count to ten
This installation and performance piece is an exploration of my own childhood memories. My upbringing was a classical American experience; play, song, and education in a domestic suburban setting. I look back at my childhood fondly as there was a lack of existential weight, a lack of trauma, and a lack of fear of the world. Hence. I started to look back my family’s home video archive, most of which was shot on my dad’s Canon ES190 8mm Camcorder. For certain, there was immediate nostalgia felt when watching back these old tapes. I could sense where my Dad, my Mom, my two brothers (Caleb + Will), and myself came from. Though not often the case, I was delighted to see myself pre-transition, exploring the world. Perhaps this is because at such a young age, one is pre-gender, pre-tragedy, pre-heartbreak, and pre-experience.
The live sound performance consists of samples from home recorded audio cassette tapes, children’s storybook cassette tapes, home video audio, and a Roland U-20. All these sounds were recorded onto a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder after editing in a digital audio workspace. The 4-track is then accompanied by live guitar and piano at various points in the performance in a manner meant to be reminiscenet of play.
Tracks
Ten
Please Turn the Page
Sun Song
Lens Cap (You Need Some Rewiring)
Ten (Redux)
Photos of Performance by Leah Sutton
The inkjet prints which hung about the installation are still images taken from a home videotape shot between 1999 and 2000. I found stills where the tape appears to have been damaged or glitched so to represent the obstruction of distant memories by time. Once printed, CMYK ink was added to further obstruct the subjects in frame. The result is both artifacts in regard to graphical capabilities and artifacts as testament to time itself.
This performance and installation were created as part of the show, Framing Realities, alongside other MFA students in the School of Media Arts within Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in November 2022.
