Portrait of the Artist with his Family (2009)

With his art works having appeared at more than 80 international art festivals in 22 countries in the past three years, Owen Eric Wood has established a signature style through his video portraits. Challenging concepts of identity whereby individuals must constantly reinvent or appropriate their own image, the artist presents contemporary social issues in the context of personal narratives and existential themes. As a result, his videos, installations and performances find a place among both experimental new media works and more traditional narrative films.

Wood's video art works have recieved international recognition, including winning Third Prize at the 2011 Almirante Video Art Festial (Argentina), the Best Video Award at the 2010 Avanca Film Festival (Portugal) and the Vision Art Prize at the Visionaria Video Festival (Italy). His videos are distributed by Videographe, based in Montreal.

Born in Toronto, Canada (1977), Wood holds a B.A.A. in Journalism (Ryerson University, Toronto) and a B.F.A. in Studio Art (Concordia University, Montreal), combining backgrounds in objective documentation and subjective expression. He has taught Web design and programming at the Ontario College of Art and Design (Toronto, Canada) and is curently enrolled in the M.F.A. program at the University of Windsor (Canada).

Learn to Smile, Learn to Laugh, Learn to Be Happy (2005)

Has the recorded image replaced the physical world? As a video artist, I recognize that my medium has reached a critical point in history. Video art was once celebrated as a medium of truth, where intimate confessions were expressed through raw, unedited footage due to the lack of access to editing equipment. With the explosion of digital technology that provides easy access to both editing software and online distribution, the truth factor is slowly decaying. "Video art becomes merely a digital extension of our digital lives where any image, sound, or word can be processed, played out, or manipulated at will" (Ross, 89). People use video, digital photography and the Internet to record and broadcast every moment of their lives so these events can be re-lived online.

These are not necessarily accurate depictions of reality, but artificial personas constructed for computer-mediated interactions. Rather than spending time to foster human bonding in the "real" world, people focus their attention on relationships in virtual communities. As such, these tools that are meant to connect us instead create a gap between people and their physical surroundings, isolating them from family and friends, dislodging their sense of time and place. Every minute people spend staring into the pixels of a monitor is a minute they are not seeing the world with their own eyes. Every minute people spend watching recorded images means one less minute lived in real time, collecting real memories.

The current condition of displacement and alienation presents an opportunity for contemporary video artists to critically interpret and re-assess the state of video in the contexts of its tradition as an art form and its important role in today's society.

In my work, I am interested in exploring identity as a reassertion that each individual has a personal connection with the physical world. I use video self-portraits to discuss specific social issues (identity through genealogy, masculinity as a social construct, the influence of media on our sense of self, the effects of globalization on national and cultural identity) as well as existential themes. In my video Holobomo (2009), I place myself within appropriated footage of old movies to show how fictional narratives are replacing real memories and experiences. In my video Parallel (2009), I merge black-and-white photography with photo-realistic drawings to animate a narrative of artistic creation that criticizes the act of self-imaging.

By subjecting myself to a never-ending process of hyper narcissism, my work objectifies the phenomenon of self-constructing identities that has consumed our society. The viewers of my work are invited to re-examine how they use images to present themselves. How do different people respond to this reflective process? Is there a generational gap between people who grew up with human interaction being mediated by technology and those who experienced life before text messaging, online chat sites and computer-based social networking? What conflicts arise when people begin to deconstruct the value of their virtual personas?

Video art was always an investigation of time, but I see an evolution of the medium whereby video's temporal concerns are becoming spatial concerns. My research looks at the integration of video projection within three-dimensional space, and on three-dimensional form. My response to video's intervention with actual experience is to create immersive environments where projected images wrap around sculptural form of the same content and composition (i.e. video of a human face wrapped around a life-sized sculpture of that same face) to cause a hologram effect that frees video from the limitations of the flat screen. My intent is to bridge the gap between digital forms of image and identity by pulling them into actual space. By combining projections with real objects, I want to create spaces that allow viewers to move within projected images, in a way enabling them to enter the video. In doing so, I will cause a paradox, both helping the virtual world enter reality, while bringing attention to the mental and emotional displacement caused by the self-worship and false identities of virtual existences.

