As our socio-cultural frameworks continue to redefine themselves through evolving technological chimeras[1] our ability to engage with identity through memory and in turn, with our perception and understanding of what constitutes reality, has become more complex. Walter Benjamin once said that the desire of contemporary masses to bring things closer spatially and humanly, which is just as ardent as their bent toward overcoming the uniqueness of every reality by accepting its reproduction,[2] implicates the mechanical reproductive process as something paradoxical, a process by which we extend ourselves, but also, a process of amputation from reality.

My practice explores this paradoxical, yet critical intersection, specifically, how memory transcribed as information – electronically and digitally extends ones sense of self and identity, and in so doing, initiates a desire to deconstruct physical identity in favour of a virtual I.

The Limits of Control

My present work The Limits of Control is comprised of three, interdependent pieces entitled, Untitled (a.k.a. Leonard), Untitled (a.k.a. Marta), and RECORD/record.

In Untitled (a.k.a. Leonard), a dismantled, non-functional TV picture tube sits face down towards the floor. Immediately above it, a functional TV set – skinned of its chassis – displays the image of the dismantled picture tube.

In Untitled (a.k.a. Marta), a skinned DVD player and TV are used. The DVD player is mounted just above the TV and facing the viewer. The viewer can simultaneously view the DVD, which turns in the DVD player, as well and its projected image on the TVs screen. The DVDs surface has been marked with colored markers creating a spiral-like design.

In RECORD/record, a record player/receiver (circa 1980) sits on the floor, plugged into a wall some five feet away. Projected on to the wall just above it is a large format 16:9 cinematic video loop. The projected image shows the turntable itself turning at a slightly slower rate and dissolving from one perspective into another of itself