Posts Tagged ‘video’

Friends of the Westminster Reference Library welcome you to their place. Watch their videos and discover what is the life of a library today. (More coming soon)

See more videos from the Welcome to My Place project.

The Welcome to My Place project is launched! Check out the first contributions here and please feel free to add your own videos.

The aim of the project is to encourage people to film the places that matter to them. Workshops will be organised to better understand the meaning of ‘places’ through the usage of videos. Please contact me if you would like to collaborate. I’m looking for artist cartographers, communities, professionals and academics interested in the study of places and their subjective relations.

• Videos part 1: Visions for the future
• Videos part 2: Microsoft productivity vision for 2019
• Videos part 3: Artistic views at the past
• Videos part 4: Discovery of Magnetic North
• Videos part 5: Artistic reactions to Progress

Foreword

What means Progress nowadays? Who defines it? What is our verdict on past and present visions of the future? After having believed in so many utopias, and having been so close to so many dystopias, do we still want to imagine an ideal future? Can we? The Dreams of Progress exhibition intends to introduce the visitor to these questions by screening eleven videos from corporations and artists.

The first set of videos explore some of the utopias envisioned by corporations from the 40s until now. They offer an insight into the social values of their time: efficiency, order, technology, consumerism, knowledge, sustainability and globalisation to list only few of them. In their form, the videos are the natural descendants of utopian visions from authors such as  Thomas More and Aldous Huxley. However, they each offer a unique solution for the future, radically new or in continuity of past ideals.

The second set of videos are by emerging video artists from around the world. Some of artists describe their own vision of the future, others express their perspective on the ambivalent notion of Progress. Rather than reaching a consensus, their videos put forward a wide range of perspectives, from nostalgia to optimism, cynicism to embracement. The videos give a glimpse at how the current Western generation put in perspective ‘Progress’ since their childhood, and how they live it today.

Both sets are distributed on five screens with the intention of exploring the dialogue between the videos. The visitor is asked to make his own judgement on whether what he sees is propaganda lead by self interest, or a genuine proposition for a better future; if the videos advocate ‘Progress’ or instead distance themselves from such beliefs.

The exhibition does not provide any concrete answers, but instead intends to place the ideas of Utopia and Progress at the centre stage of the social debate. The world needs more than ever to meditate on its course, in what some describe as a profound global crisis, economical, environmental and ideological. Utopias and visionaries tend paradoxically to emerge in the least favourable circumstances. For some, they testify on the capacity that has humanity to  choose itself until its most unlikely destiny. For others, they are a chronicle disease.

Christophe Bruchansky, Curator

• Videos part 1: Visions for the future
• Videos part 2: Microsoft productivity vision for 2019
• Videos part 3: Artistic views at the past
• Videos part 4: Discovery of Magnetic North
• Videos part 5: Artistic reactions to Progress

To New Horizons, Handy (Jam) Organization, USA, 1940 – 23 min.

“Definitive document of pre-World War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by General Motors. Documents the ‘Futurama’ exhibit in GM’s ‘Highways and Horizons’ pavilion at the World’s Fair, which looks ahead to the ‘wonder world of 1960.’”

Century 21 Calling, Fairbanks (Jerry) Productions, 1964 – 14 min.

“Romp through the futuristic landscape of the Seattle World’s Fair, centred in the Bell System pavilion.”

Future of Cities, Squint/opera, UK, 2007 – 4 min.

“The film was commissioned by The Danish Royal Academy of Architecture and is part of a publication outlining the outcome of the International Federation for Housing and Planning Congress that took place in Copenhagen in 2007. ‘Futures of Cities’ is a selection of contributions presented during the congress. These contributions consist of work from miscellaneous architectural practitioners, ten principles developed by ‘Monday Morning’ and competition entries from the student competition that took place as part of the event.”

• Thoughts on these visions for the future
• Videos part 2: Microsoft productivity vision for 2019

Productivity Future Vision 2019, Microsoft Office Labs, USA, 2009 – 6 min.

“While the future is impossible to predict, we are constantly looking forward, analyzing trends, and gathering insights to gain a deeper understanding of how investments in computer technology can help us live more productive, fulfilling, and sustainable lives. We welcome you to join us in this journey.”

