I thought about the videos I would like to convert to VHS to highlight the offset the VHS Library aims to make between contemporary video making and nostalgic video obsession.
“I am Wild, Free and Beautiful” (2010) Hunter St Mall, Newcastle. This special ‘Directors Cut’ references how contemporary DIY handycam art practice (cf Olaf Breuning) parallels the nostalgic cheesy ‘VHS family home movie,’ where Dad’s/Mom’s voice behind the camera makes directive or oblique comments. This impromptu video survey/portrait of passersby in Newcastles’ Hunter St Mall features Nicola behind the camera as an unseen voice, coaxing members of the general public to be filmed for her wacky project, all they had to do was say the words, “I am Wild, Free and Beautiful” 3 times. Upon viewing, one is impressed by the power of these magical words upon the face of the strangers but also the challenging, repetitive nature of the communication artefacts generated in the instructional collaboration between (the in-presence) artist and (on-camera) stranger. Made as part of the Renew Newcastle Residency. .
In the Library you will also find "Proof of Time Travel and Alternative Intelligence" (2010) Helsinki, Brisbane.
Nostalgia is a broken
down ute on the highway of time travel, video art is an intersection of and
reproduction of time travel simultaneously. The
recording of moving time, and time itself being moved was the medium for our
time travel. We channel the creative force of Om to cleanse and charge us.
Artificial-Alternative intelligence can be created from the sparks that imitate
neuron activity when human bodies are networked sensorily and cognitively. We
use the cognitive process of mindmapping 'Spiders' and fast group
word/touch/smell/musical association to generate synaptic activity across all
bodies in the room, this activity/energy will create an ulterior form of
intelligence. I wanted to rewrite my past, not just in my mind but also in
other peoples (and their preconceptions) plus somehow affect the technology
that recorded it. Time is not homogenous. Time is not linear. Time travel
subsists of our phenomenal perception/s of other times/dimensions. Released for youtube..
plus the shit i have to pass everyday
“Equalizer 24K 10 Year
Resurrection” (2012) Stefan’s Sky Needle, Brisbane.
This year I have been
on a nostalgia trip, most noticeably since it’s been 10 years since I first
started making noise music. After an explosive first year of noise, I stopped
due to crazy relationship stuff that after a couple of years in a coma (a very
dark place) in Brisbane was still not fixed, but an eventual move to Berlin did
fix. As part of finally embracing a return to Brisbane, on Good Friday 2012, I
transformed the bad memories and good tunes of Equalizer 24K. As most
data/music from 10 years ago had been erased, I could effectively use my new
improvised noise style to mess up those memories and perform to new and old
crowds.
