"i am" digital ink performance - i am 2008

i am 2008 is a performance which reduces the traditional cinema experience to its component parts and expands each using technology. One projected image, 8-channel immersive surround sound and a live oration combine again in the performance experience to create a whole storytelling. The visuals are timelapse footage of ink paintings and video which support the telling of the artist's family history and his journey of discovery in the desert. The subjective treatment of the theme 'ancestry and traditions' is amplified by the very personal story of the artist, ink paintings in his unique style and his live in person spoken word performance. The audio supports the story with ambient sounds and uplifting traditional chants arranged in total surround. This deconstruction and subsequent digital recreation of the cinema form is an example of developing new media art and performance video by integrating traditional and modern forms into a complete media experience.

"i am" digital ink performance
video, 8 channel audio
spoken word, 11 minutes

'I am' is a revisitation of traditional oral histories and the bard culture which begat theater and cinema. Contemporary media creators and in particular technology-based artists in may, due to their reliance on the gimickery of media technique and effects, lose the ability to tell a story, the old way, in personal recollection. The performative aspect of this presentation lends a dynamism to the media work, as the story is told slightly differently at each iteration of the performance, embellishment and development of the storyline occurs and the experience stays 'live'.