2014
Christmas lights, FM radio broadcaster,
computer and lighting control hardware/software, abandoned farmhouse, HD video
video: 16 min seamless loop
Late in 2012 I made arrangements to live in an abandoned cabin in a rural area of British Columbia. The house was the first settler homestead in the area, built by Norwegian immigrants 100 years ago.
While living there from October 2012 to February 2013, I installed Christmas lights onto the house and attached them to control hardware. During the days I composed electronic dance music (otherwise known as EDM) and accompanying Christmas light animations. At night I would transmit my music over a small FM broadcaster and display the animations for whoever might be driving by. I gathered firewood to stay warm and keep the water from freezing. At the end of the five-month production period, I made a video of one music and lighting composition in a cinematic fashion, filmed using a technique in which the camera rolls closer and zooms out at the same time. The subject, in this case the house, stays the same size in the frame, while the background seems to shift.
The work encompasses both the video document and the performance/installation on the house. I was interested in making a connection between the homesteading of the settlers and contemporary digital cultural production as typified by EDM. Whereas the pioneers developed the hinterland for survival, we might consider that contemporary individuals develop themselves as digital brands to the same end.