One of the hundreds of images contributed by young Surrey artists. | Photo courtesy of the Surrey Art Gallery
In October 2005, the combined efforts of nearly 100 young artists came to fruition at the Surrey Art Gallery. For the past eight years, their work, REMIXX.sur.RE, a multi-screen exhibit using hundreds of digital photos, audio clips and text, has been running almost continuously. Every image features a different person or place in Surrey – whether it’s a park, a storage facility or a pair of high school students – serving as a comprehensive look at the community, landscape and culture through the eyes of its youth.
An interactive artwork, REMIXX draws from the database of digital content and essentially ‘remixes’ the audio and the images shown on two flat screens. The speed of its change is based on the movement of the visitor, which is captured by a ceiling-mounted webcam. Because no remix is ever the same, each experience is unique to the viewer.
Project origins
The use of technology in art was uncommon at the time of REMIXX.sur.RE’s inception. Every Bus Stop in Surrey, BC, an installation featuring a database of photos by Surrey Art Gallery resident artist, Sylvia Grace Borda, inspired the gallery to give a voice to a younger generation.
The production team, which included Borda, constructed and configured the exhibit to display the digital contributions of 96 Surrey youths.
“The premise was this: could a mentorship program be set up where artists who work in digital media help direct and give guidance to another generation?” says Borda. “We wanted it so that they could be mobilized to portray themselves in a way they saw was relevant in terms of both their own sociocultural age and geography. There was a relevance to the community at large, but particularly to such a younger-based audience.”
Portraits of a city
Through technology, the contributing young artists could express their view of the community. Each entry represents a different aspect of Surrey, and the wide range of cultural backgrounds play an integral role in every unique vision.
“You look at Surrey, it’s such a multicultural zone on its own. The participants brought in different languages and text – even the way they portrayed certain social spaces was different,” says Borda.
Without the technology behind the REMIXX project, it would have been difficult to provide a platform for such a large number of diverse voices at once.
“It’s very hard, in any capacity, to represent a multi-faceted culture. But when you get to represent them directly, it becomes much more transparent,” says Borda. “Everyone’s going to have their own way of defining themselves. If you could just see snippets of that, you can sometimes find your own cultural identity or break stereotypes. I think that’s what the project really attempted to do, and that’s why it continues to be of interest.”
The evolution of art and technology
Over the years, technology has become an increasingly integral part of our everyday lives and a much more familiar medium for art. For those youth born in the digital age, it seems only natural for art and technology to merge, something that is reflected in the REMIXX project.
“In the capacity of REMIXX, technology was seen as this great purveyor because it offered an opportunity. It offered a link to a younger audience that is much more technologically savvy than older generations,” says Borda. “Technology has opened a platform for everybody to deliver a message.”
REMIXX.sur.RE is one of the first digital media exhibitions at the Surrey Art Gallery, and helps pave the way for other technology-based works to follow. Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at the Surrey Art Gallery, Liane Davison, believes this use of technology has come to be a substantial part of culture and art.
“It’s no longer an isolated practice. It’s in everything,” she says.
