Last September, I was part of a team that produced George Brown College’s exhibition at Canada’s first design biennial EDIT (Education, Design, Innovation, and Technology). The installation was made up of several parts: a video, a timeline, a VR experience.
I was leading the video portion of the exhibition and had to bring together 3 stories: George Brown College’s past; the present with the Institute without Boundaries; and the future with the Future Ways of Living. And somewhere in all that I had to weave in the new design building on the Waterfront and Marshall McLuhan’s Global Village theory. In addition to all these layers, I also had to figure out how we would project this onto 3 walls and at the same time figure out how to build the file so all the transitions would be seamless when it was exported. Easy, right?
What I’ll share with you is the overall idea and how it was set up in different Acts so my art director and videographer could work together to make this happen. What I’ve learned is that even though you have a very accomplished and technical team, there has to be a sense of artistry and poetry to the story. Even though all the part is there, the narrative needs to make sense and fit together so people will watch it and actually care about the work being presented. This is what I feel my real gift or talent is. Finding the poetry in the disconnected pieces.
EDIT video installation concept
SEARCH through Time (Working title)
The ability for us to search for history, people, ideas and places is at the touch of our fingertips. This liberation of knowledge has created endless opportunities for individuals to find information at record speed. This new interface with technology, being at the center of our lives, poses new questions about identity, meaning, and purpose in this rapidly changing and connected world. The concept of the School of Design, EDIT exhibition will be about SEARCH and how it shapes our understanding of ourselves and the global village we are a part of.
The video installation is divided into 4 acts:
Act 1 – Connection of Ideas – George Brown
The SEARCH for meaning through discovery and inspiration. Visitors will be taken on a historic journey grounded in the present and our ability to search through voice.
Act 2 – Collapse of Structure – George Brown College
The SEARCH for a place through memory and community. Visitors will experience the history of George Brown College as a timeline grounded in our current ability to search through maps.
Act 3 – Building Communities – Institute without Boundaries
The SEARCH for identity. Visitors will experience the history of the Institute without Boundaries told by the students, faculty and clients through the lens of social media.
Act 4 – Global Village – Future Ways of Living
The SEARCH for creativity. Visitors will experience the forward journey of the School of Design through the latest Future Ways of Living movie and inviting the visitor to join us in our pursuit to solve the world’s challenges.
Richelle Sibolboro 