Video Pool

"Hello, Winnipeg! Are you ready to rock?"

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:44:00 +0000

Check out this great review by Stacey Abramson of Robert Hengeveld's Staging the Gap, which is on now in Video Pool's third floor studio.

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"Hello, Winnipeg! Are you ready to rock?"
Exhibit shows how stagecraft changes concert experience
August 7th, 2008

Do you remember your very first major arena concert? Remember that unmistakable feeling of excitement when the band or artist you no doubt paid a large amount of money to see walked on stage amidst the flash of lights, booming speakers and, most importantly, that sweet, muggy scent of dry ice and smoke?

It's a pretty intense and thrilling feeling.

My real first encounter with this exhilaration (however embarrassing) was seeing Bon Jovi and Skid Row when I was only eight years old. I remember being blown away when the fireworks blasted simultaneously with key guitar chords and Jon bounced across the catwalk set up along the front section of the Winnipeg Arena.

This culture surrounding arena shows and large venue concerts has mesmerized audiences since that day when smoke first met spotlight and magic was made. Toronto-based artist Robert Hengeveld has attempted to capture everything that encompasses this in his interactive installation, Staging the Gap.

Winnipeg Square was to be the installation place, but due to concerns surrounding the tiny puffs of dry ice that jet out at timed intervals, the venue had to be shifted. The piece has now been installed on the third floor of Video Pool Media Arts Centre's production space in the blue screen room where patrons experience a unique concert.

Inside the unlit space sits a miniature white amphitheatre with a glowing red button. Once the viewer presses the button, the ride begins. The stage begins to glow with tiny sets of stage lights. It's pretty funny to see a baby stage be overcome with its own theatrics. The viewer must now choose a set of headphones to experience the work (although I suggest watching the work through as many soundtracks as you can).

Eight separate headphones stream different soundtracks, specifically created to co-ordinate with the light show. A woman scats and screams on one set, while Bohemian Rhapsody gets a Star Wars twist on another. Each soundtrack gives the stage a very different feeling. While piano chords creep through the spotlights on one set of headphones, a dramatic and synthetic soundtrack plays. Hengeveld lets the viewer choose multiple genres and emotions through which to experience the work.

While the work may seem like something of a novelty, Hengeveld is commenting on how different the concert and musical experience becomes with the addition of smoke and lights. The stage in Hengeveld's installation is where the viewer examines the connections between music and theatrics. When thinking of the lip-synching glamour girls and boys of popular music, this concept becomes clearer in a Marshall McLuhan-esque fashion -- the medium is the message.

By leaving nothing on stage except technical theatrical devices, the artist lets the viewer connect with the stage environment and become slightly detached from the music. The viewer gets to experience the smoke and mirrors separate from the live performance. The spectacle takes hold of the musical experience.

Though the premise behind the work may be a heavier look into the semiotics of live performances, the result is playful and engaging. It is also a great example of good, fun art, as it's an entertaining work that can be appreciated on many levels. And let's face it: everyone loves a good show.

freep.artreview@gmail.com

Art Review
Staging the Gap by Robert Hengeveld
Video Pool Media Arts Centre
300-100 Arthur St.
To Aug. 21

Participate in a New Media Workshop Led by Toronto Artist, Jessica Thompson

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:34:00 +0000

Jessica Thompson's Freestyle SoundHack

Saturday, September 13 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Video Pool Media Arts Centre and other Exchange District sites

Jessica Thompson will present Freestyle SoundHack, a collaborative performance in the form of a workshop. The performance/workshop involves building Freestyle SoundKits – wearable sound pieces prototyped by the artist – that generate and broadcast electronic beats as users move through the urban environment. During the performance, the artist will give her project to the public by teaching workshop participants how to make their own Freestyle SoundKits, which they can distribute as they wish, using whatever sounds they choose.

The workshop begins at Video Pool with a Freestyle SoundKits building session, followed by live sonic and movement-based interventions in the public spaces of the Exchange District. Thompson regards her transmission of open-source technological skill as the core component of the performance. She is interested in sharing technological knowledge so that the sonic transformation of public space becomes less of a specialized artistic activity and more of an ordinary occurrence.

The workshop/performance is open to any one 14 years and older. No previous electronics, hacking, coding or performance experience is needed – just a desire to experiment and play.

Enrollment is limited to 10 participants and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The fee for the workshop is $40, which will cover the cost of workshop materials. Participants should bring their own snacks/ lunch to the workshop.

This workshop is presented by Video Pool Media Arts Centre.

To register, or for more information contact Cam Woykin, Education Coordinator
tel: 204-949-9134 x 4 // email: vped@videopool.org

AND...

On Friday, September 12, join us in Video Pool's third floor studio from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. for an artist talk offered by Jessica Thompson during which time she'll talk about her past work, current projects, and future ideas.

The City Re-imagined, Re-invented!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:02:00 +0000

aceartinc., Urban Shaman Gallery, Video Pool Media Arts Centre, and Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art are thrilled to present

(in)visible cities

– a performance art festival in Winnipeg’s Exchange District from September 6th to 13th, 2008.

Transforming, Shape-shifting Artists!

(in)visible cities will include live performance events by an array of internationally renowned artists including: Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Vancouver), Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan (Winnipeg), FASTWÜRMS (Creemore, ON), Jessica Thompson (Toronto), and Nhan Duc Nguyen (Vancouver). Cultural theorist Jeanne Randolph (Winnipeg) will act as (in)visible cities’ rapporteur/blogger, providing insightful commentary as festival events unfold.

You! Work it! Mix it up!

To further engage audiences as both participants in and witnesses of the work, (in)visible cities will present two performance workshops:

Performance and Activism in Everyday Life, led by Cheryl L'Hirondelle, Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan, is a two-day workshop expanding ideas of performance art practice in relation to collaboration, community, and activism.