Through the manipulation of documentary techniques (taking from my background in broadcast journalism), I address the false notion that video is a medium of truth. In my work, I set up illusions only to tear them apart, revealing their constructed origins. I am interested in presenting alternative perspectives out of the approach that opposing viewpoints can co-exist, not only between individuals and groups, but also within a single individual struggling to resolve moral or spiritual conflict. By allowing different perspectives to materialize parallel to one another, I propose that after artificial truth has been openly declared a farce, perhaps a deeper, more relevant meaning can be found in the act of constructing subjective images.

The performance aspect of my work involves including my body as a living sculptural element within installations that combine video, photography, sculptures, props and found objects. I do not consider my presence a "performance" in the sense that I do not demand the attention of an audience for a given period of time; instead I repeat (like a looping video) irresolvable tasks within a space that is shared with the viewer so that I can create an anti-interaction. The opportunity for viewers to interact with the artist (myself) is suggested but then denied by my concentrated effort to ignore their presence. Through this "action at a distance" there is a sense of disembodiment of the real person while the unreal representations (the video, sculpture, photography) coordinate to replace/dominate it.

Currently in the MFA program at the University of Windsor, I am developing new techniques of vidoe projection that build on the those established by video artists like Tony Oursler and David Hoffos.

Citation

Ross, Christine. "The Temporalities of Video: Extendedness Revisted." Art Journal, Vol. 65, No. 3 (Fall 2006). College Art Association, 2006. 82-99.

Artist C.V.

Selected Works

• Return (2011)
• Parallel (2009-2010)
• Holobomo (2009)
• Portrait of the Artist with his Family (2009)
• Made Up (2008)
• The Clothes Make the Man (2007-2008)
• Lost (2007)
• Quality Time with the Family (2007)
• Eric and Eric (2006)
• Learn to Smile, Learn to Laugh, Learn to Be Happy (2005)
• Momentum: a video series in four movements (2007)
• Self Portrait (2004)

• 2011 Third Prize, Almirante Brown International Video Art Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 2010 Vision Art Prize, Visionaria International Video Festival, Piombino, Italy
• 2010 Best Video Award, Avanca Film Festival, Avanca, Portugal
• 2010 Jury Mention, Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo, Japan
• 2010 Jury Mention, Videoformes, Clermont-Ferrand, France
• 2009 Best Urban Diversity Award, Toronto Urban Film Festival, Toronto, Canada

• 2010 Travel Grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec to attend the FILE Electronic Language International Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil) for the presentation of the videos Parallel and Holobomo
• 2009 Travel Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to attend the Visionaria International Video Festival (Piombino, Italy) to perform and present the video installation Quality Time with the Family

• 2011 FILE Electronic Language International Festival, SESI Cultural Centre (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
• 2011 art:screen Exhibition, Konstfrämjandet Bergslagen (Orebro, Sweden)
• 2011 Art Souterrain (Montreal, Canada)
• 2010 FILE Electronic Language Int'l Festival, SESI Cultural Centre (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
• 2010 Made in Emerging Planet, COMO, Art Center Nabi (Seoul, Korea)
• 2010 Vitheque Launch, Society of Arts and Technology (Montreal, Canada)
• 2010 Visionaria International Video Festival (Piombino, Italy)
• 2010 New Media, Sex and Culture in the 21st Century, Museum of New Art (Detroit, U.S.A.)
• 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival in Istanbul, Pera Museum (Istanbul, Turkey)
• 2010 One Place Leads to Another, Ateliers Jean-Brillant (Montreal, Canada)
• 2009 Visionaria International Video Festival, Galleria La Marina (Piombino, Italy)
• 2009 Festival International Montreal en Arts (Montreal, Canada)
• 2009 ARTARTAR, Articule artist-run centre (Montreal, Canada)
• 2008 Zig Zag, Gutleut 15 Gallery (Frankfurt, Germany)
• 2007 Actions in Action, VAV Gallery (Montreal, Canada)
• 2006 SoukMachines, Centre de Creation Artistique Fractal (Montreal Canada)
• 2006 Circus, SUBV Gallery (Montreal, Canada)
• 2006 The Super Art Market, VAV Gallery (Montreal, Canada)
• 2005 R/evolution Technopraxis, Studio Benim (Montreal, Canada)
• 2005 Exit/Excavation, Art Matters Festival (Montreal, Canada)
• 2005 L'Evenement Interuniversitaire de Creation Video, Bain Mathieu (Montreal, Canada)

