A one-projector reproduction of Energy Field 5 at BYOB Melbourne.

December 16 2011, Tristian Koenig Gallery, Melbourne (Aus)

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Two large flickering circles of light projected side by side on a latex screen in a dark, curtained room normally used as a theatre.

A second, larger latex screen caught the spill from the first, softly bouncing the light through the room, an experience like lightning in clouds. Viewers could move between the screens and experience each others shadows in the soft shower of pulsing light.

Circle Jerk/ What is Music? Festival
December 10 2011, Revolt, Melbourne (Aus)

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Three circles of light flickered in the windows of a city building.

Each circle was divided by the geometry of the black window frame that sliced through it. The flashing of the projector lamps could be perceived through the translucent windows: a three-dimensional relationship to the projected circles changing with the viewer’s position. Acting as a beacon, the lights multiplied across shiny surfaces of cars parked in the street.

The images pulsed on and off according to patterns derived from triangular numbers. Asynchronous and randomized, the three autonomous signals combined to generate a more complex rhythm.

A fourth screen inside the entrance played a single circle throughout the day, while the projections appeared after dark.

November 22–December 17 2011, MPW, Melbourne (Aus)

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Two large circles of light flickered side by side on a concrete wall in a cavernous hallway of a building once used for repair of trains.

The images pulsed on and off according to patterns derived from triangular numbers. Asynchronous and randomized, the two autonomous signals combined to generate a more complex rhythm made from sequenced pulses of light emitted by the projectors and the reflections from other surfaces in the space.

Expanded Architecture/ Sydney Architecture Festival
October 26 2011 at Carriageworks, Sydney (Aus)

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Energy Field 7 appeared in single-channel form within a larger screening program themed around polarity. A matched, inverse pair of Energy Field videos were screened in two separate gallery/ cinema rooms.

Poles Apart
October 4–8 2011, Blindside, Melbourne (Aus)

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A pair of soft, bright distended circles flickered just above head height on the walls of a hallway in the basement of a former hospital. The projections were positioned to produce specular and chromatic effects which varied with the position of the viewer.

The two projections flickered according to patterns derived from triangular numbers. Asynchronous and randomized, the two independent signals combined to generate a more complex rhythm, made from the sequenced pulses of light emitted by the projectors.

With thanks to Dinesh de Silva

New Low Launch Show curated by Tara Cook
October 4–7 2011, New Low, Melbourne (Aus)

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Live video performance. One of two in duo with Lionel Palun at Atelier MTK, a space in Grenoble dedicated to artist film.

Marcia Jane – video/ MaxMSP/ sound
Lionel Palun – video/ video feedback/ sound feedback/ sound

June 28 2011, Atelier MTK, Grenoble (Fr)

A pair of projectors were aligned at opposite ends of the gallery, each projecting a small bright circle at close range. These miniature projections cut an imaginary line through the space.

Two intense points of light glittered on the concrete floors and surrounding brickwork. The projection sequences were randomized and the two images deliberately asynchronous.

With thanks to Philippe F. Roux and Loïc Blairon

Parisonic curated by Philippe F. Roux and Eric La Casa
June 4–26 2011, Instants Chavirés, Montreuil (Fr)

This project was financially assisted by Moreland City Council’s Achievement Grant.

The Janet Holmes à Court Artists’ Grant is a NAVA initiative, made possible through the generous sponsorship of Mrs Janet Holmes à Court and the support of the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts.

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A pair of large circles appeared opposite each other in the cellar (cave) of the gallery.

The projection sequences were randomized and the two images deliberately asynchronous. The separate flash frequencies mixed to create a vibration of light in the space; surfaces and textures of the room came alive with this vibration.

Retinal echoes of circles, the sparkling dazzle of the projector lamps and the audible whirr of their fans added to the sense of dislocation.

Parisonic curated by Philippe F. Roux and Eric La Casa
June 4–26 2011, Instants Chavirés, Montreuil (Fr)

This project was financially assisted by Moreland City Council’s Achievement Grant.

The Janet Holmes à Court Artists’ Grant is a NAVA initiative, made possible through the generous sponsorship of Mrs Janet Holmes à Court and the support of the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts.

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light, energy, matter…

A bright circle of pulsating, flickering coloured light inhabits a narrow space in the gallery. This circle is a presence; it hangs in the air. Perhaps it is emanating from the wall itself.