Freestyle SoundHack, led by Jessica Thompson, is a one-day workshop/performance involving the creation of wearable sound pieces that generate and broadcast electronic beats as users move through urban environments.

Meet the Artists! Exchange Ideas! Incite!

(in)visible cities will also include a round-table discussion on performance practice, identity, community, agency and place.

Morphing, Resonating Cities!

The city – our city – is network of living cultures with heterogeneous but intersecting communities, systems, flows and struggles. Through presenting performance works that play out a variety of modes of social interaction with audiences, (in)visible cities provides an arena in which to further animate the stories, histories and economies of the Exchange District.

You are invited to witness and participate in events that expand possibilities for performative agency while also speaking to the politics of place – of cultural visibility and invisibility, presence and absence, utopia and urban myth, renewal and resistance. Through (in)visible cities we offer new forms for imagining how urban dwelling, telling, exchange, site and history can be reinvented.

A full festival schedule with dates, times and venues will be available by mid-August.

For more information about (in)visible cities contact:

aceartinc. Tel: 204.944.9763 Email: program@aceart.org
Urban Shaman Gallery Tel: 204.942.2674 Email: program@urbanshaman.org

(in)visible cities gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Downtown Festival Grant Program, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Generous in-kind support is provided by Canadian Goodwill Industries Corporation, Little Saigon Restaurant, and Kensington Building Ltd.

Sincere thanks also to our donors, members and volunteers; and to our community, and friends and family.

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PS: Visit the (in)visible cities blog! http://invisiblecitiesperformance.blogspot.com/

Change of Exhibition Venue!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:39:00 +0000

Robert Hengeveld's exhibition Staging the Gap will no longer be presented at Unit 3 - 300 Main Street. Instead the exhibition will presented at Video Pool's studio (3rd Floor, 100 Arthur Street).

All are invited to enjoy the interactive audio and electronics of this detailed concert stage diorama daily from 12 - 5. The artist will be in attendance for the exhibition opening, Friday, July 25th; the exhibition will run until August 21.

An Uncomfortable Fascination

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:20:00 +0000

This is not a video pool event, but a video event not to be missed! We hope you'll be able to attend...

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THE VIDEO WORKS OF ERICA EYRES:
An Uncomfortable Fascination

Curated By Stacy Abramson
Artist Present

FREE ADMISSION

Friday / July 4 / 7:00 PM
THE WFG'S CINEMATHEQUE,
100 ARTHUR STREET

Her work is dark, eerie and strangely human. She dons costumes to perform in all of her video work creating characters which pushes viewers to the edge. The work of former Winnipeg artist Erica Eyres, who moved to Glasgow in 2002 and received her masters degreee in art in 2004 has been picked up by the Rokeby Gallery in London, England, one of the most trend setting galleries in the UK. She has been developing a name for herself in the European art scene in the past six years. She showed with Bowieart - an exhibition of 16 emerging European artists selected by David Bowie in 2005.

Curator and writer Stacy Abramson said her work is uncomfortable, hilarious, sad and brilliant all at once. We want to laugh, and do, but feel sorry for the characters. We feel guilty about finding all of their misfortune humourous. But this is the reality of human emotions. She is able to shine the harshest light on the dark side of human nature with a strange face of humour. She makes us look at the strange and unsettling reality of these characteristics that we tend to push under the rug. Through each character that she plays in her works, Eyres lets us see that with a critical and brilliant eye. Her total control of the medium of both video and performance are what make her stand-out from so many artists working with the same ideas of humanity."

Robert Hengeveld's "Staging the Gap"

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:08:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Video Pool Media Arts Centre presents
Robert Hengeveld's "Staging the Gap"

Robert Hengeveld's exhibition Staging the Gap will no longer be presented at Unit 3 - 300 Main Street. Instead the exhibition will presented at Video Pool's studio (3rd Floor, 100 Arthur Street).

Winnipeg, MB (July 2, 2008) – Video Pool Media Arts Centre is very pleased to present Staging the Gap, a provocative media installation by Toronto-based artist, Robert Hengeveld.

Staging the Gap is a miniature model of a concert stage with silently animated lights and smoke. The work explores the relationship of fact and fiction in a technologically mediated world. Hengeveld critically reflects on the mechanisms used to deliver popular culture by focusing on how visual effects – stage lights, pyrotechnics, and dry ice – are used at concerts to shape our understanding of what we hear. Ignoring society’s desire for the spectacle of performance, the stage created by the artist remains empty while a precisely orchestrated light show plays out.

Accompanying the miniature stage is a series of headphone each playing a different audio track specifically composed in response to the orchestrated light show. This inverts the traditional relationship of audio and visual experience in concert settings and addresses the role of audio in shaping our understanding of the world.

Hengeveld's model stage measures 2.5m2 to establish a scale at which viewers are encompassed by the work, yet still feel slightly detached. Next, he coaxes audiences from their suspended disbelief into his alternate reality by offering a familiar space and encouraging them to relate in a familiar manner. This subtle slip from the norm creates a situation that challenges preconceptions while fostering a reevaluation of our spatial environments and our positions within them.

This exhibition runs from July 29 – August 21, 2008 and will be available weekdays from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Video Pool's Studio (100 Arthur Street, 3rd Floor).

Exhibition Launch: Friday, July 25
Artist talk begins at 6:00 p.m. in Winnipeg Film Group's Studio; Reception will follow at Video Pool – both venues are on the 3rd floor at 100 Arthur Street.

