The “new primitive” methods in the age of digital technologies
a review of Ana Carvalho's VJing practice
by Magda Tyzlik-Carver
At the first event, MOD Shed, organised by the collective
Art in Hidden Places of Falmouth each member of the collective
contributed a piece of work ( http://art-in-hidden-places.blogspot.com ).
Among them was a collaboration between Ben Carver and Ana Carvalho,
which was a DJ/VJ live performance.
This, however, was not the kind of VJ performance that is ubiquitous
to a nightclub setting. The event took place at Falmouth Wharves,
a run down semi industrial space which has survived the redevelopment of
the waterfront at Falmouth .
Neither was this the type of VJing which could fall into the traps of:
macho battle, technology leading technique, the industrial branding
of practice.
On the contrary Carvalho's VJ performance made full use of the industrial
but intimate space. The half hour piece presented in this ideal
setting created the atmosphere of the personal conversation. This
was achieved through the music played by the DJ and the real time drawings
and paintings improvised by Carvalho. By making public this exchange
between sound and image, the viewer was invited to join an intimate
dialogue, which allowed her/him to connect individually with the
ambience created by the work.
Carvalho uses technologies not normally associated with the
practice of today's VJ. So far she has not utilised the usual VJing
tools: the pre-packaged software and hardware. In this performance
she made use of Photoshop as a performance instrument bringing
out the process of constructing images as a real time event.
This in itself becomes an inversion of the intentionality behind
the software, which seems to be subversive and perverse characteristic
of Carvalho's practice.
Her most recent work in the "VJ" arena uses even more primitive
techniques. As large corporations produce more and more "off
the shelf" real time products, Carvalho has adopted elements
of early video art approaches, rejecting the use of video images
in favour of mixing colour and form live.
The effect is very different to the usual fast-cutting, filtered graphic
images which often can be seen in clubs.
Carvalho maintains in her VJing practice an intimacy using new/old
video-art and performance methods.
The emotional impact of this on an audience, in its honesty and
its determination to make visible its own means of production,
brings life to the relationship between the viewer and the
work. This can never be achieved by more commercial packages.
Carvalho, who is also an internet artist, investigates in her work
the possibilities of bringing digital technology closer into the
realm of an everyday viewer. She is able to achieve this aim through
her decision to make her private explorations public and VJing is
one means that searches the possible connections.