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

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!

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.

* * *

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

We’ve reached the end… or have we?

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"

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.

++++++++++

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.

++++++++++

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!

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.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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

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.

* * *
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.

* * *
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.

* * *

We look forward to seeing you!!

A little reminder...

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

Planning ahead... Upcoming Performance Lectures

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.

Video Pool Celebrates 25 Years with Six New Commissions

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

The "Official" Art's Bday Press Release ;-)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Join Video Pool Media Arts Centre in Celebrating
Art’s 1,000,045th Birthday on January 17, 2008
– The party starts at 8:00 p.m. at Club Desire (441 Main St.) –

Winnipeg, MB (January 2, 2008) – At Video Pool, we love art, and we love parties. It is in this spirit that we are thrilled to continue our tradition of bringing international Art's Birthday celebrations to Winnipeg!

In 1963, French Fluxus artist Robert Filliou declared that on January 17, one million years ago, art was born when someone dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water. A deliberate yet playful act left open to chance… who knew art would evolve to become something so culturally significant?

To recognize the worldwide appreciation of art, Video Pool is pleased to host an evening of performances, contests, interactive fun, and other goodies. We’ll begin the night with a VJ-style new media performance by Ryan Stec (Winnipeg/Ottawa). This will be followed by an experimental electronic music set by internationally renowned Venetian Snares (Budapest/Winnipeg). Local favourite, Mama Cutsworth, will take over the stage next, and she’ll keep the party going by spinning funky vinyl into the wee hours.

Art’s Birthday is also a chance to get involved!

• COSTUMES: Everyone is welcome to be creative and party in costume. The theme selected by the International Art’s Birthday Committee for 2008 is “Forever Young”… unique interpretations of this are encouraged!
• CAKE: What is a party without cake? Bring your real or surreal cake to the party and enter it to be judged by our panel of “experts”. Please click here for more information.
• MEDIA GIFT EXCHANGE: Bring a wrapped gift such as a video clip on DVD, an old 8-track cassette, or a sequence of ambient sounds on a CD and take another mystery media gift home with you at the end of the night. Please click here for more information.
  
• RAFFLES: Try your luck at our draws for great items from fantastic local merchants!

Art’s Birthday is a chance for one and all to come together and have a wonderful time in the name of Art. It is an event that gets bigger and bigger each year, and it is not to be missed, so join us and be a part of the action!

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Club Desire - 441 Main St., Winnipeg



Admission is $15 or $5 for those arriving in costume
Doors open at 8:00 p.m.

* * *

Art’s Birthday is also a time to say thank you to organizations that help make art possible. Video Pool Media Arts Centre is grateful for ongoing support from:



Video Pool is also thrilled to have the support of local merchants including Pastry Castle, which has generously donated a birthday cake for us to share!



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

Art's Birthday 2008 is just one month and a little wee bit away!

Save the Date! Art is going to be 1,000,045 on January 17, 2008!

At Video Pool, we love art. And we love parties, so it makes sense that we'd wanna keep up our fantastic tradition of joining international celebrations in honour of Art's Birthday!

Art is going to be one million and forty-four years old this year, and we have all kinds of awesome things brewing to mark this very special occasion!

So far, we've lined up a VJ-style new media performance by Ryan Stec (Winnipeg/Ottawa) and an experimental electronic performance by Venetian Snares (Budapest/Winnipeg). We're also on the look out for the perfect DJ... someone highly capable of making you wanna shake your booty! Sounds like fun, huh?

But that's not all... we're gonna have a costume contest, and an art cake contest, and a new media gift exchange, and colouring stations, irrational quantities of candy, and then some!

It’s going to be a blast, and we want YOU to join us!!

So, save the date: Thursday, January 17 2008 beginning around 8:00 p.m. @ Club Desire (441 Main St)

Be prepared to get creative, get crazy, enjoy performances, and maybe even perform a little yourself ;-)

Art’s Birthday is a chance for everyone to come together and have a great time in the name of Art. We’re looking forward to this event we and hope to see you there!

UPDATE: Are you looking for the latest info? Check out our "official" Art's Birthday 2008 press release =-)

Sound+Vision...

Saturday evening’s performances were nothing short of stunning! The deft manipulations of audio and video feedback signals into captivating imagery in both presentations were tremendously absorbing.

Hattori’s first performance – a collaboration with Curtis Walker (blunderspublik) and Bryan Besant – featured a dynamic selection of local imagery captured from photos and videos, and harnessed as audio. The second performance, Abarekoinobori, with Yusuke Shinmura presented waves of abstract colours and sounds that filled and resonated within the room.