ARTIST BIO -- Robert Hengeveld completed his MFA at the University of Victoria in 2005 and received a Fine Arts Diploma and Certificate from Georgian College, and an AOCAD from the Ontario College of Art and Design. He has exhibited his work across Canada and internationally, and has participated in artist residencies in both Canada and Scotland. He is currently living and working in Toronto.

These exhibition is presented thanks to generous financial support from:

VIDEO POOL MEDIA ARTS CENTRE is a non-profit artist run centre dedicated to advancing the discipline of media art by providing media artists, non-profit organizations and community groups with access to professional video and media equipment, training, distribution and programming. Video Pool strives to be a national leader fostering innovation, experimentation, critical dialogue and advocacy in media arts.

Contact:
Milena Placentile, Programming Coordinator
Video Pool Media Arts Centre
#300-100 Arthur St., Winnipeg MB R3B 1H3
http://www.videopool.org
http://videopool.blogspot.com
204.949.9134 x 1

Uncovered!!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:36:00 +0000

It's like a time capsule cracked open online!

The following selection of images were taken at Art's Birthday 2008 by John Coutanche.

Enjoy!

Journal of Media Practice: Call for Papers

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Reposted from an email for all those who might be interested...

Special Issue: A Decade of Media Practice: Changes, Challenges and Choices

The Journal of Media Practice is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2009!

To mark this anniversary, the Journal is looking for contributions from colleagues involved in media practice around the world, whether as teachers or practitioners.

The current decade is witnessing vast changes in the production, consumption and forms of media. With digital technology, video art, documentary, film and other visual media are all going through interesting changes at the institutional, artistic and audience levels.
Web 2.0 is blurring the lines between the production and consumption of media, and is opening up new spaces of expression in societies where state censorship hinders freedom of speech in traditional media. It is also instigating changes in web design. Satellite television is consolidating itself as the primary medium in places like the Middle East. Digital radio is opening up new possibilities for broadcasting. More synergies are being created between different media forms, whether between the internet and television, the internet and documentary, or any number of other possibilities.

The Journal invites international contributions responding to the changes and challenges in the media practice landscape over the last decade, be it television, radio, video art, documentary, film, screenwriting, the internet, the press, or any other form of print, audio, visual or audiovisual media, and the choices that those changes and challenges have created for media practitioners, institutions and audiences.

In addition to academic articles, the Journal encourages the submission of:

- Interviews with key media personnel and artists

- Reflections by media practitioners on their own practice (whether within institutions or as independent practitioners)

- Reviews of exhibitions and other media events

- Critical pieces about changes in technology, content and delivery of media products and tools, or the work of media institutions around the world

Articles should be 5000 words, reviews 500-1000 words, and critical pieces and reflections between 1000-3000 words. The Editor is happy to discuss other possibilities with potential contributors prior to the deadline below.

All submissions are subject to peer review. Please send all completed submissions to jmp@rhul.ac.uk.

The deadline to receive all completed material (full articles, reviews etc.) is October 17, 2008.

Informal queries, speculative abstracts and proposals can be sent to the Editor Lina Khatib: lina.khatib@rhul.ac.uk in advance of the October deadline.

Dr Lina Khatib
Department of Media Arts
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Media-Arts/staff/khatib.htm
Editor: Journal of Media Practice
Co-Editor: Middle East Journal of Culture & Communication

We’ve reached the end… or have we?

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:25:00 +0000

Wow! The past 5 weeks has just been a whirlwind of excitement!

We have:

Successfully launched six new commissions
Witnessed four performances (one of which is ongoing and will continue until May 23)
Enjoyed three receptions
Welcomed a TON of visitors, some of whom experienced Video Pool programming for the very first time.

… And that was just for our 25th Anniversary programming! We also hosted a performance lecture by Jeanne Randolph on May 8, which involved an enjoyable reception.

Everything has worked out wonderfully and, in about a month, we'll have a ton of photos, and maybe even some video documentation to share.

Thanks are owed to…

The artists: Sharon Alward, Daniel Barrow, Peter Courtemanche & Lori Weidenhammer, Richard Dyck, Jeanne Randolph, Steven Loft, and Victoria Prince.

The curators: Sigrid Dahle and Grant Guy.

Our presentation partners: aceartinc., ADHERE+DENY, The Duke of Kent Legion, PLATFORM, Plug in ICA, the Rachel Browne Theatre (formerly Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers Studio), and the Winnipeg Film Group.

Our technicians: Ian August, Daniel Ellingsen, Rick Fisher, Mike Germaine, and Ken Gregory.

Our hospitality sponsor: The Line Up

And most importantly, thank you to our generous funders: The Winnipeg Arts Council through the New Creations Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Winnipeg Foundation, On Screen Manitoba, and the W.H. & S.E. Loewen Foundation.

Thank you!

On that note, we want to let you know that it’s not over yet!

Through a very generous contribution of the Manitoba Arts Council, beginning in the fall, we will host a series of four artist talks that will give a history of media arts on the prairies in a setting that will, most importantly help to forge new connections between Video Pool’s senior members and our growing generation of new practitioners. Stay tuned for more information!

Coming up next… Robert Hengeveld’s media installation, Staging the Gap. More info coming soon!

Sharon Alward's "Bushi"

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:03:00 +0000

A Newly Commissioned Work as Part of Video Pool's 25th Anniversary

Please join us on Friday, May 16 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. to witness the start of Sharon Alward's latest collaboration with Alex Poruchnyk, a performance-driven video installation titled Bushi.

Rachel Browne Theatre (formerly Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Studio)
211 Bannatyne Ave

Exhibition hours beginning May 17
Tues - Sat: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
(Closed Sun - Mon.)
Exhibition continues until May 24, 2008

As always, our exhibitions and performances are free for all.

