DISPOSABLE MEMORIES  VIDEO

VIDEO INSTALLATION, 2004-PRESENT -Modified found televisions -VHS and Betamax vcrs -Amplifier and headphones -Looped playback of 15-minute segments of found video material Note: due to the ongoing nature of the work, the installation consists of an unspecified number of modified scrap TVs hooked up to vcrs on repeat -playback. The Tv monitors have as-found faults, distortions or modifications to the picture to add a form of anonymity to the found material

Video - Installation work in progress, developing in parallel with 'Telephones', which  conceptually consists of of 'amateur anthropology' mixed  with 'electronic archaeology'. It has  factual content and also touches upon the idea of voyeurism in its presentation in installation  form. Physically it consists of found video recordings filmed on obsolete analogue recording formats. The core of the work, or at least its content, relies more on chance and coincidence than  artistic  intention, since the tapes are found dumped in old camcorders, and amongst whole  collections of abandoned VHS cassettes picked up by the artist on night time rambles round the  city. The lucky finds are  then added to the collection.  The found tapes show all kinds of  scenes such as home life, communion and wedding ceremonies, family holidays and even intimate  situations. As such they have an important documentary function beyond the mass media structure.   The collection process, the gathering of content material, is ongoing. Periodic multi- channel  video installations, (made up out of  playback machines found dumped and modified), are used as a  way of making this material  accessible to audiences.    What unites the collection are the unique irreplaceable home recordings captured on camcorders  by everyday people, condemned to the rubbish skip. In many ways this indicates a dehumanising  effect of the onward march of technology. Memories like this are considered worthless as people  get rid of entire collections of recordings in favour of new digital formats. Disposable memories video recontextualises this material, taking it far away from the home  whilst, by means  of the modified 'AnonyVision' video monitors, imposing a new aesthetic unity  upon it. From here  the viewers can make anthropological deductions about the participants in the  videos. The motivation for recording, the scenes displayed, the actions captured, the aesthetics  of the content right down to the life cycle and perceived usefulnes of the tapes and the process  of their disposal can all be anaylsed. The tapes also serve as a glimpse of a past reality and as  an alternative to the fictionalised TV representations of eras.   The installation reflects the considerable amount of  material found in this way (an estimated 40  cassettes in less than 4 years, found on occasional neighbourhood wanderings mostly in the space  of 2 square km). In most cases, the cassettes were in clear view of passers-by. Obtaining them  generally consisted of nothing more complicated than picking them up off the street, or opening  the lid of a bin and lifting them out. In some cases, the recordings were not domestic but  industrial, such as the fifteen or so  U-matic casting agency cassettes found on top of a central  Madrid skip one lunchtime.  In most cases the found video cassettes were still perfectly playable  (it is perhaps  significant that of the 50 or so cassettes only 2 were physically damaged and initially  unplayable).  That no steps were taken to eliminate or erase these camera recordings prior to  depositing them in th street suggests that it is almost as if the previous owner wanted them to  be discovered, played back and talked about. If that is the case, Disposable memories: Video  fulfills this wish! installation one consisted of modified tv monitors displaying a looped collage of 15-minute  segments. -------------------------    Disposable memories: Video (ESP: Memorias desechables: video) consiste conceptualmente en antropologia electronico y arqueologia tecnologico. Tiene contenido documental. Fisicamente es una recompilacion de cintas de videos caseras en varios formatos analogicos 'obsoletos' encontrados en la basura. Depende mas en la casualidad y la suerte que 'intenciones artisticas' .  La mayoría contienen toda  clase de escenas