The circle is a fixed form, but within is a perpetual state change, a state of flux. The image is very bright but it is also insubstantial, there but not there. If you reach out to touch it, you can only feel the wall. Light fluxes and pulses from the projection outwards across the surfaces of the surrounding space and returns as rhythmic reflections.

The sliding colour changes mimic regular changes in atmospheric light; compressed seasonal and circadian cycles.

March 31–April 16 2011, Art Beat, Melbourne (Aus)

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Live video performance in trio with k&m.

Marcia Jane – video/ MaxMSP
k&m (Phoebe Faulkner and Jason Montero) – sound

Nov 10 2010, The Toff, Melbourne (Aus)

An improvised performance involving seven artists. A group of French and Australian performers joined in ensemble play using 16mm film projections, home made instruments, live video and noise toys.

This one-off performance was developed during a one-week residency in the space.

Richard Bokhobza (Fr) – bass/ noise toys
Etienne Caire (Fr) – 16mm film
Marco Cher-Gibard (Aus) – sound/ MaxMSP
Rosalind Hall (Aus) – modified saxophone/ objects
Marcia Jane (Aus) – video/ MaxMSP
Lionel Palun (Fr) – video/ video feedback
Gaëlle Rouard (Fr) – 16mm film

September 25 2010, Mechanics Institute Performing Arts Centre, Melbourne (Aus)

Reviews

Superstream, or: Many projectors make light work
Melbourne Fringe Festival: Superstream

The second version of Energy Field appeared in public space in Fitzroy, Melbourne. Three bright dots flickered in sequence, pulsing electrically on the footpath surface.

July 9–18 2010, Gertrude Street Projection Festival, Melbourne (Aus)

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“there are no connections… only resonances, beats, rhythms, closures” – Marshall McLuhan

An Accumulation of Energy was a collaborative, space-specific work commissioned by Blindside Gallery.

The installation was an emptied space, filled only with sound and splayed with video projections of artificial skies and suns.

Multiplying layers of sound and light emanated from separate point sources and occupied the space, spilling and reverberating through adjoining structures in the art deco Nicholas Building … a spatial and temporal occupation by sound and light.

Marcia Jane – video/ projections
Dinesh de Silva – sound

June 10–12 2010, Blindside, Melbourne (Aus)

With thanks to Blindside.

Dematerialization is a work of immateriality, of amplified sound and projected light.

This collaborative installation draws on broader ideas of dematerialization in relation to information and culture: visual overload manifests as white light and aural overload as white noise.

The gallery was chosen for its vaulted chambers and enclosed location below ground level. A series of video and sound point-sources were located throughout the space and each emanated signals independently of the others. Sound and light were dispersed, attuned and adjusted to intersect with each other in this unique space.

DVD players were used to play back video and sound files using random functions. These randomized point sources combined into an eternally shifting mix. The viewer experienced tonal shifts and visual / aural ‘time zones’ as they traversed (or lingered in) the space.

A limited edition catalogue booklet/ DVD contained visual, aural and informational elements used in the installation.

Marcia Jane – video/ projections
Dinesh de Silva – sound

May 11–22 2010, First Site, Melbourne (Aus)

The Janet Holmes à Court Artists’ Grant is a NAVA initiative, made possible through the generous sponsorship of Mrs Janet Holmes à Court and the support of the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts.

The first Energy Field (appearing under the name Set) was commissioned for Magnetic Traces: a Survey of French and Australian Sound Art.

Three bright circular video projections flickered in three separate rooms across two galleries: a network of points of light, pulsing electrically.

Light spilled from the projection rooms into the listening rooms and sound bled back into the projection spaces.

Magnetic Traces curated by Eric La Casa and Philip Samartzis
July 31–August 15 2009, West Space, Melbourne (Aus)
July 31–August 21 2009, Project Space/ Spare Room, Melbourne (Aus)

Magnetic Traces catalogue PDF

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Unite, react, interact.A bond is formed when two entities merge. Energy drops as they approach, increasing again when they become too close. Merging gives rise both to interference, and a pairing of movements.

Two DLP projectors side by side show a split screen video of hyper-kinetic light trails. The shallow depth of the room and asynchronous split screens create an experience of visual stereo. The DLP rainbow effect is exaggerated by the width of the projection image, shallow room and rapid light changes.

Marcia Jane – video
Philip Samartzis – sound

Sonic Body curated by Jolt
October 1–4 2008, West Space, Melbourne (Aus)

Live video performance; one of a short series of duos with Australian sound artist Philip Samartzis.