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Video Pool's 25th Anniversary Commissions have been made possible by the generous support of the Winnipeg Arts Council through the New Creations Fund. Further financial contributions have been kindly provided by The Canada Council for the Arts, The Manitoba Arts Council, the W.H. & S.E. Loewen Foundation, The Winnipeg Foundation, and On Screen Manitoba.

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For more information about Sharon Alward and Bushi, please visit:
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~alward/Bushi and http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~alward/Bushi2.htm

Reminder: Performance lecture tomorrow night!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Dear Friends and Members of Video Pool,

Please be reminded of a very special evening planned for tomorrow night:

A spoken-word performance by Jeanne Randolph, who is well known as one of Canada’s foremost cultural theorists.

We originally anticipated presenting a performance lecture by Glen Johnson, as well, but we regret to announce that he will not be able to join us due to unforeseen circumstances. Video Pool looks forward to re-scheduling his performance at a later date and we will be sure to keep all of you informed!

Jeanne Randolph and Glen Johnson are both known for their creative, intelligent, and irreverent lectures.

Tomorrow evening, Randolph will address the myriad, ubiquitous, and often troubling ways technologies operate through contemporary art and everyday life. Using psychoanalytic methods and concepts, themselves amenable to productive misuse, Randolph will reveal the ways in which technological devices and/or their depictions are open to creative and critical interpretation.

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Thursday, May 8
Winnipeg Film Group's Studio
304-100 Arthur Street
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This provocative and humorous performance lecture is free for all! A reception will follow.

Video Pool Media Arts Centre is grateful for generous financial support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Video Pool also extends thanks to the Winnipeg Film Group for their kind presentation support.

Upcoming Video Pool Events: May 5, 8, and 16

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:26:00 +0000

Dear Members and Friends,

We are well underway with our 25th Anniversary celebrations! Peter Courtemanche & Lori Weidenhammer's new media sculpture is available for viewing at PLATFORM (100 Arthur St), and Richard Dyck's experimental computer-generated video project is available for viewing at aceartinc. (290 McDermot Ave).

Here's what's coming next:

Steve Loft "A History in Two Parts" -- May 5 – 17, 2008
Reception -- Monday, May 5 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
The Duke of Kent Legion, 227 McDermot Ave.
Exhibition hours beginning May 6: Mon, Wed - Fri 1:00 - 6:00 p.m.; Tues 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. Closed Sat - Sun.
This exhibition is presented in-part through the generosity of On Screen Manitoba

Sharon Alward "Bushi" -- May 16 - 24, 2008
Launch -- Friday, May 16 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Rachel Browne Theatre (Formerly the Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Studio), 211 Bannatyne Ave
Exhibition hours beginning May 17: Tues - Sat 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Closed Sun - Mon.
Performances each day except May 24

Video Pool's 25th Anniversary Commissions were made possible by the generous support of the Winnipeg Arts Council through the New Creations Fund. Further financial contributions have been kindly provided by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Winnipeg Arts Council, The W.H. & S. E. Loewen Foundation, the Winnipeg Foundation, and On Screen Manitoba.

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During this very exciting time, we are also thrilled to be continue offering programming pertaining to our 2007/2007 thematic, Off the Grid: The Creative (Mis)use of Technology. We are very excited to present one-night only performance lectures by...

Jeanne Randolph and Glen Johnson
Thursday, May 8 beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Winnipeg Film Group Studio, 304-100 Arthur Street

The schedule for the evening is as follows: Performances will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m., we will have a brief intermission between each one, and we'll continue the evening with a reception.

For more information about these thoughtful, provocative, and humorous performances, please visit: http://videopool.blogspot.com/2008/04/planning-ahead-upcoming-performance.html

These performances are presented thanks to generous financial support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Video Pool thanks the Winnipeg Film Group for their generous presentation support.

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As always, our exhibitions and performances are free for all. Please note that owing to the venue, Steve Loft's exhibition is open to audiences aged 18 and older.

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We look forward to seeing you!!

Video Pool marks 25 years with new works

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:19:00 +0000

Thanks for this 25th Anniversary coverage, Stacey!!

Video Pool marks 25 years with new works
Stacey Abrahamson, Winnipeg Free Press, April 25, 2008

Video Pool Media Arts Centre has much to celebrate on its 25th birthday.

The organization has promoted, pushed and loved video art since the early days of the medium. Rooted in community art ideals, Video Pool has been one of the most welcoming homes of creativity in Canada -- it began as a way for artists interested in working in video to "pool" together their resources.

To celebrate its anniversary, Video Pool commissioned six new media art works by Prairie artists through local curators Grant Guy and Sigrid Dahle. Each of these works gets a one-week run at various locations in the Exchange District. Dahle commissioned Richard Dyck, Steven Loft and the collaborative artistic duo of Peter Courtemanche and Lori Weidenhammer through the curatorial concept of Temporarily out of order: downtime. Seen/Unseen is the curatorial vision of Guy through the work of Sharon Alward, Daniel Barrow and Victoria Prince.

Guy's curatorial intent has more to do with performance-based artists and their works, while Dahle's intent has more to do with the vulnerabilities that occur within both the technology surrounding video and the artists who make the works. Both concepts are true to the beginnings of Video Pool, where both performance and conceptual art came together to create a base for artists looking to explore the new medium of video art.

The works by Dyck and Prince are currently showing. Barrow's Trying to Love the Normal Amount was the first of the works to debut in the city on April 12. Barrow normally performs his animations by overlapping colourful transparencies onto one another to create movement and life on screen. In this case, he puts the role of performer onto the audience. Audience members are invited to perform the work through the directions on a screen that's set up like a karaoke prompter. They are asked to play out the sad tale of a woman looking for love and comfort.

