Presynaptic Potential | Le Flash 2009/MOCA GA 2010

A multi-channel video installation, Presynaptic Potential looks at dyadic relationships; before/after, interior/exterior, urban/rural, memory/history, together/separate, woman/man. These binary pairings are conflated onto the tenuous narrative thread within the work. The two video projections are positioned opposite one another. This positioning references the conceptual pairings and adds a third dimension, positioning the viewer in a liminal space (a privileged space that does not exist in the diegetic world on screen), the space between before and after, inside and out, memory and action.

Visually, the work shifts from composited, saturated representations of memory and the subconscious to the crystalline view of the conscious. An active experience, the viewer aids in this shift, choosing which projection to see at which moment (due to the positioning of the projections, it would be difficult if not impossible to fully see both at once).

During the Le Flash installation of the work, the audio component is also active and collaborative. A "soundtrack" curated from existing music is broadcast during the exhibition on WRAS 88.5. This soundtrack can be heard anywhere within range of the broadcast and will most likely be heard by far more people not seeing the accompanying visuals than seeing them. The sound also mixes with the ambient sounds of a city at night, making each moment unrepeatable. Also, while the video loops and remains essentially the same with each repetition, the music will change – each loop of video is paired with a different song. All of these elements make each iteration unrepeatable, unique.