Instant Places is a series of installation performances that work with locally gathered audio and video to transform the host gallery into an immersive space. The raw materials of the particular place and time are transformed through a process of improvisation using live sampling, microphone and mixer feedback, voice, contact pickups and effects. The video work deals with the transformation of recently shot and edited footage, using the real-time manipulation tools VDMX, Isadora, and MAX/Jitter. Each project can be thought of as an evolving portrait or journal that is specific to the conditions surrounding it, while simultaneously allowing indeterminate and personal forces a role in the outcome. Instant Places operates in a state of flux between the subjective and objective, as input from the world is perceived, framed, recorded, edited and recontextualized in time and space.

The environments are arranged such that a visitor must decide at every moment what to focus on; in this way the process of framing and selecting continues for the receiver.

The improv sessions, which are open to the public, take place daily from 2 to 6pm. The installation begins with an artist’s talk on Saturday, April 10, at 3pm, and culminates in a performance event and discussion on Saturday, April 17, at 3pm.

The work of Laura Kavanaugh and Ian Birse involves improvised and composed audio/video environments, and has been presented across Canada and Europe. Their sound work employs feedback systems, microphones, amplified objects and live sampling/remixing. Documentation of projects can be found at their website.

Instant Places is part of the 2004 Images Festival.