"Call" and "Relay" Launch on October 16!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Video Pool Media Arts Centre
in conjunction with Artspace is proud to present

Call and Relay

two projects by internationally renowned Canadian artist Germaine Koh

Winnipeg, MB (October 4, 2007) – Video Pool welcomes residents of Winnipeg to talk to strangers via two intriguing new media projects by Germaine Koh.

Call is an interactive installation involving a hacked vintage rotary-dial telephone that connects immediately to one of several volunteers as soon as the receiver is lifted. Participants are invited to experience the unique opportunity of striking up a conversation about anything or everything with an anonymous individual at the other end of the line. Interpersonal exchange with other inhabitants of our city has never been easier, and when was the last time any of us took the time to hold a random and potentially meaningful conversation with someone new?

To connect with someone through Call, just visit the Artspace lobby. You don’t even have to dial!

Relay is a subtle intervention that combines the lonely signal of a flashing navigation beacon, city electrical systems, and the invisible communications networks that surround us. A utilitarian light fixture enigmatically flashes – in Morse code – short text messages (SMS) received on a designated mobile phone number. Locally, the light will operate as a sort of bulletin board conveying news from near and far, and providing opportunities for sociability and local messaging in the immediate area and across the city. The beacon merges early technologies for communication and navigation with some of the more contemporary methods by which information and desire flow today.

Share an exciting scoop, or just say hello, by sending a text message to 204.951.1929. From the roof of Artspace, your message will be conveyed to all.

Call and Relay will be available at Artspace, 100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, from October 16 – November 16, 2007.


Related events – All welcome

Artist talk on Tuesday, October 16 at 6:00 pm, followed by an opening reception from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Platform Gallery, 1st floor, 100 Arthur Street.

Call and Relay are presented thanks to generous support provided by:





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
204.949.9134 ext 1
vpprogramming@videopool.org
videopool.org // videopool.blogspot.org