Dyck's work always has a feeling of home and history. His video The day we cut Nettie's curls, she was 7 years old is no different. Taking the story behind a 1947 photograph, Dyck creates a 3-D environment that explores the twists and turns of its tale. The environment is a series of black and white hills and gorges that the viewer travels through with the assistance of a glowing tonal orb. The sadness and strength of the story that is told through text on the screen is heightened by the silence in the room and the 3-D space. Dyck invites the viewers to ponder the scene and story that is given to them through the serenity of the created artificial hush of its backdrop.

Walking up the stairs to Prince's installation, the viewer is pummelled with the powerful fragrance of incense. When the viewer reaches the top of the stairs and the entrance to the installation room, the scent becomes almost unbearable. The candle-lit room holds Light and Alter, Prince's glistening watery installation. Two Plexiglas waterfalls stand on either side of a stone- and salt-laden path leading into a video projection and light. Viewers are invited to walk through the path to what Prince calls a "tabernacle."

She creates a new media metaphor of spirituality that is not only witnessed but experienced, and is unlike any work she has done before.

Still to come are works by Alward, Loft and the duo of Courtemanche and Weidenhammer, details of which can be found on the Video Pool website.

The six commissions and artists represent a sampling of the best artists working in new media in Canada. It is a fabulous way to celebrate the organization's achievements and is indicative of the creative and conceptual past it has had and the potential of its future.

Into the Light

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:40:00 +0000

Check out this fantastic 25th Anniversary coverage by Whitney Light that appeared in the latest edition of Uptown.

Click on the image to read the full article...

Thanks, Whitney!

Tonight's the night we party!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:59:00 +0000

Hi Everyone!!

We've been celebrating our 25th Anniversary since January, and we plan to celebrate all year long, but tonight's the night we party!

Join us at at PLATFORM centre for photographic and digital arts (100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg MB) and share in the cheer ... and beer, and food, and fun, and friends, and art, and talk, and everything else wonderful!!

Love,
Video Pool

ps. We're accepting presents... rather, photos of presents ;-) If you have something funny, quirky, strange, unexpected, sentimental, or otherwise "big 2-5" appropriate, bring it along! We'll take a photo and post it on our blog.

Bday wishes are also welcome from those far, far away... we'll announce them on your behalf, just like they do at weddings n' stuff. Accepted by email, fax, telephone, telegram, SMS, or semaphore =-)

Silver Screens -- Preview written by Walter Forsberg

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:40:00 +0000

We were very happy to discover Walter Forsberg's preview of our 25th Anniversary programming in Uptown Magazine. We're sure this will mean an even bigger party tonight!

Click on the image for a larger version...

Thanks Walter!

Fantastic coverage to kick off a fantastic celebration

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:13:00 +0000

Wow! We're pretty excited to receive such detailed and enthusiastic coverage about our 25th Anniversary from Walrus Magazine. Thanks to Mike Landry for a great interview, which has turned into a great blog post!

25 Years of Video Pool
Mike Landry, walrusmagazine.com/blogs, April 16th, 2008

To celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, Winnipeg’s Video Pool media art centre made a poster detailing its history. But the twenty-five year history of an artist-run centre is as harried as they come. Rather than a straight timeline, Video Pool’s history looks more like a brainstorming session gone wrong. In the aptly titled The Incomplete, Contested, Anecdotal, Unedited, Messy, Nostalgic, Faulty, Controversial History of Video Pool So Far…,bubbles of people, places, moments in time, and minor scandals are connected with AV cables.

But Video Pool isn’t just celebrating their milestone with a poster. For the next month Video Pool takes Winnipeg by storm with six commissioned works from the centre at spaces around town.

The works are from two big names in Winnipeg: Sigrid Dahle, and Grant Guy. Dahle has been living and working as a risk-taking independent curator in Winnipeg about as long as Video Pool has been around. Guy, who comes from a background in theatre, has been involved with the centre from the very beginning.

Video Pool’s initial idea was to have the curators explore media art’s past, present, and future. But both Dahle and Guy took that theme in their own direction, and commissioned artists at different stages in their career who all have ties to Video Pool. Having a diverse representation is always important to Video Pool, says programming coordinator Milena Placentile.

“It’s really about keeping the dialogue going between different generations and making sure everyone has access to what they need at all points in their career.”

Dahle commissioned Steven Loft, Richard Dyck, and Lori Weidenhammer and Peter Courtemanche to explore “the implications of an artwork in which vulnerability, failure, requirements for regular maintenance and a reliance on (unstable) shared networks are foregrounded?” Loft tackles the question with a video installation tackling the racism, violence, and filth of an average Manitoba video lottery terminal-cursed bar. Weidenhammer and Courtemanche combine performance and sound art with a dress laden with speakers. But it’s Dyck who takes the cake for the most mind-altering reaction to Dahle’s question, “How might [a] piece’s ‘malfunctioning’ serve to create a time and space for quiet contemplation and memory.” He does this with a computer program simulating a camera moving through a 3D rendering of a photograph from 1947 according to mathematical algorithms that result in a new video each time. Yowzah.

Guy combined his theatrical background with the performance aspects of media art. He did this by asking Daniel Barrow, Victoria Prince, and Sharon Alward to address the concept of light as material or metaphor. Barrow does this a do-it-yourself version of his famed overhead projection performance. Alward brings a healthy dose of insanity with her not-quite-in-performance piece featuring martial arts and one-on-one tea ceremonies. And Prince used her commission as an opportunity to branch out from her single-channel work, presenting a video-based sculptural installation that includes water and salt, among other things.

