2012 INTERVIEW / TORSTEN ZENAS BURNS

DEMOFORMANCES:YELLOW(MOBILERS)

Ressurectables (DAC Propkit), 2012

1. Your sculpture uses found objects: where do you get them?

I’M GOING TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS IN

(DEMOFORMANCE MODE) USING OR PROJECTING

BANKS GOTHIC FONT IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS & ITALICIZED.

FOR THE DUMBO ARTS CENTER DEMOFORMANCE

YELLOW(MOBILERS) CONFIGURATION I USED ABOUT THIRTY

INORGANIC READY-SPRAYEDS (PULLED FROM A COLLECTION

OF A HUNDRED OR MORE PERSONAL SPECIMANS) – THE

PIECES CAN BE RECONFIGURED AND CHUNKED TOGETHER IN

DIFFERENT VARIABLE COMBINATIONS DEPENDING ON THE

STATIC OR MOBILE SET-UP SITE.

THE SATURATED “MOBILERS” INCLUDE A VARIETY OF

DEFUNCT TECHNOLOGICAL PRODUCTS REPURPOSED

(INCLUDING) MY 1ST 1989 VHS MINOLTA CAMCORDER, MY 1ST

1991 TRIPOD SECURED IN PHILADELPHIA, SOUTH KOREAN

MOTORCYCLE HELMETS, APPLE KEYBOARDS, A CHINESE

REMOTE CONTROLLED TOY VEHICLE, SONY HI8

CAMCORDERS, SUPER 8 CAMERAS, VERIZON CELL PHONES,

SCHOOL CHAIRS, A 1970’S SONY VIDICON TUBE STUDIO

CAMERA, 12” GIJOE NUDE ACTION FIGURES, A BRICK FROM

HOLYOKE, MA, MY DANISH AUNT KIRSTEN LARSEN’S

PHOTOGRAPHIC STILL CAMERA, DRIED CORN COBS, AND A

RUBBER FACE PREVIOUSLY USED FOR CPR TRAINING ETC.

IN THIS PARTICULAR SET-UP THE SCULPTURAL ITEMS ARE

CHUNKED TOGETHER IN A CARAVAN AND JOINED BY LOOPED

VIDEO, FRAMED PHOTOGRAPHS, THE IMMERSION MAN, AND

FICTIONAL VIGNETTES RELATING TO A RE-IMAGINED SPACE

TRAINING WORKSHOP. WE SEE BODYBANKS CHARACTERS

EXPLORING RELATIONSHIPS WITH AMBIGUOUS

ARCHITECTURE, ANIMATED LAND, VEHICLE DELIVERY

SYSTEMS, AND CUSTOM PRESSURE SUITS.

OTHER RELATED FICTIONS MIGHT INVOLVE THE DEMO OF

NEW KINDS OF “SPECTRALOGRAPHIC” CAPTURING DEVICES.

IN ANOTHER VERSION I HAVE THE (MOBILERS) RE-NAMED

“RESSURECTABLES” RELATING MORE TOWARDS A STORY OF

AMBIGUOUS REPLICATION...WE SEE REPRODUCING

CONSTRUCTION YELLOW AND CANDY GLOSS PINK

DISCARDED AND BROKEN (VARIETIES) CREATE A NEW LIFE OF

THEIR OWN – A KIND OF SPREADING (NANO) TECHNOLOGY

BLOWN UP IN A LIFE SIZE HUMANOID SCALE.

2. You are clearly very integral to your own art. Do you believe that

there is a separation between art and artist?

SINCE ENGAGING VIDEO ART EXPERIMENTS IN1988

AT THE SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN AT ALFRED UNIVERSITY, I

HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN CREATING A RE-IMAGINED LIFE

LONG SPECULATIVE SELF PORTRAIT PROJECT. OVER THE

YEARS I HAVE MANAGED TO CREATE RETCONNED

MYTHOLOGIES FUSED WITH MANIFESTED (BODYBANKS)

CHARACTERS.

CONCURRENTLY WITH MY EXPLORATION OF CHOREOGRAPHY

AND SCIENCE-FRICTION THEMES I ALSO HAVE ENGAGED IN

SOME POTENT LONGTERM COLLABORATIONS.

……SO NOT ONLY IS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SEPARATE BETWEEN

ART AND ARTIST IT IS IMPOSSIBLE…TO SEPARATE BETWEEN

ART AND ARTIST AND COLLABORATOR. I LIVE FOR THE MESSY

FUSIONS. ITS ALSO A WAY OF EXTENDING YOUR LIFE IN A

STRANGE WAY…YOU CAN NOW BREAK YOUR OWN 4TH WALL.

A TRIP TO HOME DEPOT TO SECURE PROPS FOR A VIDEO

PROJECT IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERY COLLABORATION. THE

SAME ITEM IS NOW RECAST AND CHARGED WITH NEW

MEANING EVERY TIME. THERE IS A (TORSTEN) ACTIVATING

GESTURE ALONE ON EARTH A, EARTH B HAS (T.O.R.S.T.E.N.

AND DARRIN EXPLORING THE MASHED-UP FLESH OF OUR

TIMES), EARTH C HAS THE (HALFLIFERS) ENGAGING IN

AFTERLIFE & RESCUE BASED SPLATSTICK.

