Yesterday was bitterly cold- -24 and a wind-chill of -30!. Hoped to go for a run but it was far too cold and very overcast. We started off the day with studio visits, which were scheduled for the whole morning. This was an opportunity for everyone to go round each of the artists’ studios in turn to see what they were working on and to get some feedback. Each visit had a scheduled 15 minutes. It was great to get a look at what everyone had been doing and also quite daunting.
I managed to download the footage I had taken on Saturday and to get hold of a projector to project it onto the wall of my studio to get a sense of the experiential aspect. This really made a difference. I got some very good feedback- people particularly liked how the sound worked with the rhythm and sound of my breathing, along with the rhythm of the moving image itself. I couldn’t really say much about the development of the live thing, apart from that I had had a few conversations and various things had been flagged up that I would be talking about with Kenny and Robert later in the day. There were a few questions about the live aspect and the reason for it, which for me has very much to do with the performance of running a durational run. There something about being out there trying to do this run NOW that I want to be able to share with others as I’m doing it. There was also talk of how the footage would get shown and how one could get a sense of the liveness. For me, the liveness becomes like a scheduled programmed event that people know about and that takes place once at a particular time. I still intend for the live relay to be transmitted and projected onto large screens, possibly outside and `I also intend for there to be some recorded runs and for the live run itself to be recorded.
There was a suggestion that using wi`fi networks might be particularly interesting because of the occasional loss of signal that could create its own rhythm with the piece. I agree, as long as it is not lost entirely.
I managed to speak a little to Robert and to Kenny at some length in the afternoon, – we managed to test that we could relay an image from one of my cameras direct to a live internet video stream via a conversion box. We were also able to test a relay from computer to computer. We then looked at possibilities of live transmission using video transmission/receiver devices. On the surface this seems like a better option but for the range I need, it is very expensive. Kenny left me to do some more research around this and I got completely bogged down by it all. All this technological research doesn't feel very productive or creative.
Sunday I was determined to have as a day of rest as I have not given myself time off really until now. (I was also feeling the effects of a few beers following the trip to the baths the night before). I’d forgotten that the clocks were going forward and I managed to drag myself out of bed to catch breakfast before the 9am cut off point, only to find I was too late. Had to make do with a mediocre breakfast wrap from the Kiln Café instead.
I was desperate to do my laundry as I hadn’t had a chance until then, so I took myself down to the basement, hoping to have a browse in the library to pass the time. Unfortunately, I forgot it doesn’t open until 5pm on a Sunday. Instead I lazily read the local paper and tried to catch up with this blog. It was great to have fresh clean clothes again!
When all was done, I took myself into town to get provisions for the evening’s social event. We organised to have a dinner between us , with everyone making some sort of contribution in food and wine. There is a kitchen/lounge in the basement of the hall I’m staying in, which is quite well equipped with an oven and other cooking implements, and a long table with plenty of chairs- a perfect setting for such an occasion. I’d promised to make a ‘mousse au chocolat’ (my mother’s recipe), so I had at least to get chocolate and eggs and of course a little cognac for flavour. Also bought a bottle of wine to add to the drink contributions.
I ended up of course, buying many more things in the supermarket as I also needed to stock up on energy food like cereal bars and bananas.
I stopped off in the dollar store on the way back to buy some postcards (yes I will send some eventually) and a rather kitsch thermos mug with a photograph of a Bear and the slogan Banff Rockies on it.
Dinner was great fun and a great success- we had a fantastic meal of samples of roast chicken, salmon, sweet potato mash, roast potatoes, carrots and beans, followed by my chocolate mousse, which thankfully turned out well (after much egg-white beating). And of course much wine was drunk. We ended the evening (some of us), watching a screening of the Manchurian Candidate (the original better one with Frank Sinatra).
Got back and sat in bed to catch up with the Blog until 3am, much like I’m doing now. Tomorrow I’ll only be a day behind and I can tell you about today’s activities. For now though it’s goodnight.
Now it’s got really busy, it’s really hard to keep this blog up, but I’m determined to do so.
Saturday was a really active day. I tried a full-length recorded run wearing the camera kit I have brought with me to get some footage to show for Monday’s studio visits.
I set off quite early as I had arranged to meet Kate at 2pm to try out the climbing gym and I would need time to recover. I decided to do a revised version of the run that included the Vermillion Lakes Road. I’ve figured that I’m much better off trying to run at as low an altitude as possible. Rather than cross through the town first, I followed the Bow River and Fenland trails from the start.- it’s much more straight-forward. Weather was fairly mild, but a little overcast so not great for filming, but as this was a first test I wasn’t too concerned.
I haven’t worn this kit for a little while so I had difficulty in adjusting the belts I wear with the recorders in them. I started recording and managed to make my way to all the way to the start of the Vermilion Lakes Road, before realising that neither of recorders were on any longer. It was a bit annoying after having already run 4km, but since this was a test, I let it go. I switched them back on and continued my route.
I checked halfway to see if the recording was still going. All seemed well and I continued my route back to the start. I didn’t find running much of a problem and I seemed to be able to manage my breathing a lot better. I managed without too much difficulty to complete my route, only slowing at the end after climbing up the hill back to the Banff Centre.