For those familiar with Video Pool from the beginning, it should be no surprise they used this celebration to commission new work. That’s exactly why Video Pool was founded in the first place. Well, that and to pool video resources.

“That it is something designed with a celebration in mind and also designed specifically for our programming as opposed to just supporting production in principle makes it quite original for what we normally undertake,” says Placentile.

Because Video Pool doesn’t have its own programming space, it has partnered with several Winnipeg galleries and theatres to exhibit the new works. With such a tight-knit community though it wasn’t a problem getting collaborators for Video Pool’s celebration. For Placentile, who moved to Winnipeg from Toronto recently, it’s exactly this atmosphere that attracted her.

“Whether it’s something as simple as loaning equipment and then even sharing space, it can just happen in a flash. Everyone realizes how important it is to do that to be here and be successful”

For a little film collective that blossomed into a non-profit artist-run centre, Video Pool certainly has grown up. Rightly, this celebration marks its most ambitious year yet. Increased planning has led to more generous grants, which in turn has led to more programming. There’s even talk of trying to tour the six new works. With their artists becoming more and more recognized, Video Pool is starting to receive replies to their emails from around the world.

In Winnipeg though, people just appreciate that Video Pool exists. With new and expensive technologies like high-definition media, the centre is the only place where many artists can dream of accessing these high-end materials.

“It’s hard for people to enter, and they have ideas of what they want to make and do, and being part of a larger community makes it all possible,” says Placentile. “This is what drew me to Winnipeg, and Video Pool really embodies it.

Festivities kicked off April 12 with Daniel Barrow’s show at Plug In ICA. Head to videopool.org for a complete schedule.

We almost forgot to post this one!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:35:00 +0000

If there was ever an interesting and valuable side-effect of grant writing, it's going through old files and reflecting on past activities.

We forgot to mention the great news of Stacey Abramson's review of Rockstars and Wannabes in Uptown back in November. So, here it is! Click on the pic to read the text in full size.

Thanks Stacey!

Share your anecdotes with us!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:03:00 +0000

Twenty-five years is a long time. It's a quarter of a century. It's a big deal!

Video Pool is honoured to have stood this test of time and is pleased to have such a dynamic, colourful, and community-building history.

How long have you been a part of our history? What stories do you have to tell?

No matter how long you’ve been involved with Video Pool – 25 years, or 25 days – we’d love to read your experience, impressions, and thoughts concerning what helped Video Pool become what it is today, and how Video Pool has helped you.

Please take a moment to offer your anecdotes in the comment section of this blog entry. We’d love to start a conversation, and maybe share a few laughs, too!

You’re welcome to leave an anonymous comment, if you wish, but if you at least leave a code name and enter your email address, you can take advantage of the option to subscribe to this conversation. When someone posts after you, you’ll be notified by email, so you can come back and reply.

We’re looking forward to reading all the great information and story telling that we hope will take place here…

Thanks for helping us celebrate 25 wonderful years!

A little reminder...

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:31:00 +0000

In honour of our 25th Anniversary, Video Pool Media Arts Centre welcomes you to join us on Friday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. at acerartinc. as we launch three new commissions by Daniel Barrow, Richard Dyck, and Victoria Prince.

Barrow's multi-channel interactive media installation, Trying to Love the Normal Amount, opened at Plug In ICA's satellite space (290 McDermot Ave) on Saturday, April 12, and will be available until Saturday, April 19. Barrow will direct a performance beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Dyck's new media installation, The day we cut Nettie's curls, she was 7 years old, will be presented at aceartinc (290 McDermot Ave) and will run until May 2.

Prince's sculptural video installation, Light and Alter, will be presented at the ADHERE AND DENY Pocket Theatre (315-70 Albert Street) and will run until April 25.

And, please mark your calendars for the launch of a fourth commission by Lori Weidenhammer and Peter Courtemanche. This project will involve two performances -- one on April 24 and one on April 25 -- at PLATFORM Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts at 7:00 p.m.

Following the performance and Q&A session at PLATFORM on April 25, we will celebrate Video Pool's Anniversary with a reception to which all are invited.

For more information about these events and our events upcoming in May, please visit: http://videopool.blogspot.com/2008/04/ton-of-25th-annivesary-programming-to.html

Congratulations! And, Launching Soon...

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:57:00 +0000

Video Pool is thrilled to share the exciting news that Daniel Barrow has returned home to Winnipeg with an illustrious honour from the Toronto Images Festival (April 3 - 13, 2008).

The Images Festival Award Winners were announced at the 2008 awards ceremony and closing party, where Daniel was presented with the Images Prize for Best Canadian Media Artwork for his performance project, Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry.

We're very excited for Daniel and we are pleased to be present his newly commissioned work, Trying to Love the Normal Amount at Plug In ICA's satellite space. This exhibition opened on Saturday, April 12 and runs until Saturday April 19.

Please join us on Friday, April 18 for the launch partying celebrating this project as well as new commissions by Victoria Prince and Richard Dyck. Victoria's sculptural video installation, Light and Alter, will be presented at the Adhere and Deny Pocket Theatre (70 Albert Street) and Richard Dyck's new media installation will be presented at aceartinc (290 McDermot Ave).

We look forward to your attendance!

Planning ahead... Upcoming Performance Lectures

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:12:00 +0000

Mark Thursday, May 8 down in your calendars right away to be sure you don't miss a night of very serious (and seriously hilarious) lectures about art, technology, philosophy, psychology, and maybe even the meaning of life.

Winnipeg, MB (April 16, 2008) – Video Pool Media Arts Centre is proud to present an evening of performative lectures on creativity and technology by Jeanne Randolph and Glen Johnson.