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• Thoughts on the 2019 productivity vision from Microsoft
• Videos part 3: Artistic views at the past

Some Things Won’t Change, Adam Pelling Deeves, UK, 2009 – 3 min.

“Some Things Won’t Change is a remix of Design For Dreaming, set at the 1956 General Motors Motorama. Downloaded from the Internet Archive, it was made in response to Remyyy’s Same Video (http://vimeo.com/remyyy), Different Use game on Vimeo in which a chosen video is reworked by participants. A cutup technique was used in which samples of the original soundtrack were looped along with the accompanying video.”

Fictional recall, Urizen Freaza (Spain) and Misty Woodford (USA), 2008 – 1 min.

“Fictional Recall is a collaborative project based on resurrecting forgotten memories. I purchased a plastic bag full of Super 8 reels for 10€ at the flea market. When screening them I discovered that what I had in my hands was nothing but somebody’s family memories. After the first shock, I began to feel really disgusted by the fact of this memories being sold, rejected or, at least, forgotten. I projected all the footage and cut it in 1 minute length clips which didn’t follow any intention or idea and that I offered to writers to give them a second life.”

Flying, Sam Fuller, USA, 2006 – 2 min.

“Please see the video for description. This video was made for the fun of it. It was shot the April 20th, 2006 on the 31st floor of 200 Water Street. After picking the window lock we filmed 17 takes.”

• Thoughts on these artistic views at the past
• Videos part 4: Discovery of Magnetic North

Discovery of Magnetic North, Richard Jerousek and Brian Phillips, USA, 2007 – 20 min.

“This video is meant to accompany the live performances of our music project, Discovery of Magnetic North. Much of the music is influenced by the mysterious and bittersweet feelings connected to our earliest memories, most of which have strong ties to the video media that has engulfed us since birth.”

(sadly, the original video is not available anymore on the Internet but here is a taste)

Soundtrack by Discovery of Magnetic North (copyright 2007).
Video material from various Television series, Movies, and Educational Films of the 60s-80s.

Artists: http://www.myspace.com/discoveryofmagneticnorth

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• Thoughts on the Discovery of Magnetic North video
• Videos part 5: Artistic reactions to Progress

Mardi Gras, Keith Loutit, Australia, 2009 – 3min.

“Mardi Gras is the 7th short film in the 12 month documentary project ‘Little Sydney’.

The idea behind ‘Little Sydney’ is to shrink mankind down to a scale that is more representative of our actual position in the world. By transforming well known locations and daily life, I challenge people to take a second look at places familiar to them and not to take their surroundings for granted.”

McCOOL!!!, Julian Roberts and Namalee Bolle, UK, 2007 – 2 min.

“No.4 in the Relentless Optimism Series entitled McCOOL!!!. Here Namalee Bolle consumes a Super Big Mac. There’s no real script for the Relentless Optimism Series of videos, other than we both wanted to shoot a series of optimistic videos that were  unrehearsed, recorded, edited & released in a single day.”

Tokyo.Future, Ian Lynam, Japan, 2007 – 1 min.

“The video is about a modular, utopian Tokyo of the future. The constant rebuilding and perpetual evolution of the city is displayed, as is a galactic voyage taken by the entire megalopolis. Tokyoites are great travellers (especially in groups), so I imagined that the future denizens of Tokyo would pack up and go sightseeing around the universe together, much like the Tokyoites of the Edo period.”

• Thoughts on these artistic reactions to Progress
• Back to the Dreams of Progress homepage

This paper documents the curation of the Dreams of Progress exhibition that was held at the Westminster Reference Library in July 2009. The theme of the video art exhibition was Utopia and Progress. It included a philosophical debate and a children’s workshop. It is now available online on the Curated Matter website. The exhibition in its physical form remained confidential but was very well received by its visitors and generated exciting new thoughts on Utopia and Progress. The philosophical debate attracted around 50 people from various backgrounds including professors, philosophical students, art curators and engineers. The children’s workshop introduced the theme of progress to around twenty children. The exhibition and its satellite activities were the results of six months of research and preparation, which is detailed below.

1. Choice of the theme and selection of the videos
2. Relation to the Westminster Reference Library
3. The exhibition space
4. Legends and introduction to the exhibition
5. Philosophical debate
6. Children’s Art Day
7. Online exhibition
8. Federate around the project