I was excited about seeing what footage I had and immediately checked to see what I had before doing anything else. I checked the card from the left cam and was pleased to see I had a complete recording. With the right cam I wasn’t so lucky- I’m not sure what happened but there was nothing there.
I had enough time for a hot bath and some soup before going down to meet Kate for the climbing wall intro. It was great fun, though tiring especially after my run. Erika, my room-mate came too. Didn’t really have the right shoes but managed to have a go and get a sense of what to do. I really felt it in my arms the next day, but I’ll definitely go again.
Saturday evening was rewarded with a trip to the Banff Hot Springs. These are located half way up Sulphur Mountain. Unfortunately the actual original springs are no longer active, and it is now a mineralised substitute, but it was great to be out in the cold air in a hot pool under the stars.
The trip to see Guy Maddin’s film on Thursday evening was well worth while. It’s a personal account of the film-maker’s relationship with the place he grew up in (Winnipeg- a City in Eastern Canada, known for extreme cold winters). The event was marked by Guy himself, performing his personal melodramatic narration to the film live, followed by a Q & A. Shot almost entirely in black and white, this film, is an homage to the nostalgia of film itself, and to ‘film noir’, with the live voice-over reminiscent of early film police thrillers or silent movies. The only criticisms are that I thought it was a little long and a little (unnecessarily) repetitive in parts. I would like to see some of this film-maker’s other work. Because of its personal connection to a Canadian city, this film is going to mean more to a Canadian audience. I wonder how it would be seen abroad.
Friday was a studio day. Good to get a bit of consolidated time, but still need to crack the technical thing. Had to go into town to get some materials from the hardware store and graphics shop. I’m surprised that there isn’t better provision for art-materials here. Stopped by the liquor store to stock up on wine and beer. The wine here is very expensive- you can’t get anything for less than $8.00 (£4.00), for some very mediocre Canadian wine.
Arrived a little late for the organised thematic discussion on the question of Audience. This turned out to be a little frustrating and disappointing. I had hoped for a more critical and philosophical discussion around this. Instead, the agenda was much more market-driven and very narrowly considered around the specifics of ‘New Media’. I mentioned that I was concerned that there seemed to be this separation between what was ‘New Media’ and what was other Art, which was not very helpful. Shouldn’t we be talking about our work as art more holistically, rather than by using narrow definitions like New Media? I deliberately do not define myself in this way and feel very uncomfortable about considering myself like this as I see myself as an artist who uses different media to make work. My work is not defined by the media I use, but by the ideas.
Later, I finally managed to get a more in depth chat with Robert about trying to make some headway with the live thing. This was more useful, but he still needs to do a bit more work. I also talked to Kenny, who is a lead programmer and who will help me specifically to figure out some things using mobile networks in the first instance. I’ll have a more in depth meeting with him on Monday.
The evening ended with a screening of the excellent Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica film ‘Videograms of a Revolution’, showing the Rumanian revolution of December 1989 in Bucharest in a new media-based form of historiography.
On Thursday, I organised myself to do another run. I had it in mind to do the ‘Spray River Loop’, a trail that follows the path of a subsidiary river. I wanted to get this run in early as there was an organised trip to see Guy Maddin’s ( a local film maker) film ‘My Winnipeg’ at the University of Calgary later on. I woke up to a flurry of snow, which didn’t seem too bad. I’m quite used to the cold by now and quite well prepared for it. I was actually quite glad to see some fresh snow as I was concerned about running on anything too icy.
When I set off it didn’t seem too bad- I made my way down to the river site and across the bridge to follow the trail. This is a popular one with the cross-country skiers, so quite easy to follow the tracks (or so I thought). Once I was on the trail, it became very tough going. It was snowing steadily and the snow had settled very quickly, so it was much deeper than I thought. I found it very difficult to run through (like running through mud or wet sand). Also, the cold made it much more difficult to control my breathing and very soon I had to keep stopping every few hundred metres to catch my breath. However, I persisted and wanted to see it through. The route itself was fairly straight-forward, following the river upstream, so a little undulating, but nothing too extreme under normal circumstances. I didn’t have to check the map to find my bearings except at the half-way point to loop round.
The half-way point was marked by a small bridge so it wasn’t too difficult to keep on track, but I was really starting to be affected by the cold and to feel quite tired. I started to follow the trail back downstream and all was fine (apart from continued breathlessness) until I had the choice to continue the trail slightly higher up above the river, or to move down alongside. I thought if I moved down to a lower level (and altitude), it would help my breathing. All so far so good until I somehow lost the trail and found myself running in the middle of a golf-course!
I tried to keep calm and continued on, thinking that I would eventually get back on track. The problem was that the snow had covered the marked route. Finally I found an adjoining road and started along it, before realising I was heading off in the wrong direction. For a moment I thought I was lost and was a little alarmed (I was also very tired), but I figured that if I followed the path of the river back I could find my way. Luckily I did. This is definitely the hardest run I have done so far. Very slow. Got back in time for lunch and a long, hot bath.