Video Pool is very pleased to have presented these compelling performances! Thank you to the artists, and to a wonderful audience for joining us!

Please click on each image for a slightly larger version...

No, still images sure aren’t the same as seeing –and– hearing these performances live, but hopefully they offer a hint. That being said, we did video record the performances. Maybe we can load a couple of clips up onto this blog, or onto YouTube.

What do all you people out there on the interwebs think? Should we go for it?

Stunning analog video effects and signal-generated noise this Saturday night!

Hi everyone!

Video Pool is very excited about two upcoming live video concerts headlined by our International Artist in Residence, Katsuyuki Hattori (Japan).

First, a collaboration with local artists Curtis Walker and Bryan Besant.
Next, the performance of Abarekoinobori with collaborator Yusuke Shinmura (Japan)



These performances will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 20 in the Winnipeg Film Group Studio, 3rd Floor, 100 Arthur Street.

For more information, scroll down... the press release is posted below =-)

These exciting, immersive visual and audio spectacles will captivate you! We hope you'll be able to join us!

As always, Video Pool is grateful for generous support received from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Manitoba Arts Council. Thank you!!

Coming soon! Three events headlined by International Artist in Residence, Katsuyuki Hattori

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Video Pool Media Arts Centre proudly presents
three events headlined by
International Artist in Residence, Katsuyuki Hattori

Winnipeg, MB (October 10, 2007) – Video Pool is pleased to announce two audio and video performances, and one artist talk, headlined by International Artist in Residence, Katsuyuki Hattori (Japan). Hattori is known for his skill using outmoded analogue technology to produce stunning audio and video landscapes in a live performance environment. Only occasionally using source footage, Hattori skillfully manipulates feedback loops to generate the source content for his immersive performances. Referring to his medium as abstract video-concert, Hattori will present a new work created in collaboration with two local artists – Bryan Basant and Curtis Walker (blunderspublik) – over the course of his residency at Video Pool. This live audio and multi-channel video piece is evocative of Dada artist Kurt Schwitters’ (1887 - 1948) notion of the colour organ and resonates with Schwitters’ concept of “merz”, which refers to the appropriation of found or refuse materials.

Following the presentation of this new, collaborative work, Hattori will perform a piece titled Abarekoinobori with long-time collaborator and video artist Yusuke Shinmura (Japan) who will sweeten Hattori's audioscape with playful bits and pixels. Together Hattori and Shinmura bring authentic experimental electronic art from Tokyo to Winnipeg audiences.

These performances will take place on Saturday, October 20 beginning at 8:00 p.m. in Winnipeg Film Group's 3rd Floor Studio, 100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg. All welcome.


Related Event – Artist Talk: On October 21 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., Hattori will give a presentation on his ‘video concert’ technique. In his practice, Hattori allows for many artists to contribute to a live work, each controlling a particular aspect of image or sound from the feedback. Working with aesthetic qualities of image feedback, Hattori’s work challenges notions of beauty in image making, the role of the artist in image creation, and the contemporary roles of ‘performers’.

For more information about Hattori’s artist talk, or to register, please contact Jeff Erbach at 204.949.9134 ext. 4, or email: vped@videopool.org.


Video Pool is grateful for generous financial 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.com

Thanks for rockin' out with us!

Wow! What a night!

If you had the chance to join us on Saturday, you know just what I'm talking about!

The evening started at 7 p.m. with a pre-reception for special guests including family, funders, and members of the media. At about 7:30 p.m., Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay burst into the gallery concluding the last stage of his performance, Jimmy, which involved him running through downtown Winnipeg carrying a flag designed to honour his hero, Scottish pop star, Jimmy Somerville. He placed the flag into a mount on the gallery wall, affixing additional ribbons in what created a moving ceremony.

At 8:00 pm, the gallery doors were opened to welcome rock stars, wannabes, and art lovers of all stripes. However, the party really got started when the the art stars of the evening (and their groupies) arrived by stretch limo!

Following words of thanks by the Directors of both Urban Shaman Gallery and Video Pool, curator, Cathy Mattes, added further acknowledgments. Applause filled the gallery.

The dynamic range of performance video works by Skawennati Fragnito, Warren Arcand, Kevin deForest and Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, captured the attention and imagination of all in attendance. Some attendees were even inspired to launch into impromptu performances – thank you David Byrne, Slash, and Annie Lennox for adding your special touches to a night of fabulous art, music, conversation, and dancing.

Video Pool and Urban Shaman Gallery are grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts, The Manitoba Arts Council, The Winnipeg Arts Council, the Winnipeg Foundation, Culture.ca, and Canadian Heritage for their generous support.