"Entertainment rmx" a video remix performance by screaMachine using the "V.R.A.G." (video remix artillery gun). The artist controls both the direction of the beam and the content of the video. As the projection moves around the room, the focus of activity moves. By utilizing all surfaces in the area, the artist redifines the space and the traditional audience viewing experience.
"Entertainment rmx" uses a series of animated video clips made available for instant playback via the MIDI controller switches on the V.R.A.G. These clips will be mixed live by the artist as he projects them around the performance space.
The artist recorded one hour of channel flipping on a Monday evening from 6pm to 7pm. This footage was condensed into a series of 'soundbytes' which were digitally manipulated, resulting in animated variations on the original footage combined with scrolling text. The text comprises uninhibited commentary on the video imagery, from sarcasm to insult to ridicule. The commentary is not meant to be insightful (though some of it may be), but reactionary. The artist is expressing his honest responses as closely as possible to when he first viewed each clip, revealing his humorously dismissive viewpoint. As a viewer, the audience member is made to question the interpretive nature of their viewing, both at home and during the performance.
The removal of the TV image from the standard set and presenting it in an oversized, animated, roving projection lends the content an undeserved grandiosity, thus enhancing the commentary on the entertainment/advertising/ minimal-attention-span-grabbing nature of American TV

© Gearóid Dolan, 2004. All rights reserved