On Thursday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the Winnipeg Film Group's Studio (304-100 Arthur Street), Video Pool will present two live, spoken-word performances by Jeanne Randolph and Glen Johnson, both known for their creative, intelligent, and irreverent lectures. Randolph and Johnson will each address the myriad, ubiquitous, and often troubling ways technologies operate through contemporary art and everyday life.

Psychiatrist and cultural theorist Randolph will use psychoanalytic methods and concepts, themselves amenable to productive misuse, to reveal the ways in which technological devices and/or their depictions are open to creative and critical interpretation. Johnson projects digital slides in a manner reminiscent of corporate culture and middle management to support his thesis that technology has ruined art, while Randolph uses a technology associated with yesterday’s middle-school science teachers and art historians – the conventional slide projector – to comment on mass media culture. Through a hilarious presentation based on classical scholarship, Johnson will take his audience back to scenes of Lascaux, urging artists to abandon “all this technological nonsense” and to “go back to crushing berries and burning sticks.”

ARTIST BIOS

Jeanne Randolph is one of Canada’s foremost cultural theorists. A practicing psychiatrist, Randolph is also known as a performance artist whose extemporaneous soliloquies (on topics varying from cat curating to boxing to Barbie dolls to Wittgenstein) have been performed in galleries and universities across Canada as well as in England, Australia, and Spain.

Glen Johnson is a performance and installation artist whose work invariably involves text. He has delivered faux-lectures to stunned audiences in at least two provinces. He has hung a bed on one wall and nailed tiny words to another. He has performed at aceartinc, The Annex, Gallery 803, Platform Gallery, Mount Saint Vincent University, the University of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Art Gallery. He is largely responsible for the website www.persiflage.ca. He received a Bachelors Degree in Classics from the University of Winnipeg in 1993 and expects that some day they will ask for it back.

Join us for these provocative and humorous lectures; free admission - all are welcome! A reception will follow.

These performances are presented thanks to generous financial support from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Video Pool thanks the Winnipeg Film Group for their generous presentation support.

VIDEO POOL MEDIA ARTS CENTRE is a non-profit artist run centre dedicated to advancing the discipline of media art by providing media artists, non-profit organizations and community groups with access to professional video and media equipment, training, distribution, and programming. Video Pool strives to be a national leader fostering innovation, experimentation, critical dialogue, and advocacy in media arts.

A Ton of 25th Anniversary Programming to Enjoy!

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Remember we said we had a ton of 25th Anniversary programming in store? Well, we weren't kidding!

The following list covers everything planned, so far. We have a few more ideas in mind... and we look forward to announcing those details as soon as possible.

Daniel Barrow's presentation of Trying to Love the Normal Amount opens on Saturday, April 12 @ 11:00 a.m.

The reception -- which will also celebrate the launch of projects by Richard Dyck and Victoria Prince -- will take place on Friday, April 18 beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Catering will be provided, most generously, by The Line Up (98 Albert Street). We are grateful for their support!

Exhibitions

Daniel Barrow April 12 – 19
Plug In ICA's Satellite Gallery, 290 McDermot Ave. (Ground Floor) (Map)
Tues - Sat 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m; Closed Sun - Mon.

Victoria Prince April 18 – 25
ADHERE AND DENY's Pocket Theatre, 315-70 Albert St. (Map)
Tues - Sat 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Closed Sun - Mon.

Richard Dyck April 18 – May 2
aceartinc., 290 McDermot Ave. (2nd Floor) (Map)
Tues - Sat 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Closed Sun - Mon.

Peter Courtemanche and Lori Weidenhammer April 24 – May 10
PLATFORM Centre for Photographic + Digital Arts, 100 Arthur St. (Map)
Tues - Sat 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Thurs 12:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.; Closed Sun - Mon.

Steve Loft May 5 – 17
The Duke of Kent Legion, 227 McDermot Ave. (Map)
Mon, Wed - Fri 1:00 - 6:00 p.m.; Tues 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. Closed Sat - Sun.

Sharon Alward May 16 – 24
Rachel Browne Theatre (Formerly the Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Studio), 211 Bannatyne Ave. (Map)
Tues - Sat 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Closed Sun - Mon.

Performances

Daniel Barrow April 18 – Begins at 7:30 p.m.
Plug In ICA's Satellite Gallery, 290 McDermot Ave. (Ground Floor) (Map)

Peter Courtemanche + Lori Weidenhammer April 24 & 25 – Begins at 7:00 p.m.
(Question and answer session begins approximately 7:45)
PLATFORM Centre for Photographic + Digital Arts, 100 Arthur St. (Map)

Sharon Alward May 16 – 23 – At intervals throughout the duration of the exhibition except for Saturday, May 24.
Rachel Browne Theatre (Formerly the Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Studio), 211 Bannatyne Ave. (Map)

Openings

Daniel Barrow, Victoria Prince, and Richard Dyck April 18 – Begins at 7:00 p.m.
aceartinc., 290 McDermot Ave. (2nd Floor) (Map)

Peter Courtemanche + Lori Weidenhammer and 25th Anniversary Reception April 25 – Begins at 8:00 p.m.
PLATFORM Centre for Photographic + Digital Arts, 100 Arthur St. (Map)

Steven Loft May 5 – 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
The Duke of Kent Legion, 227 McDermot Ave. (Map)

Sharon Alward May 16 - Begins at 7:00 p.m.
Rachel Browne Theatre (Formerly the Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Studio), 211 Bannatyne Ave. (Map)

Action Alert to Protect Internet Neutrality

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:40:00 +0000

Hey Media Artists!!

Do we really want internet companies to be able to tell us what we can and cannot view and do on the Internet? This includes uploading, as well...

The Internet has, to date, been the most democratic and effective means of sharing critical and creative information. If anything, efforts should be made to expand access and availability! Independent and public content MUST remain as widely circulated as that spewed out by corporations with commercial interests.

