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I am an emerging multidisciplinary artist and cultural worker based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Over the past few years, I have been developing a body of lens-based productions that explore notions of vulnerability. These works respond to what I consider to be the debasement of the human experience in popular Western entertainment media. Working in close proximity with my subjects, I record private moments and simple, unscripted performances. I attempt to mitigate the often clumsy, intrusive presence of the camera by working in an environment of mutual trust and respect. The videos are intimate portraits, frank, sincere. Creating an image that appears to be “authentic” is
a primary technical concern and I employ a number of strategies
to this end. The gentle (and often beautiful) probing of an imperfect
auto focus or the inclusion of inadvertent camera movement refers
to the formal qualities and connotations particular to the medium
of video. The use of long, unedited sequences and a fixed camera
position help create quasi-photographic compositions that are intended
to minimize the hand of the author to reinforce the perceived transparency
of the medium. If video may be perceived as immediate and unmediated,
the viewer may become a witness. download
cv (pdf) |
| SELECTED WORKS
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the generosity of mechanics (is
not well documented) He put a lot of miles on that truck - making the daily trip from the farm to their restaurant in the city, running all kinds of errands - and that old truck was in desperate need of a wheel alignment. The steering wheel was jittery; in fact, the damn thing shook like crazy. Harold scheduled an appointment to have the vehicle inspected. The generosity of mechanics is not well documented, but on this particular occasion, it was determined that a wheel alignment was not necessary. Upon further inquiry it was determined that Harold's arm would shake when he raised it above the shoulder. The tremors had started; Harold continued to wash cutlery. SYNOPSIS the generosity of mechanics (is not well documented) is a short experimental video that considers notions of vulnerability through an intimate portrayal of a man enduring the physical symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Screened at PAVED Arts, Video Valentine, Saskatoon, SK; 2008 |
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Untitled (2006) Voice simulation software recites popular Father's Day greeting cards in this audio piece. The mechanical qualities of the voice simulator satirize the generic senitmental prose. listen to a clip >> Exhibited at Royal Red, Saskatoon, SK; 2006
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Leak Project (2006) People are peeing everywhere! The "Leak Project" is a self-initiated public art project based on the marking of sites (and potential sites!) of unsanctioned public urination. An adhesive decal designed in the same language of signs as those used to communicate information to the public (eg, location of public washrooms or telephones) is placed in the location of public urination. These interventions into the public space illustrate the lack of public washroom facilities in our community and poke at civic initiatives to "dignify" our public spaces through legislation and policing. By exploiting official language the project also challenges the authority and ideological underpinnings of officially designated heritage sites and monuments.
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Digital photographic prints, series of 6 (2004) As part of a recent investigation into the relationship between
young men and excessive alcohol consumption, I posed at Sears Portrait
Studios while utterly intoxicated. |
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Untitled Installation (2004) Construction grade spruce studs, plywood, wax. 56 x 24 x 112 inches. The corridor has figured prominently in my previous video installations. Upon further contemplation, it became apparent that the corridor itself was of particular interest. The architecture of transition, the passage way has functioned in my work as a metaphor for change. In this work, crude construction materials, plywood and spruce studs, have been carefully processed - planed, sanded, finished and waxed. The corridor, both formally elegant and poetic has been complicated by creating a dark, constricted space. Exhibited at AKA Gallery, member space
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We always knew she'd be the
first to go (2002) Video monitor, constructed corridor, dimensions 6 x 2 x 20' We always knew she'd be the first to go challenges our wistful
idealism regarding old age and dying. The ceiling is just a little
too low and the hall, just a little to narrow to be comfortable.
At the end of the corridor is a monitor. A romantic vision of an
elderly person slipping gracefully into death is shifted by awkward
conversation between a grandmother and grandson. Frustrating dialogue
and laboured goodbyes are interspersed with images of an old woman
oblivious to the camera. Drifting off she is peaceful, beautiful;
she awakes to crudely probe her mouth with a finger, her gestures
disquieting. She defies our expectations as suggested by the title,
furthering our understanding of the complicated relationships between
aging and death, grief and acceptance. Exhibited at TPG, Saskatoon, SK; Harcourt House, Edmonton, AB; Fifth Parallel Gallery, Regina, SK; 2002 |
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Big girls need lots of tender lovin care (2002) Video/audio installation, 5m 55s loop Video projection with de-synchronized audio component, suitcase Big girls need lots of tender lovin care is deliberate, theatrical.
