Screeners (2002)
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In Screeners the figure becomes flanked by her electronic clones, producing a collective who ride over the landscape, replicating at will. The work relies on satellite images of earth, specifically of the Sierra Nevada mountain range lifted from material produced with data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The material has been manipulated to resemble the Arctic landscape, the place whose historical reach signified earth’s total conquest. As the physical space of the planet appears to shrink via satellite mapping and imaging technologies, an excess of space is produced through the images that serve as its substitute. The theme of overabundance also is carried over into the notion of group identity, tackled by imaging a swarm-like army of characters inhabiting the arctic space. The video projection envisions the passage of three configurations: the ‘scouts’ who race ahead of the main body, investigating, conveying speed and intention; the core group, ominous in their presence and numbers as well as strict in their chorography; and the ‘stragglers’ who lag behind creating a space to play or act out before falling back into pattern.
- Camera: Bruno Martel
- Sound Design: Aidan Love and Sasha Dieu
- Image Source: U.S. Geological Survey and JPL
- Funding: Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec; Canada Council for the Arts; University of Gloucestershire