DIGITAL GLUE
In 2021 the artists in residency has been commissioned by Arts University Bournemouth in the frame of
Global Networks program curated By Richard Waring.
The five artist, selected on the basis of an open call for participation, have been: Clara Begliardi Ghiaini Dasha Konovalova Eve Williams Tilly Collins and Eleanor Banfield.
Their researches and conversations resulted in the DIGITAL GLUE exhibition, online on
VisualcontainerTv.
Artworks and artists:
Galaxian Green, 1:53, 1920×1080, colour, stereo, Eleanor Banfield, 2021
Eleanor Banfield: When watching cooking videos involving meat, I feel an odd mixture of comfort and nostalgia for family recipes and disgust at the violence that goes into these meals. I used the ormer as an example as it is a local delicacy eaten in Guernsey that I have fond memories of eating with family; however, I no longer eat meat and have started to explore my feelings towards the violent treatment of animals for food. I found that when you take away the context of the kitchen these actions suddenly become a lot less excusable, more grotesque and offensive to more people. My aim for this film was to recreate this mixed feeling visually for a wider audience to understand. To do this I sweetened the image of the ormer using widely recognized styles and visuals taken from sci-fi cinema and arcade games. In using these themes, I created a character in the ormer and made it aesthetically pleasing using the sci-fi and gaming connections to create a friendly and nostalgic feeling to allow the audience to become more attached and sympathetic towards the ormer before the film descends into the chaotic and violent reality of the shellfish.
Glasnost, 8:54, 640×480, color, stereo, Dasha Konovalova, 2021
Dasha Konovalova: The video focuses on the struggle of overcoming an oppressive regime, the effects it can have on someone’s psyche and the psychology of whole nations generations after its fall. It also includes themes of betrayal, corruption and uncertainty. While making this video I struggled with feelings of anger and sadness that researching USSR always brings me. I used music that I heard a lot in my childhood being brought up in a musical family. It was also used a lot in Soviet media. When making Glasnost I wanted to express my frustrations and hopefully gain a better understanding of who I am and why I feel this way. The videos I use worked together unexpectedly well and I was often surprised by the connections I was able to make between the two. The final outcome wasn’t what I first intended but it worked out a lot better in the end.
Eat Sleep Work Die 1:22, 976 x 720, colour, stereo, Tilly Collins, 2021
Tilly Collins: This video explores the repetitious nature of daily life using Bruce Nauman’s ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’ (1985) and stock footage clips. The repetition of particular phrases creates a rhythm which emphasises the boredom some people can experience in life, something which is particularly prevalent at the moment. Through using the woman from Bruce Nauman’s piece ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’ I have intentionally added a human element into the piece in order to humanise it. As the words can be quite severe, I believe this element lightens the piece and adds a humorous touch which was crucial for me as I didn’t want the piece to have a dark tone. My research into rhythm and repetition has helped me create a sense of boredom in the piece, which emphasises the idea of how habitual our lives are. This raises questions around how you spend your time and your own productivity, which directly relates to how the viewer is spending it watching this piece.
Connect 1:14, 1920×960, stereo, Eve Williams, 2021
Eve Williams: In the process of making Connect, I have been exploring the associations between our society and the similarities there are to the way in which trees communicate. When we look at a root system, we see the interlinking channels of communication and the relation to the way our road networks are developed. Using Peter Wohelleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees (2015) as a reference point, I thought about how this could be represented using imagery from found sources. By using screenshots from Google Earth, the work brings into question ideas surrounding surveillance and who it is that is watching. By using satellites to document the earth, we are seeing only a representation of its surface, not the world in its actuality. The patterns and reoccurring shapes between the two subjects begin to emerge from the footage as the video proceeds which illustrates the way trees and humans are similar.
Numb 4:10, 640 x 480, stereo, Clara Begliardi Ghidini, 2021
Clara Begliardi Ghidini: "Everything psychological is biological everything biological is psychological". Numb is an experimental video work reflecting my interests as an artist in psychological anthropology and biology. The video has been heavily inspired by and contains the first half of Len Lye's Tusalava, a 1929 animation. Through combining Lye’s abstract visual language with my own and a personal stream of conscience extract transcribed into a stop motion format, the video examines the hypothetical metaphor between enzyme function and the way we cope with our emotions as human beings.