• Oodaaq Festival, Café des bricoles (Rennes, France)
• Videoholica Special Selection 2010, [.BOX] Videoart Project Space (Milan, Italy)
• Trouble #7: Metamorphoses (Brussels, Belgium)
• Magmart Festival (Naples, Italy)
• Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France
• REGARD – Saguenay International Short Film Festival (Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada)
• Les Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois (Montreal, Canada)
• Espressioni Performing Arts Film Festival (Milan, Italy)
• Goteborg International Film Festival (Goteborg, Sweden)

• Stuttgart Filmwinter Festival for Expanded Media, Kino Metropol (Stuttgart, Germany)
• Videoformes, Petit Velo (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
• LOOP Festival - The Platform for VideoArt, Lounge Club MauMau (Barcelona, Spain)
• INVIDEO (Milan, Italy)
• Avanca Film Festival (Avanca, Portugal)
• Japan Media Arts Festival, National Art Center (Tokyo, Japan)
• Videoholica International Video Art Festival (Varna, Bulgaria)
• Media Forum, Moscow International Film Festival (Moscow, Russia)
• Festival International du Film sur l'Art, J.A. De Seve Cinema (Montreal, Canada)
• Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Aster Plaza (Hiroshima, Japan)
• Waterpieces International Contemporary and Video Art Festival (Riga, Latvia)
• fLEXiff - First and the Last Experimental International Film Festival (Sydney, Australia)
• Osaka Media Arts Forum, CCA ACDC Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
• Festival Internacional Del Cine Pobre Humberto Solas (Havana, Cuba)
• International Videofestival Bochum, Kulturcafe (Bochum, Germany)
• Orebro International Videoart Festival (Orebro, Sweden)
• Montreal Underground Film Festival, Friperie Potetr (Montreal, Canada)
• Queer City Cinema, Neutral Ground Gallery (Regina, Canada)
• Vues d'en face, Cinematheque de Grenoble (Grenoble, France)
• Inside Out GLBT Film and Video Festival, Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada)
• Open Cinema Int'l Short & Animation Film Festival (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
• Portobello Film Festival (London, U.K.)
• Japan Media Arts Festival in Kyoto, Kyoto Art Center Auditorium (Kyoto, Japan)
• Festival International Montreal en Arts (Montreal, Canada)
• Basement Media Festival, Community Builder’s Co-op (Sommerville, MA, U.S.A.)
• Malmo Sommarscen, Slottstradgarden (Malmo, Sweden)
• Festival Mix di Cinema Gaylesbico & Queer Culture, Teatro Strehler (Milan, Italy)
• Int'l Day of Video Art, Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center (Havana, Cuba)
• Art Go Round, Toyama Prefecture (Toyama, Japan)
• Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week, Studio City (Toronto, Canada)
• Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois, Cinematheque Quebecois (Montreal, Canada)
• Reelout Queer Film and Video Festival, Ellis Auditorium (Kingston, Canada)

• Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (Kassel, Germany)
• Festival du Nouveau Cinema, Cinema Parallele (Montreal, Canada)
• European Media Art Festival, Lagerhalle Großer Saal (Osnabrueck, Germany)
• CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Cumberland Cinemas (Toronto)
• International Video Art Festival Camaguey (Camaguey, Cuba)
• Mix New York Queer Experimental Film Festival (New York City, U.S.A.)
• Cheries-Cheris GLT Film Festival of Paris, Forum des Halles (Paris, France)
• Festival International du Film sur l'Art, Goethe-Institute (Montreal, Canada)
• Torino International GLBT Film Festival, Ambrosio Cinecafé (Torino, Italy)
• Image+Nation, J.A. de Seve Cinema (Montreal, Canada)
• Toronto Urban Film Festival (Toronto, Canada)
• QueerFilmFest Rostock, Peter-Weiss-Haus (Rostock, Germany)
• Entzaubert Radical Non-Commercial Queer Film Festival (Berlin, Germany)
• Montreal Underground Film Festival, Eastern Bloc (Montreal, Canada)
• Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois, National Film Board (Montreal, Canada)

