POLLUTION:
a video installation
INTENTION
A DIGITAL ADDICTION
Media Pollution is a video installation inspired by 21st century American landscapes that are littered with CRT televisions abandoned by the roadside. The installation consists of a towering structure of TVs that remind us of a time when technology began its rapid ascent and the end of the pre-internet age was drawing near.
Media Pollution will be presented across 103 screens that form a 20 x 20 foot wall. The size of the installation’s structure is meant to intimidate the audience, to force them to become overwhelmed by the images being displayed and to force them to experience a certain anxiety that doesn't come across through digital observation. The wall of TVs fit together precisely despite the various sizes and shapes of the individual screens. Although this creates an overall pleasing aesthetic design, the industrial, chaotic and obscene nature of the visual content provides a stark contrast.
Media Pollution is creator Dan Dowding’s vision of a society obsessed with the consumption of meaningless information, their growing desensitization of the world around them and of media’s role in providing this meaningless information and in desensitizing the masses. The highly experimental film consists of a separate series of images that are displayed on each individual screen, but are carefully synchronized together to form one cohesive message. This is made possible by the multi-purpose platform’s capability of performing video playback across each screen using custom software integration.
103
SCREENS
WELDING
Dimensions: 20x20 foot installation
Materials: Steel, Wood, Foam, 102 CRT Televisions & 1 HD Rear Projection TV
Equipment: Welder, Forklift, Scissor Lift, & Ladder Lift
MIG Welders: Eric Land & Forest Emmons
Production Assisstants: Chaz Ahern, Paige Kimsey, Justin Petry, John E. Lee, Yuri Alves & Matt Wood
Going into this project with very little construction background, the undertaking that was the construct of the installation I knew was one of the biggest challenges I was up against. Knowing that the task which lied ahead was an impossible feat for one person I knew I needed to bring in some construction experts. BigArts Studio quickly became a wealth of opportunity where I was introduced to many talented construction artists, most notably Eric Land & Forest Emmons whom became a vital part of this project as the welding artists and construction consultants.
Before any actual construction began I worked with Eric extensively on a very specific planning process and Mock Up scaled to ¼ the actual size where my list of inventoried dimensions came into play. Eric used my inventory breakdown and made cardboard cut outs of every TV at ¼ scale. We then drew a box at ¼ scale of the overall structure (20x20 feet) and then I proceeded to tetris in the cutouts to create a seemingly visually pleasing arrangement. We decided that although this was intended to be a very chaotic arrangement there should still be a focal point. This lead me in the direction of placing the largest TV (72’) directly in the center surrounded by the next largest TV’s within the structure.
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Visually I wanted the structure to be seemingly stand alone and we agreed from the start that we needed to work with steel as these TV’s are not light in the least bit. This also served as a challenge to hide the steel from the audience as much as possible in order for it to appear that the TV’s were just sitting ontop of each other. This illusion pairing with the height of the structure would result in a nervousness and uncomfortableness for the viewer as the structure would tower overhead. I wanted the structure to reflect the overwhelming task of the project. Additionally, we would go on to include wood shims and expanding foam in order to compact the Televisions for added stability. Safety and security was a huge consideration in the development and construction.
CONSTRUCTION
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FUNCTIONS
OPERATIONAL:
- RCA input across all screens
- Live perfomance/ photography/ cinema visual backdrop or stage
- Supports live VJ visualization for live reacting audio playback -ouput from CPU + midi integration
- Live Surveillance Feed integration
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IN DEVELOPMENT:
- Analog Video Game Integration
- Software in development for singular screen manipulation (different videos on different screens)- maximum manipulation
THIS INSTALLATION IS A MULTI-FUNCTIONING PLAYBACK DEVICE CAPABLE OF ANALOG VIDEO OUTPUT VISUALIZATION
SOFTWARE
SOFTWARE
Raspberry Pi
The software currently being developed by 25-yr veteren software engineers Brian & Diane Salter, will provide the ability for universal playback control over each television. It will also feature an ability for very precise file coordination and live video integration. Each TV is controlled by an individual Raspberry Pi (compact computer) which are all threaded through a network where someone can control them all on an individual level. The idea of the files working cohesively is not in the operation of the software however the pre-coordination of the video edits and file preparation. As development continues we hope to incorporate abilites such as; live-feed output, wifi streaming interconectivity, retina recognition & modular midi integration for live visual performances.
POLLUTION: THE FILM
LOGLINE: A white being (male and female alike) wakes on the shore and discovers a cable buried in the sand which leads it past civilization where it becomes consumed by the digital prophecy.
POLLUTION: a video installation, will be presented at the BigArt Studio in Downtown Los Angeles 2016.
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Length-------------10-20 minutes
Format-------------Multimedia (NTSC-4k HD) *presented in Standard Definition
Dimensions--------20x20 foot installation
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This video installation, will explore the excessiveness of human nature, addiction to technology and depict a surrealistic expression of mankinds obsession with consumption. Metaphorically the structure is a physical manifestation and representation of the mental labor and passion that goes into cinema unbeknownst to the audience. Through image and photography the structure’s size and power is unknown as opposed to the effect one has when standing physically by the structure. Visually the intention of the project is to surpass and encompass that idea. Film as a medium is reliant on many different forms of art coinciding within one another thus all the pieces of the TV’s and the project's reliance on the precise synchronization of the video elements. The industrial 20 x 20 foot structure consisting of more than 100 CRT Television's will be contrasted by images of the evolution of technology paired with the odessey of a being whose traveled past the brink of the digital prophecy. The multi-screen structure will act as a canvas for the neon-monochromatic & glitch art imagery (digital graffiti), lead by the main narrative through the eye of the installation. The imagery will also explore the juxtaposition of religion vs. the digital revolution to pose the question if God exists within technology while attempting to achieve a completely different technical feat in balance. The visuals will be melded together through audible synchronicity offering the viewer an overwhelming and all encompassing stimulating experience of senses through a clash of old technology meets new media.