Stand up for freedom of speech, expression, information, community, and content!!

The following is reposted from an email sent by Campaign for Democratic Media. An action request contained within...

STOP THE THROTTLERS!

The Campaign for Democratic Media is leading the call to stop the throttling of the Internet and the strangling of our choice.

Bell and Rogers are changing fundamentally how the Internet works by dictating how Web surfers access content.

As of April 7, Bell is going to put limits on downloads by Sympatico subscribers. Internet hosting companies that buy wholesale services from Bell have already been feeling the pinch since mid-March. Meanwhile, Rogers, in addition to its own traffic-shaping activities, has announced it will charge subscribers more for Internet activities that use more bandwidth.

The companies argue they are trying to limit activities that use up a lot of bandwidth in order to maintain speed for all users.

But there is a dangerous reality hidden beneath the companies' apparent concern for subscribers.

Using the same "traffic shaping" principle, the companies can steer subscribers to their own content, or content produced by affiliated companies, and away from that offered by competitors
-- including the public broadcaster. For example, some Internet users who recently tried to download CBC's The Next Greatest Prime Minister on Bittorrent were told it would take hours to do so.

For more than a decade, the Internet was a neutral resource for people around the world to share information with each other.

Do we really want Bell and Rogers to be able to tell us what we can and cannot view and do on the Internet?

You can take action on this alert via the web at:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/internet_control/88eg8uk4q7nttw6d?

We encourage you to take action by April 15, 2008

Say NO to internet control by Bell, Rogers

Video Pool Celebrates 25 Years with Six New Commissions

noreply@blogger.com (Video Pool) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:49:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Video Pool Media Arts Centre Celebrates
25 Exciting Years with
Six Newly Commissioned Media Arts Projects

Winnipeg, MB (March 26, 2008) – Video Pool Media Arts Centre is proud to celebrate 25 years of support to Manitoban artists through the commission of six projects by seven artists who have made dynamic contributions to Video Pool's history and to media arts in Canada.

Daniel Barrow. Still from "Trying to Love the Normal Amount", 2008

Temporarily Out of Order: Downtime, curated by Sigrid Dahle, and Seen/Unseen: Light Play, curated by Grant Guy, embrace themes emphasizing key notions and material qualities particular to media arts practices. The themes befit the occasion of Video Pool’s anniversary by simultaneously harkening back to media art’s primal scene of light first being captured as image, and anticipating the future of new media art as a form being assimilated rapidly into larger cultural discourses while outmoded technologies decay. At times, media art is approached as a problem: what is the importance of new technologies to new media works, and what happens when the technologies don’t work?

The curators have noticed a curious shift in media arts practices – as technology-based arts have matured, artists appear to be using electronic media to replicate the past rather than to speculate on the future. They describe an aesthetic attitude particularly suited to Winnipeg as a city equally haunted and inspired by the past. It is a view of technology as something mythical and broken, as opposed to clean and slick.

The commissioned works purposefully introduce a ghost into the machine of media art. Daniel Barrow works with outdated technologies, such as an ‘80s era Amiga editing station and an overhead projector to re-imagine early animation techniques. The work of Peter Courtemanche and Lori Weidenhammer evokes Dr. Frankenstein through the haunting of clothing with circuitry to electronically revive mythological creatures. Richard Dyck encourages us to scrutinize the surface of a mysteriously ominous vintage photograph.

Steven Loft explores societal rather than technological disintegration by drawing attention to the racism exhibited by the broken down and the down and out. Injecting manipulated images of the natural world into constructed environments, Sharon Alward and Victoria Prince escape the hustle of our technology-obsessed society to achieve time and space for meditative contemplation. Most significantly, each of the featured projects focus on creating an active media arts experience.

Join us for six weeks of exhibitions, performances, and receptions; all are welcome!

Daniel Barrow April 12 – 19
*** Plug In ICA's Satellite Gallery, 290 McDermot Ave.
*** Performance on April 18

Victoria Prince April 18 – 25
*** Adhere and Deny's Pocket Theatre, 315-70 Albert St.

Richard Dyck April 18 – May 2
*** aceartinc., 290 McDermot Ave.

Peter Courtemanche and Lori Weidenhammer April 24 – May 10
*** PLATFORM Centre for Photographic + Digital Arts, 100 Arthur St.
*** Performances on April 24 and 25

Steve Loft May 5 – 17
*** The Duke of Kent Legion, 227 McDermot Ave.

Sharon Alward May 16 – 24
*** Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers Studio, 211 Bannatyne Ave.
*** Performances begin on May 16

Our first reception in this series will celebrate the launch of work by Barrow, Dyck, and Prince and will take place on April 18 at aceartinc. beginning at 7:00 p.m.

For further details about each exhibition, performance, and related receptions, please visit videopool.org.

Video Pool's 25th Anniversary Commissions were made possible by the generous support of the Winnipeg Arts Council through the New Creations Fund. Further financial contributions have been kindly provided by:

Video Pool is also pleased to acknowledge contributions from numerous local organizations; we are deeply grateful for their partnership and assistance:

ADHERE + DENY

The Duke of Kent Legion

VIDEO POOL MEDIA ARTS CENTRE is a non-profit artist run centre dedicated to advancing the discipline of media art by providing media artists, non-profit organizations and community groups with access to professional video and media equipment, training, distribution, and programming. Video Pool strives to be a national leader fostering innovation, experimentation, critical dialogue, and advocacy in media arts.

Milena Placentile, Programming Coordinator
204.949.9134 ext 1
vpprogramming [at] videopool [dot] org
videopool.org // videopool.blogspot.com