the month
Syntax Error in 84 : Part 1 - Machines / Machines
Comprised of works hand-picked by members of the Vidéographe team, video of the month explores Vidéographe's vast collection and offers insight into the team behind the centre. New month, new video.
Grounded in performance and experimental cinema, Sonya Stefan is a multidisciplinary artist. She is recognized for her award-winning dance documentary The Truss Arch, which received an IRIS nomination and won Best National Medium-Length Film at both the Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal (RIDM, 2021) and Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma. Her most recent collaboration is with Mandoline Hybride and Julie Dalbec on the video-mapping project Reflets Dansants, developed in Marsoui, Gaspésie.
Synopsis
Syntax Error in 84 is the result of two years' research into Up-to-Date-Domestic Micro-technology, which culminated in the creation of the Kineotoscope. The production consists of two parts. Machine/Machines looks at the evolution of the machine. The role it plays today cannot be overestimated. Today's machines are incredibly sophisticated. What will tomorrow's machines be like? A philosophical yet critical look at the presence of technology in our world. Pierre Zovilé uses special effects with humour and intelligence. Dr A.Mok's Brain Wave is about the perpetual rift betwen creativity and power. Zovilé's tape uses computer graphics and processed images of men in white coats edited at a fast pace to give it a comic spontaneity.
A word from the team
‘No matter where or who you are, there are thousands of machines ready to save your life and thousands of machines ready to kill you. This is a true real-time-message.’
Infused with catchy music and retro 80’s-style graphics, our modern fascination—and fear—of machines remains unchanged as we enter the age of A.I. Machines! Machines! Machines! boldly repeat, intensifying….that yah…..machines have always been with us stirring up emotions. The graphics remind me of my mom’s needlepoint—something she often stated (loudly) ‘this isn’t art! This is just what I did when I was depressed.’ I mean, I felt a wave of emotion seeing the touch-tone telephone and what appeared to be a massive computer—just like the ones I first saw in sci-fi movies when I was 10. Home computers weren't even a thing for me until I fearfully bought one in 2005. And Y2K….my partner and I snowshoed to a remote cabin in the dead of winter so that the explosion of computers wouldn't get us.
At this point, I think, yah, the machines are alive. They are fascinating. I do not fear them. And I thank them for saving my life. But they do pose challenges. Huge planetary challenges.
And no matter where or who you are, they do weave themselves into your emotional being, hanging out in our homes, work, neighbourhood and into our virtual-ness. What becomes of this relationship……who knows? But they are a reflection point, a direct route into our lives….well mine anyway.
Sonya Stefan
Workshops and Mediation Program Coordinator