Marcia Jane – video/ MaxMSP
Philip Samartzis – sound

Mono5 curated by Lawrence English
September 25 2008, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (Aus)

Cluster was a collaborative installation of kinetic, illuminated sculpture, sound art and video projections.

The main gallery comprised suspended illuminated ‘pods’, moved by air currents driven by electric fans. The fans were triggered by motion sensors detecting the presence and movement of visitors, who were encouraged to touch the sculptures and interact with the installation.

In the adjoining gallery a large pair of video projections transmitted light which spilled through both spaces. The video depicted a faux subatomic world; an imagined space of energy and particles, yet made up from images of everyday, human-scale sources.

Layers of video were randomized and composited live in the gallery using MaxMSP. One of Marc Rogerson’s fiberglass pods sat in the video space; I engaged it as a light reflecting and transmitting device.

Cluster was a reference to the uncertainly principle in quantum mechanics. The installation had kinetic, light and sound play which happened even when no-one was there to observe it. It could never be observed – because the moment someone entered the space, the motion sensors were activated and the installation changed.

Dave Brown – sound
Marcia Jane – video/ MaxMSP
Marc Rogerson – sculpture/ light/ sensors/ automation
Philip Samartzis – sound

April 26–May 3 2008, VCA Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Melbourne (Aus)

Time Ball was shot at Semaphore Beach in South Australia, a place where I spent time growing up. The Time Ball tower is a notable feature of this landscape.

Semaphore Beach is a beautiful place with many memories and associations for me. I made this work to express the overlay of resonances I experience there.

I walk (and crawl) with my camera through the sand, its point of view roving freely in three dimensions. No element of the landscape takes precedence, a close up of a plant in the sand is equal to waves in the distance, to the sky, to the underside of the jetty. The Time Ball’s vanes rattle in the constant wind, my feet slip in the sand, I catch my breath.

I cut many small fragments of video and the matching camera sound, re-assembling them to follow the order of my shoot and my physical journey around the site.

The edit is an intense, patterned construction; a division into parts then re-multiplication into a new whole. Images are refracted through a spinning, prismastic structure, reflecting parts and shards of the original.

5.44min PAL 16:9 Stereo

Nominated for Best Experimental Short Film, Melbourne International Film Festival 2008.

Screening history

The Brunswick Show (Melbourne Aus 2011), Australian International Experimental Film Festival (Melbourne Aus 2010), Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (Japan 2009), VideoFest 2K8 (Mexico 2008), Melbourne International Film Festival/ Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne Aus 2008), RMIT School of Art Gallery (Melbourne Aus 2008), Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne Aus 2007)

In a space filled with light, female figures move in stilted, seemingly ritualised performance.

Cut and re-cut, the dance is endlessly reconfigured: the dance of the subjects, the dance of the camera, the dance of the edit.

Intercept is a live continuous edit. Individual video shots are drawn from a pool, combined and re-combined to create the edit in any given moment.

MaxMSP is used to perform a random operation: choosing three shots. This triad is played repeatedly, forming a move in the dance. A break point is reached, three new clips are chosen and a new movement begins.

When I think of editing, I am fascinated by the fact that many alternate constructions can be derived from a single set of material. In thinking about the structure of this work, I envision a multifaceted, multi-armed and -legged object. The screen’s frame is the means by which we trace a path along this object and view it.

August 29 – September 8 2007, First Site, Melbourne (Aus)

A Straight Line Through Time is a video transect.

The transected location is a path I was walking from home to my local train station and back each day. These daily paths we follow, their rhythms, textures and surfaces are private sensory experiences only we can know.

I attached a video camera rig to my bicycle. The ground surface in directly in front of/ below the bike was recorded as I rode; the camera collected a scan of what passed under me.

A stream of surfaces, textures and objects flow through the frame. Approximately 600 segments were cut from the original video recording then each segment was time-modified before adding to the overall edit.

The flow of time and space follows the path from my house to the train station but is not linear: pushing, pulling and looping back on itself as it also moves forward.

The sound track ‘Inertia’ was composed by Dinesh de Silva at precisely the same time as the video was shot.

4:42min PAL 16:9 Stereo
Sound by Dinesh de Silva

Screening history

‘Tract’ at RMIT School of Art Gallery  (Melbourne Aus 2008); ‘Geek Chic 2.0′ at Loop, curated by Alex Gibson (Melbourne Aus 2007)