• Canariasmediafest, Espacio Digital (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)
• Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival (Kassel, Germany)
• Mix Brazil Cinema and Video Festival of Sexual Diversity (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
• Outsiders Liverpool LGBT Film Festival, FACT Cinema (Liverpool, U.K.)
• Rendez-Vous du Cinema Quebecois, Cinematheque Quebecois (Montreal, Canada)
• Queer City Cinema, Royal Canadian Legion (Regina, Canada)
• Backup Festival, Deutsches Nationaltheater (Weimar, Germany)
• Inside Out GLBT Film and Video Festival, Isabel Bader Theatre (Toronto, Canada)
• Nuit Blanche, Ex-Centris (Montreal, Canada)
• Montreal Underground Film Festival, Main Hall (Montreal, Canada)

• 2011 Return is accepted by Videographe
• 2009 Parallel and Holobomo are accepted by Videographe
• 2008 Made Up and The Clothes Make the Man are accepted by Videographe
• 2007 Self Portrait, Quality Time with the Family and Lost are accepted by Videographe

• 2009 Back Off! Dissident Representations in Art and Social Movements (Montreal, Canada)
• 2008 Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach (Offenbach am Main, Germany)
• 2008 Soiree Videographe, Videographe Production (Montreal, Canada)
• 2005 Artivistic: The Interplay Between Art, Information and Activism (Montreal, Canada)
• 2005 Humanities MFA Program of Concordia University, Studio Benim (Montreal, Canada)

• 2008 Behind the Object: The role of action in contemporary sculptural practice

• 2010 One Place Leads to Another, Ateliers Jean-Brillant (Montreal, Canada)

• 2011-2013 Master's of Fine Arts (current), Studio Arts, University of Windsor (Windsor, Canada)
• 2003-2007 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Studio Arts, Concordia University (Montreal, Canada)
• 1996-2000 Bachelor of Applied Arts, Journalism, Ryerson University (Toronto, Canada)

• 2012 Graduate Assistant, interactivity course, University of Windsor
• 2011 Graduate Assistant, introductory photography course, University of Windsor
• 2011 Teacher, Web art and design course, Ontario College of Art and Design
• 2009 Web site administrator for the Academy of Art Video Art, Concordia University
• 2008 Pre-selection jury member for Academy of Art Video Art, Concordia University
• 2007 Editor of thesis on drama therapy for Master's student Leslie Bronstein
• 2006-07 Teaching assistant, intermediate-level sculpture course, Concordia University
• 2006-07 Member of the Intermedia Cyber Arts Club, Concordia University
• 2004-05 Member of the Association of Student Sculptors, Concordia University
• 2004-05 Organizer of six group exhibitions for university students, Studio Benim

• 2012 Curator of "A Thousand Words: Comments on Photography" at SoVA Projects Gallery, Windsor, Canada
• 2010 Sculpture assistant for artist Jerome Havre
• 2010 Consultant for video artist Shereen Soliman
• 2009 Member of artist-run centre Articule
• 2009 Web site programmer for artist Eric Bond
• 2009 Sculpture assistant for artist Marie-Chantal Scholl
• 2009 Writing Assistant for artist Andreanne Abbondanza-Bergeron
• 2008 Web site designer and programmer for photographer Vincent Chine
• 2008 Performer in Ali El-Darsa's video Channel
• 2008 Producer of commissioned video for Videographe's online distribution platform Vitheque
• 2008 Model for Trevor Gould's sculpture/installation I am an Ape-man
• 2007 Performer in Ali El-Darsa's video That Saturday of Every Weekend
• 2007 Volunteer for Artivistic conference
• 2006 Camera Operator Trevor Wood's short film Terry and Berry
• 2006 English copy editor for virtual art gallery Web site secteur54.com
• 2006 Contributor to Karen D'Amico's contemporary art zine Tangent
• 2006 Illustrator for Golf Magazine of Les Editions Gesca, La Presse
• 2006 Technical support for David Karavechus' sculpture/installation Home Automation