Wave Interference

2015. Ljubljana, SI. Lighting Guerrilla. Photo by DK.
2015. Ljubljana, SI. Lighting Guerrilla. Photo by DK.
Art Gallery of Alberta, 2013.
Art Gallery of Alberta, 2013.
Art Gallery of Alberta. 2013.
Art Gallery of Alberta. 2013.

Where to see it and where it’s been.

2017
Kosice, SL.   ~September 30th
Bratislava, SL. ~October 6th
Signal Festival.  Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace.  Prague, CZ. ~October 12th
Kikk Festival.  Namur, BE. ~November 2nd
La Nuit Sauvage.  Theatre Junction Grand.  Calgary, AB.

2015
Lighting Guerrilla.  Ljubljana, Slovenia. (May, 2015)
Scopitone Festival.  Nantes, FR.  (September 2015)
Nemo Festival.  Paris, FR. (November, 2015)

2014
Mois Multi.  Québec City, QC.
Physical/ité.  Musee d’art contemporain de Montréal.  Montréal, QC.

2013
The News from Here.  The 2013 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art.   Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.

2012
Sight and Sound festival. Eastern Bloc, Montréal, QC.

What I thought about while building Wave Interference.

The elecromagnetic spectum consists of waves of electromagnetic radiation, from low frequency radio waves to high frequency gamma rays. A sliver within this spectrum is visible light, and it is only its frequency that is different from the rest. We are typically oblivious to these waves until we have some detector (such as our eyes) to alert us to their presence. That we have the ability, through the use of these organic detectors on our faces, to effortlesly filter a portion of this mess of frequencies into a coherent image is a fact worthy of awe.

Though it seems obvious when I say it, it is intriguing to think that the normally invisible waves – those that require clever devices other than our senses to detect – do not come into existence at the moment we tune into them. The waves from every radio station, mobile phone call, wifi signal (and countless others) are around us whether we are detecting them or not (just as waves of visible light illuminate the world beyond the tiny detectors we have on our faces). So it is worth noting that (1). We cannot easily escape these waves, and (2). Point (1) doesn’t particularly matter.

As an increasing number of devices allow us to detect and make use of these frequencies, a new fear of waves has arisen. A modern hysteria, fueled by conspiritorial websites and hearsay, has arisen around the waves of wifi, mobile phones, and power lines. Though no credible evidence exists to support these fears, believers quickly adopt conspiratorial ideas as support, involving impossibly elaborate shady government coverups.

Though these fantasies may seem like harmless fun, they become perplexing and disheartening in their outright denial of impartial scientific evidence, and in their unquestioning and fervent adoption of baseless rumour; a behaviour that applies not only to waves, but also to medical science and important environmental issues. It appears that, like the witch trials, an accusation is enough to convict, and no amount of rational argument will convince otherwise. 

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Any image can be made to elicit any emotional response based on the soundtrack that accompanies it. This is a fact that filmmakers have exploited for years; a soundtrack can make an image cheerful, or nostalgic, or (in a minor key) induce feelings of melancholy or dread. Wave Interference combines a beautiful and elegant vision of a wave of light with a gradually changing melancholic soundtrack; just as deniers of science manage to eke out a thriving existence by imposing feelings of fear and dread upon the beauty, and the awe inspiring nature, of nature.

 

Eastern Bloc. Montréal, QC.