3.In the "Demoformances: Yellow (Mobilers)" video you change
locations a few times: how important is location to your art? How
do you choose a location?
RESIDENCY PROGRAMS, EDU ADJUNCT CONTRACTS, AND
COLLABORATIONS ARE CRUCIAL TO MY ONGOING VIDEO,
PHOTOGRAPHIC, BOOK, AND INSTALLATION PROJECTS.
I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ENGAGE SOME
REALLY DYNAMIC RESIDENCY PROGRAMS, EACH WITH THEIR
OWN UNIQUE GEOGRAPHIC SIGNATURE BE IT LOCATED NEAR
OCEAN / FORREST / PLAINS OR INSERTED IN A TWIN
TOWERED MEGA-BUILDING. I HAVE SHOT HOURS AND HOURS
OF VIDEO AT EACH MOBILE LOCATION, BUILDING DIVERSE
CHOREAGRAPHIC AND COSTUMED RESPONCES TO THE
ENVIRONMENT AT HAND. FURTHER MEANINGFUL LOCATIONS
FOR PROJECTS ARE BASED ON MY ONGOING TEACHING
EXPERIENCES BOTH IN DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL
SETTINGS. I VIEW MY EDU TEACHING AND CURATION
EXPERIMENTS AS AN EXTENTION OF MY ART MAKING
PRACTICE.
MY NEXT PROJECT CALLED “KOREANAUTICA” WAS SHOT
PRIMARILY IN SOUTH KOREA THANKS TO A WONDERFUL
OPPORTUNITY I HAD AT KYUNGSUNG UNIVERSITY’S
DEPARTMENT OF DIGITAL DESIGN IN PUSAN.
FINALLY THIS DEMOFORMANCES PROJECT CREATED FOR
THE DUMBO ARTS CENTER WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE
WITHOUT THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF TWO INSPIRING
ARTISTS (MICHAEL O’MALLEY & CHRIS NELSON) WHO OVER
THE YEARS HAVE LET ME COLLABOTRONICALLY ENGAGE WITH
THEIR OWN DYNAMIC SCULPTURES AND INSTALLATION SITES.

Ressurectables (DAC Propkit), 2012

4. How does repetition--of actions, prop use, visual motifs, etc.,...--
factor into your art?
FOR THIS EXCHANGE I WILL MENTION ONLY ONE.
OVER THE YEARS THE ONE INSPIRING PROP OR COSTUME
ELEMENT THAT I HAVE USED OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN MY
OWN SOLO VIDEO PROJECTS AS WELL AS MADE SIGNIFICANT
GUEST APPEARANCES IN SEVERAL ONGOING
COLLABORATIONS INCLUDING (HALFLIFERS: PIONEER
SERIES) IS “THE IMMERSION SUIT”. THE IST RED FLOTATION
SUIT WAS SENT TO ME IN 1995 BY JENNIFER & KEVIN MCCOY.
I HAVE BEEN USING THE ORIGINAL AND OTHER VERSIONS OF
THE FORM EVER SINCE.
FOR ME IT’S A GESTURAL TRIGGER DELIVERY SYSTEM / A
SCULPTURAL MOBILE DOUBLE / AN IMAGINATION AUGMENT /
A SECOND SKIN / A PERSONALIZED PRESSURE (EARTH) SUIT.
5.Why the use of rewind in your video? Are the actions in the video
meant to be seen exclusively in reverse?
(BACKWORDS / FOR-WWARDS / S.I.D.E.=WAYS)
AT THIS POINT ITS HARD FOR ME TO SEE THINGS IN A LINEAR
WAY. THE INTEREST I HAVE HAD SINCE MY FIRST EXPOSURE
TO VIDEO CAMERAS, EDITING SYSTEMS, AND MEDIA
PROCESSING TOOLS HAS BEEN ONE OF TEXTURE AND
PHYSICALITY OF THE VIDEO SIGNAL FUSED WITH AN
IMPROVISATIONAL AND TEMPORALLY ACTIVATED FLESH
BODY. LIKE WELDING HOT METAL OR SCARRING ZINC PLATES
WITH AN ACID BATH FOR AN ETCHING PRINT, THE ANALOG
VIDEO’S REAL TIME RESIDUE REALLY EXCITES ME. EACH
PIECE OF EQUIPMENT’S JOG SHUTTLE MIXED WITH LIVE
RESCANNING BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS CREATING
UNIQUE CONVULSIVE TEARING QUALITIES THAT FIT THE
EARLY THEMES AND DELIVERY SYSTEM OF A GESTURAL
STORY BODY. FOR (DEMOFORMANCES) THE TEMPORAL
DIGITAL FICTIONS REVOLVE AROUND A SET OF SPECIAL
“CAPTURE” CAMERAS THAT PICK UP ON SPECTRAL
ENERGIES. WE SEE THIS IN THE FORM OF GESTURAL
COLORED SMOKE OR PLASMIC DISCHARGES THAT
SEEMINGLY COME OUT OF NOW WHERE AND ARE
RE-INGESTED BY THE SCULPTURAL FORMS FOR SOME
UNKNOWN OR KNOWN PURPOSE. EACH WORKSHOP
VIGNETTE FOCUSES ON THESE ONGOING TULPOIDAL

MAN-INGESTATIONS……