Abstract

The presentation ‘T/HERE’ will focus on video pieces that explore the relationship between self and place. The 2011 single‑channel installation ‘HOME’ merged the many levels of belonging and finding footing in the world, by juxtaposing countries and places I have resided, maps, satellite imagery, current home, and my body. ‘VIEW’, a commissioned site‑specific project, was created in 2012 for a light festival in Detroit, to portray both city and self. More recently, a two‑channel video installation Title:d CITE/SITE/SIGHT (2013), explore time and memory by employing smart‑phone video footage with tablet drawings, to bring into question the search of knowledge and place through the merging of symbols and references. These works also bring forth the contrast of the tangible with the ephemeral, as they feature hand‑made drawings as ground for the video projections. Much like our bodies in the sun, projections temporarily inscribe the drawing surface with vanishing information. The highly manipulated videos offer a reduced impression of the original footage, providing a vestige of something once specific, minimalized but still somewhat recognizable.T/HERE refers to a future project I plan on working before and after the conference. Prior to ISEA2014, I will compose a video from appropriated footage while researching for information on Dubai and the Emirates. Once there I will gather more video and still imagery from my surroundings. The resulting piece will eventually be presented as a two‑channel video installation. Each projection will be presented on two opposite sides of a wall, so that they can never be seen at the same time. My goal is not to document or critique the many representations of the East, but to use them to create visual interpretations that will hopefully entice the viewers to investigate their mind’s wanderings.

• Vagner Mendonça-Whitehead (Brazil/USA), Oakland University and New Media Caucus, USA. He is an accomplished artist who brings a wealth of knowledge to his position as an associate professor in the Department of Art and Art History. Whitehead was hired in 2005 to develop the new media specialization in the studio art program, which has become one of the most popular areas of the department.  vagnerwhitehead.com