For this project we have come north four times. First Jesse and I came to do some specific images of the tower and other northern housing types. We also started to think about what kinds of spaces/ locations would be interesting for the bulk of the new work. Last year, I came up for the summer to do the dual anthropological thing: hang out. Then in December Jesse and Tori came up to figure out the logistics of where we wanted (and were able) to install cameras and how to keep them running in -40 temperatures. I also wanted them to have a chance to orient to the community without my incessant filter. They spent the bulk of their time fiddling with equipment in a cramped hotel room and working quickly when they went outside. They made several tests and as a team we had to talk about what was anthropologically interesting and what was artistically interesting. These aren’t one in the same always. This has been the subject of a perhaps impossible to solve conversation that Jesse and I like to have both in theory but in this practice of image/anthro making.
Day 4 in the high rise was dedicated to taking down the cameras Tori and Jesse left on the roof in December and seeing what they had in terms of data. We sincerely did not know what to expect. I will leave some of the tech descriptions to Jesse, but the basic idea is that we had two Go Pro Hero 4 cameras in cases, wired with power running as of December 4th. We weren’t entirely sure how long they would run for. They take a still photograph every thirty seconds. Each camera had a different angle of the town (roughly east facing and south facing). Once we downloaded their contents, we learned that the cameras ran for about two weeks (ending December 18th). This meant we have 43,198 images per camera. The end product is running them as a time lapse.
To see if the result is interesting, Jesse began processing the images and downsized the files from 4000×3000 to 1024×768, standard for a data projector you might have in a university classroom. He first made three days of data run. Essentially what happens is one frame every 30 seconds becomes 30 frames per second and our test three days became 5 minutes. They are seriously amazing. The capture heat vents puffing, cars coming and going, lights on and off and aurora borealis sweeping overhead. Now satisfied, the plan is to install four cameras to get all directions. We imagine the final gallery installation to be a box you are in so that you are surrounded by the urban/ish north.
We wanted to have a sample to show Harry, the owner of the High Rise so that he can see just what it is we are up to. Harry and his wife Linda have been very kind to me over the years. Harry is originally from Guyana and loves to travel. He wears flip flops and shorts around the building most of the year. Now in the apartment next to ours, I see that he spends time every day on his balcony looking out at the river that runs behind the building.
Our evening activities included a hike along the riverside trail and a walk to the Super A convenience store for screamers. Screamers are one of Jesse’s all time favourite treats and I can admit that they are pretty damn good. A screamer is soft serve mixed with slushie. Jesse went for pink cream soda, Gen and I tried to do an elaborate combination of orange crush and cream soda that was a little overwhelming. Our final task was a pretty classic northern Canadian decorating strategy. Jesse and gen’s room doesn’t have black out shades and the sun here is constant right now. This was making sleeping for these northern novices tough, so I went out and I got the five dollar solution: tin foil. With the light locked out we were all able to rest well.