Telidon: Artwork - My Media My Self

[00:00 - 00:04]
Unevenly spread out, blue vertical lines appear on a black background.

[00:05 - 00:16]
Two blue rectangles nested in one another appear over top of the blue lines. Grey text appears: MY MEDIA MY SELF. The phrase is repeated across the screen.

[00:17 - 00:22]
The phrase begins to overlap on itself making the text almost illegible.

[00:23 - 00:34]
The text begins to disappear line by line.

[00:35 - 00:40]
Text apepars: MY MEDIA MY SELF on top of a black background with blue lines. At the bottom right corner of the screen the name of the artist who created this artwork appears, PAUL PETRO. The text disappears and the black background with blue lines remains.

[00:41 - 00:45]
The blue square from the beginning of the video appears in the centre of the screen. Green vertical lines appear in the square.

[00:46 - 00:53]
At the top of the screen grey text appears: THE CURTAINS HAVE HUG THAT WAY FOR YEARS. THE SIDE FACING OUT HS BEEN DISCOLOURED BY THE SUN.

[00:54 - 01:05]
The previous text turns black. New text flashes on and off. It is grey with a highlighted black background: EVEN IF YOU STARE AT THEM VERY HARD FOR A LONG TIME THEY WILL REMAIN MOTIONLESS TO THE EYE. After flashing, the text turns black.

[01:06 - 0:1:13]
Grey text at the bottom right corner appears: LIKE ON HOT SUMMER DAYS WHEN YOU LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AT THE TREES TO SEE IF THERE IS WIND.

[01:14 - 01:21]
The previous text turns black and grey text appears in the centre of the screen: OR WHEN IT SMELLS LIKE IT WILL RAIN VERY SOON. THE SKY IS GREY AND THE AIR IS STILL. The grey text turns black.

[01:22 - 01:32]
Grey text appears at the bottom of the screen: PEOPLE ON STREETCARS HAVE THEIR OWN WAYS OF PASSING TIME. ONCE I SIGNALLED TEN TIMES TO EXIT.

[01:33 - 01:47]
The previous text turns black. New grey text appears overtop of it: THAT WAS NINE MORE TIMES THAN I FELT NECESSARY. WELL, MANY OF THE PASSENGERS WATCHED ME LEAVE. I THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I HAD DONE. THIRTY-FIVE PEOPLE MOMENTARILY INVOLVED IN MY ACTIONS.

[01:48 - 01:58]
All the text is wiped away. A multi-coloured drawing of a person with short hair in profile is facing the left-hand side. New grey text appears at the top of the screen: AND I THOUGHT ABOUT MY GENERATION. AND HOW SPECIALIZED EVERYTHING HAS BECOME.

[01:59 - 02:05]
The previous text wipes away. Text appears over the figure in profile: AND MY MEDIA BECAME MY SELF.

[02:06 - 02:27]
The figure disappears leaving only the rectangles on the screen. Grey text in the centre of the rectangles appears: MY MEDIA MY SELF © PAUL PETRO 1984.
‍

^{Video description by Shauna Jean Doherty.}

Artwork Summary

In this work the artist questions how technology, or media, can be used for creative exploration and the formation of personal identity. Recalling the concept of “the medium is the message” described by Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan in his 1964 book, "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man", the artist asserts that in the hyper-specialized world of the mid-1980s, any available media had the potential to become itself a form of self-expression. "My Media My Self" was originally shown in the group exhibition, "The Eye, The Mind, And The Computer", in 1984 at White Water Gallery in North Bay, curated by the artist, and again at A Space in a 1986 group exhibition curated by Nancy Paterson.

Telidon Art

Artwork Summary

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