blue boat films

frames series time

about

In 2009 I purchased a Canon DSLR camera with thoughts of exploring moving images. Before this time I had worked more in the sound realm as a composer and free-improv cellist. Creating sound for other filmmakers pulled me into the world of video editing software. These tools were analoguous to the sound editing software I had already been using. Working with video was like making visually manifest time-based sound. I have always had a somewhat synesthetic experience of the world and the cross-sensory work fed my sound practice.

At first, video proved a challenge for me. I found the frame rate too fast to hold in my mind. This led me to play with still motion (moving pictures!). I also found that my curved, near-sighted vision made it difficult to achieve a clarity of image. This led me to embrace a blurred (bokeh) approach. I embraced the way I actually saw the world.

As a musician & sound artist I work with time & space / rooms / resonance. My work is often shown in multi-channel performance and/or installation settings. My work seeks a geologic layering ::: a archeologic archive. I take sound & visual core samples from places and experiences that are important to me. Often installation sites themselves are layered back into the work and projected back across their surfaces. This recursive approach creates a weaving of the past & present ::: a representation of memory / skull drawings.

My current work is algorithmic. Sound and animated drawings are coded and eternal. They weave together sound fragments and symbols, generating a living fabric. I work with networked, web technologies to create work that flows across the cloud and pours into multi-channel physical landscapes.


swarm

by kathy mctavish

single-channel screen recording of a generative swarm animation session. geometric abstraction, simple color pallete (black, white, red, yellow, blue). sound weavings composed of small fragments of recorded core samples from instruments & the environment.