June 2009

From his notes to an exhibition currently up in London, at Seventeen gallery:

Critical Space Headgear (collaboration with Liam Fogerty)
CCD camera, video processing and overlay module, video goggles, mini-DVR, headband
Critical Space Headgear takes video from a head mounted camera and runs it through a system that overlays text onto the live video image. Right now there are 2 modes: Critical Text Mode which overlays the text "What does this tell me that isn't already obvious?" in the center of the image, and YouTube Emulation Mode which overlays the YouTube logo in the bottom right hand corner of the image. The new video image with overlaid text/logo is then sent to the video goggles for viewing and navigation.

Surfin' USA
single channel video with sound
In this piece I "surf" popular "viral" news and Web 2.0 sites while in Critical Text Mode in the Headgear, which helps me keep a distance from what I see on screen. The banality of the internet is something to be admired, but after 15 years of it, I have begun to occasionally ask a question or two.

Even Better than the Real Thing
single channel video with sound
Here I show Liam a number of images of internet and Youtube memes which I've printed on paper while he's in YouTube Emulation Mode in the Headgear - they should look really amazing to him, right? Liam is essentially existing in a real-time "internet emulator" so if emulation really works then yes of course they do :)

Pioneer Nintendo hacker and data mosher Davis seques into a more "meta" mode for his current exhibit. One senses a certain lack of reverence here for new media, "professional surfing," and other forms of expression that are changing our consciousness, nay, the world.