Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Centre for Art Tapes compilation
General material designation
- Moving images
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Mark Verabioff, Doug Porter, Andy Dowden, Liz MacDougall, Cathy Quinn, Melodie Calvert, Nancy Davis, Caroline Murray-Crick, Dean Brousseau, Pam Murphy, Sara Newman, Cathy Quinn
Title notes
Level of description
Item
Repository
Reference code
MS-3-46, 1985-001A
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1985 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 videocassette (60 min.) : col., Betacam. - 1 videocassette (60 min.) : col., U-matic
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(1961-)
Biographical history
Melodie Calvert (1961- ) is a Canadian art and producer, born in Innisfield, Alberta, who is known for her media artistic practices. Calvert was involved in the Halifax art community in the 1980’s as Calvert’s video recordings of are a part of the Centre for Art Tapes (MS-3-46).
Name of creator
Biographical history
Cathy Quinn is a media artist who was active in Halifax during the 1980s. She exhibited some of her work through the Centre for Art Tapes.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Liz MacDougall has worked in the media arts since 1984 after completing a degree in Fine Arts at NSCAD with studies at UCSD, San Diego. Concerned about the social distribution of power, she creates her work through playful applications of new technologies. She is the director of several videos, both art and documentary, including “DEBERT BUNKER: by invitation only,” "Time to Heal" and "the Birth of Sybling," for which she won national awards. Liz has been both an employee and a member of several artist-run film and video spaces including Cineworks Film Co-op - Vancouver, the Centre for Art Tapes - Halifax, and Studio XX - Montreal. In 1996 she founded the Incomplete Dislocations Collective, a group of Halifax artists who create and exhibit new media works. She has curated new media exhibitions for the Incomplete Dislocations Collective, Edge Intermedia, the IMAA Atlantic, and the Centre for Art Tapes. Liz has also taught interactive media at NSCAD and works in Halifax as a video editor and digital media creator.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Doug Porter is a Halifax based artist and has been working with media and video mediums since the 1980s. Porter has exhibited artworks internationally. Porter is an instructor at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Nancy Davis was an artist who was associated with the Centre For Art Tapes because of her involvement in the video recording “Survival: Still the issue”.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Marx Verabioff is a Canadian artist and is based in Los Angeles, who is known for his artwork that uses word as image. He has exhibited artwork internationally Verabioff is a 1985 graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
Custodial history
Video can be viewed at the Dalhousie University Archives. Advance notice is required.
Scope and content
Item is a compilation of video works created with assistance from the Centre for Art Tapes : CFAT Promo; Gwen Noah performance; Art-Kik Power; Crossing the 49th; Self-Hypnosis; Debert Bunker: By Invitation Only; Look Up (the Sky is Falling); Survival: Still the Issue; Catie; Our Two Cents Worth; We Will Rebuild; C.D. Latter's Natural High; Who Says?; In Trouble With the Law; Warships.
Description of the video prepared by Centre for Art Tapes is as follows: CFAT Promo: ad that was played every other year on Halloween. Catie: In this video the audience experiences a one-on-one encounter with another human being, seemingly without intervention of medium used. The person in question is an Acadian woman in her mid-70’s, whom the viewer meets at home. Catie relates numerous aspects of her life in an unabashed manner, revealing her as someone who has survived hard times with grace and dignity. Brousseau explains at the beginning how this video is one of a pair (the other being ‘Mother’s Days’) which explore the shifts in moral outlook from generation to generation. By dealing with his relatives, Brousseau and camera are able to capture a particularly candid and entrusting view of the subjects, giving insight into personal aspects of their lives, at the same time showing some of their more universally shared qualities.Crossing the 49th: “It has been arranged by the intermales and underdykes of the U.S.A. and Canada, to unite in the union of the World’s first totally gay nation. Come on now, cross the 49th.” Crossing the 49th is a narrative fantasy dealing with the notion that the total population of Canada could be swapped with the entire American gay population. The tape uses several methods to address this fantasy: blue American and red Canadian lips share ideas; keyed text in the guise of airport codes and clauses float across the screen; sections of slow-moving, bleached-out shots help create a dreamy effect that runs the entire length of the tape. Debert Bunker: By Invitation Only: The occasion of this tape was a military coordinated rehearsal of emergency measure in the event of a nuclear war. This dry-run, which had officials (mostly men) seeking shelter from fall-out that the underground bunker at Debert, NS might provide, became the focus of non-violent collective activism from several maritime-based affinity groups (mostly women). The narrative alternates action footage with commentary from group representatives. The intention was that of describing and documenting the processes and symbolic gestures employed by each group. Women from the action had not previously used video made important contributions to production. The tape uses interviews inter cut with live dramatic performance, live ritual, live footage. as well as stills and medical clips. Voice-over and live sound are both used.
Description of the video prepared by Centre for Art Tapes is as follows: CFAT Promo: ad that was played every other year on Halloween. Catie: In this video the audience experiences a one-on-one encounter with another human being, seemingly without intervention of medium used. The person in question is an Acadian woman in her mid-70’s, whom the viewer meets at home. Catie relates numerous aspects of her life in an unabashed manner, revealing her as someone who has survived hard times with grace and dignity. Brousseau explains at the beginning how this video is one of a pair (the other being ‘Mother’s Days’) which explore the shifts in moral outlook from generation to generation. By dealing with his relatives, Brousseau and camera are able to capture a particularly candid and entrusting view of the subjects, giving insight into personal aspects of their lives, at the same time showing some of their more universally shared qualities.Crossing the 49th: “It has been arranged by the intermales and underdykes of the U.S.A. and Canada, to unite in the union of the World’s first totally gay nation. Come on now, cross the 49th.” Crossing the 49th is a narrative fantasy dealing with the notion that the total population of Canada could be swapped with the entire American gay population. The tape uses several methods to address this fantasy: blue American and red Canadian lips share ideas; keyed text in the guise of airport codes and clauses float across the screen; sections of slow-moving, bleached-out shots help create a dreamy effect that runs the entire length of the tape. Debert Bunker: By Invitation Only: The occasion of this tape was a military coordinated rehearsal of emergency measure in the event of a nuclear war. This dry-run, which had officials (mostly men) seeking shelter from fall-out that the underground bunker at Debert, NS might provide, became the focus of non-violent collective activism from several maritime-based affinity groups (mostly women). The narrative alternates action footage with commentary from group representatives. The intention was that of describing and documenting the processes and symbolic gestures employed by each group. Women from the action had not previously used video made important contributions to production. The tape uses interviews inter cut with live dramatic performance, live ritual, live footage. as well as stills and medical clips. Voice-over and live sound are both used.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Videocassette is available as an uncompressed 10-bit digital master video file (MOV format) and 8-bit access digital video file (MPEG-4 format).
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Digital copies can be viewed at the Dalhousie University Archives. Advance notice is required.
Finding aids
Associated materials
See MS-3-46, 1985-005 and MS-3-46, 1985-005A for additional copies of Liz MacDougall's Debert Bunker video. See MS-3-46, 1985-017 and MS-3-46, 1986-007 for additional copies of Doug Porter's Self-hypnosis video. See MS-3-46, Box 54, Folder 11, Item 1 for a photographic still of Self-hypnosis.
Accruals
Rights
Copyright is held by the artists.