cases, programs takes time. Keeping up with the technology advancement is a time consuming task. There’s always the dilemma or concern, will learning this new technology provide a much more meaningful approach to my art? Unable to answer that question, the way I attack the question is to try it out. So in that regards, often times, the process is a slow one. Sometimes I learn a new program, only to realize that it wasn’t really important to integrate it into my work. I like to be fluid enough that I’m not fixated on a specific medium or act. I honestly have A.D.D in a sense that I can’t work on a single piece for a long period of time. I get easily distracted, easily pulled into new fascinations. But in contrast, I would like to think I have enough focus to be mindful of the project I am working on, to think about the craftsmanship aspect of the piece, to give it maturity and a developed sensibility.

The way I create my works, there’s always a balance that needs to be adhered to. I live with contradictions and I think contradictions are a beautiful aspect of navigating the world today. It might not make sense now, and it might eventually not make sense at all. But I think I will be okay with that.