A "fading belle" sings anguished verse, her performance
slowed to accentuate facial expression. A worn thrift shop suitcase,
tags intact, is illuminated by a solitary light in a bus stop vestibule.
A faint but audible tune seeps out from the suitcases -- the woman
is singing. A certain vulnerability is communicated through her
uninhibited performance. She engages the audience with eye contact,
the relationship between viewer and subject is immediate. Her eyes
plead, her gaze, uncomfortable. exhibited at SPASM 2002 (Video Verite), Saskatoon, SK
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Losing Elsie June (2002) video installation video installation. curtain, metal hospital bed, constructed wooden platform and bed frame with hinged window, video projection Her small frame heaved with every breath, they couldn't stop
stroking her hair. Every so often they would pull back the covers
to expose her feet, checking them for discoloration, signs of her
deteriorating state. The bedside vigil continued for days and I
found myself one generation closer to losing my mother. First name, middle name Long curtains push their way to the ceiling. They
hide, they reveal. Inside, at the end of the corridor a strange
bed piece, a rhythmic crawling video. The invented bed contraption,
part display case, part magic show prop, suggests the compromise
of its human subject while promising a perfect, unobstructed view
of the events as they unfold. The video captured from the device
is beautiful -- the folds of fabric, the luminous skin inviting
to the touch. Its reflection on the glass surface reiterates the
transparent but physical barrier which separated subject from viewer.
A sense of passage and longing pervades the piece. The crank is turned, metal hinges croak and groan. The apparatus props up her body on its steel shoulders. Lying flat hurts her back, another crank is turned to elevate her legs. The body conforms to its hard support. It is presented for the adoration of the lens as it commits details to memory. Exhibited at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, University of Saskatchewan. April 22 - April 26, 2002. |
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Joe (2001) video installation and correspondence project. My mother owns a coffee shop. I work there. I see the same people everyday. I don't know these people. They are strangers. Joe plays his accordion outside our shop. I walk by him every day. We invite him in to play for a family celebration. We become friendly; Joe becomes a fixture in our coffee shop and in our lives. I like Joe. We are all strangers there is tension between us and we don't speak. This video describes the overwhelming silence, the censuring of self, that isolation. It challenges ascribed social behaviours. Do we look? We must...and by looking, we connect. Viewers are invited to correspond with Joe by mailing the addressed postcards Exhibited at Gordon Snelgrove Gallery |
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pick 2 min 58s. single channel video A proud nose-picker taunts his audience with the vulgar act. The viewer may respond with a feeling of repulsion, but the viewer is also solicited to feel sympathy for the performer, whose very actions are encouraged by his audience. Screened at the USSU Video Festival, Place Riel Theatre, Saskatoon, SK, 2002. |
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13 days for Ruby 4min 34s. single channel video 13 Days for Ruby explores the emotional response to the death of a distant but dear family member. It is an expression of sorrow and guilt. It is a poignant dedication. Screened at "Videosynchracy: a collection of short and ingenious videos" at The Photographers Gallery, Workshop Gallery Saskatoon, SK, 2000 |
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snap video/performance project In May of 2000, I diligently kept a record of my dirty thoughts over a thirty day period. Using the classic behaviour conditioning device -- the snapping of an elastic band on the subject's wrist -- I then punished myself retroactively for every dirty thought I had recorded (it was in the hundreds). The process was recorded on video and presented as a series of frame grabs in conjunction with the audio of each punishing snap.
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spare change public performance, Saskatoon. Performed in Saskatoon, SK, in the fall of 2000, "spare change" was the beta testing phase of a new government programming initiative designed to supplement insufficient incomes. The "spare change kit" includes a public-friendly begging apparatus, buttons with a variety of personalized greetings (like thank you or have a nice day), and phony government documents from the department of human resources. photos by Marci Hildebrand.
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of 2 1/2 minutes 3min 30s. single channel video of 21/2 minutes is a humourous look at what transpires in two short minutes. screened at the 14th Annual National Student Film & Video Festival, antechamber gallery and cinemateque, Regina, SK. 2000
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1998 family portraits silver gelatin prints |
