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In this lecture we explored the ways in which society makes and consumes video, film and media through a critical feminist lens. Who has been privileged to be the spectator, who has been subjected to the viewed and how does that impact how the viewer sees the world around them?
Rebecca Watson focused mainly on Laura Mulvey’s (feminist film theorist) theory of the “Male Gaze” which describes the ways in which the female body is often represented as the passive object for the active view and consumption. We discussed how the “Male Gaze” has been the default setting through which most modern media has been experienced and consumed by all viewers through analyzing a range of historic films as well as the responses from female film makers to this theory. We also discussed the impact and legacies of the “Male Gaze” still felt today and how we can consciously apply this theory to the content we create.
Rebecca Watson is an artist and art history student using a feminist and queer perspective to explore the intersection of themes such as sexuality, surveillance, religion, and digital realities. Watson’s work — both written and in within her arts practice — aims to challenge oppressive, patriarchal systems through education and awareness. Rebecca is currently a Masters of Art History candidate at Carleton University and is a graduate from Nipissing University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts.
This was a free event for DARC members and members of the arts community at large.
Despite recent attention to representations of trans people in media, media created by trans people is often overlooked. Creating and circulating audiovisual media is a particularly powerful way to create new representations and new worlds. When trans people create audiovisual media, rather than simply being represented in it, they help make these new worlds.
In this session, Dr. Laura Horak (Carleton University) presented a history of trans, Two Spirit, intersex, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming film- and video-making in Canada and United States, from the beginning of cinema to today. We watched selected short videos by trans and Two Spirit artists and discussed questions such as: What challenges and opportunities does audiovisual media present to trans artists? How have trans-made works spoken back to mainstream representations? How have trans artists used film and video to imagine new worlds? Members of Horak’s research team, Jay Cooper and Oliver Debney, also presented the Transgender Media Portal, a new resource for learning about trans-made films and videos.
Laura Horak is Associate Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University and Director of the Transgender Media Lab (carleton.ca/transmedialab) and Transgender Media Portal (transgendermediaportal.org). She is author of Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressing Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908-1934 (2016) and co-editor of Silent Cinema and the Politics of Space (2014), Unwatchable (2019), and a special issue of Somatechnics on trans/cinematic/bodies. Horak is a white cis queer settler scholar who is here to leverage her privilege and institutional resources for the revolution.
The Transgender Media Portal aims to make audiovisual work by trans, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people more available to artists, activists, festival programmers, researchers, instructors, and the public.
The Transgender Media Portal wants to: promote the careers of today’s trans filmmakers, call attention to older works so that they can be programmed and preserved, jumpstart research on these films, and provide artists with access to an innovative tradition of work. The TMP are planning to launch a collaborative database of trans filmmakers and their works in Fall 2022. To learn more, go to a vision for the Transgender Media Portal or listen to this short interview about the project. The Transgender Media Portal is based at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
This was a free event for DARC members and members of the arts community at large.
This lecture endeavored to illuminate the often under represented, the forgotten, the last but not least, sound. Participants were be introduced to audio art, performance, installation, performance & sound, installation & sound. Sound was investigated in this lecture as more than just a tool of accompaniment. Participants were introduced to the history of and significant artists in these forms. Discussion was centered around theory and practice.
Christopher Payne works predominantly with sound, light, and video, as experiential tools. Payne completed his original artistic training in cinema at Concordia University in 2007 before completing his MFA at the University of Ottawa in 2013. His work and performances have been presented in Alberta, Quebec, Ontario, Poland, Belgium, and Mexico. Payne is currently DARC’s Technical Strategist and professor in Video Production at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa School of Art.
This was a free event for DARC members and members of the arts community at large.
This lecture explored the forms of virtual reality, art gaming, interactivity and animation. Participants were introduced to the history of and significant artists in these forms. Discussion was centered around theory and practice.
Christopher Payne works predominantly with sound, light, and video, as experiential tools. Payne completed his original artistic training in cinema at Concordia University in 2007 before completing his MFA at the University of Ottawa in 2013. His work and performances have been presented in Alberta, Quebec, Ontario, Poland, Belgium, and Mexico. Payne is currently DARC’s Technical Strategist and professor in Video Production at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa School of Art.
This was a free event for DARC members and members of the arts community at large.
This lecture explored analogue/digital video art, media and digital art forms, new media and interdisciplinary forms. Participants were introduced to the history of and significant artists in these forms. Discussion was centered around theory and practice.
Christopher Payne works predominantly with sound, light, and video, as experiential tools. Payne completed his original artistic training in cinema at Concordia University in 2007 before completing his MFA at the University of Ottawa in 2013. His work and performances have been presented in Alberta, Quebec, Ontario, Poland, Belgium, and Mexico. Payne is currently DARC’s Technical Strategist and professor in Video Production at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa School of Art.
This was a free event for DARC members and members of the arts community at large.
Yes, ok. So what is media art anyway? A common question but is their one answer? For a form that is constantly evolving and engulfing with the speed of technological advancement it can be difficult to pin down. This lecture attempted to demystify the form by taking participants through the A to Z’s of media art. Participants left with the necessary history, terminology and current debates in the world of media art.
Christopher Payne works predominantly with sound, light, and video, as experiential tools. Payne completed his original artistic training in cinema at Concordia University in 2007 before completing his MFA at the University of Ottawa in 2013. His work and performances have been presented in Alberta, Quebec, Ontario, Poland, Belgium, and Mexico. Payne is currently DARC’s Technical Strategist and professor in Video Production at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa School of Art.
This was a free event for DARC members and members of the arts community at large.
Night School is Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC)’s free lecture series designed to provide the basic fundamentals of video, film and media art history, theories and current topics of significance. Night School was initiated as a resistance reaction to the OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) funding cuts in 2018. Night School provides an introduction to an art history theme or topic, within a university/college framework and by a university/college professor but without the financial barriers to participate. Many forms and technological approaches are to be found in the media art landscape and Night School wants to demystify them all. Each Night School lecture will include screenings of select work and or listening exercises depending on the lecture topic at hand.
You are eligible to attend Night School if you are a DARC member, artist, creator, arts/cultural worker, looking to experiment in a new discipline, admirer and or advocate for video and media arts. Attendance at every lecture is not necessary but recommended for a well rounded education.
67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, ON K1N 7B9