matthew underwood···>davis gym is falling down

why a gym? what was i thinking?
i embraced all of the dings in the walls and paint splotches in these gutted locker rooms
just as i embrace and seek out accidental qualities in my working process
i didn't want to modify the space, but rather wanted to see if my work could integrate itself into the space
my prints acted to relate to the space in their color palettes and recurring wood theme(s)
also, the video was highly site-specific,
it originated from six or more hours of recordings made in the shower room, shot over a one month period

the work was divided between three rooms:
•digital/hand-worked prints in the 'print room' (girls locker room)

•three channels of soundwork in the 'sound room' (boys locker room)
including a fourth channel of live audio surveillance
of blair ciemiecki's installation down the hall

•two videos were installed in the 'video room' (boys shower rooms)
first, a small monitor on the wall displayed a forty minute edit of recordings made using these low-fi/makeshift methods:
1. a broken consumer fan, that shakes, vibrates and pans
2. a color pinhole surveillance camera (the size of a quarter)
3. two panning motors (one built by peter lutz)
____the fast movement from the fan got interpreted by the video frame rate
making the recording look highly processed, reminiscent of the paik/abe wobulator
____the two panning motors were placed on top of one another, to both cancel out and amplify the simple movements
____the size of the camera creates a free floating eye, with total mobility, responsive to the slightest movement
____for the recordings i transformed the space by bringing in fake-wood contact paper, wood paneling, cardboard and a mirror

second, a video showed a live surveillance image of the adjoining shower space
this was displayed 4X3" on the cardboard/wood/sculpture/box with an internal projector
it would take time or cooperation to be able to acknowledge that it was a live camera,
do to a dividing wall between the camera and its display