Tilt [at Windmills]

Curated by Mirjami Schuppert, Tilt [at Windmills] features newly produced work by Jarkko Räsänen, with Fionnuala Doran, Paul Moore and Robin Price. The works in the exhibition examine and respond to the UTV archive, which is currently digitised by Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive.

Through the works in the exhibition, Jarkko Räsänen has embarked on his personal battle against perceived problems and injustices; he goes on an offence against surveillance apparatuses and their use of AI, and a blind trust and glorification of technology, fights for animal rights highlighting violent culture. He examines old footage with the help of technology, stepping away from the content- focused approach that historians mostly use when researching archives. Given the large amount of footage available in the UTV archive, the artist has developed different methods to analyse the material, giving the exhibition distinct directions and various starting points. However, Jarkko is sceptical of any technology, not only old methods, but the ubiquitous algorithms, artificial intelligence, etc. that are currently often considered as superior to any old technologies. His interest in the technologies of different decades makes him curious of the potential of outdated modes and models such as Teletext, its connection to the TV magazine, and its adaptation into the use for other purposes.

Material from the archive is crypted with algorithms the artist has created to be transmitted in cyber space for civilisations that are blind to realistic imagery. Algorithms are based on processes of slicing the image file into thin strips and reorganising them according to simple mathematical rules (and also with some slightly stranger mutations of that). The process takes the viewer on a metaphysical journey through the video files’ structures.

Ulster Television was the first commercial television operator on the island of Ireland and UTV archive contains footage from the late 1950s until recent years when it was acquired by ITV. In the film reels and tapes, the turbulent past of Northern Ireland is recorded, but also the happier memories that have become part of the shared past. TV once entered peoples’ homes and brought them the outside world, informing, entertaining and educating the viewers. Although the broadcasted material was mediated, motivated and at times biased, it provides a good glimpse into the mindsets and interests of the people consuming it. The collection also preserves the more mundane aspects of everyday life that may appear on the surface to be insignificant.

For Surveillance & Camouflage, Jarkko used all the footage from the NI Screen Archives that were categorised as “protest” material. The artist included all the original material without emphasising specific aspects of the content - they simply are a proof of what has been decided worth saving and cataloguing at a certain point of the digitisation process by the archivists.

The original footage has been driven through an AI that tries to recognise faces from the surroundings and detect different emotions. Additionally, the collage has been datamoshed, a technique that makes the scenes on video blend into each other in a dreamy way, often rendering “camouflages” over faces appearing on the original footage. The work intends to point out the arguably obvious fact that technology can be used to control, but also to break the rules (of realism).

Fionnuala Doran, Paul Moore and Robin Price are presenting new work using Teletext technology. Although it was an important source of information, and means of communication, in the pre-internet time, it is completely absent from the UTV archive. By inviting artists who grew up with the technology, and who have a strong local connection, the newly created fictive Teletext collection adapts historical references, and imagines a past that could have been captured by preserving Teletext. The limitations of the medium force the artists to communicate in a particular way, challenging them to find new ways of expressing their ideas and emphasising humour.

The project was commissioned by Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. Northern Ireland Screen actively seeks to involve artists in engaging with their digital archive and thus seeking new meanings of the material they house in it. These commissions are widely displayed for different audiences, both in Northern Ireland and internationally. Many of the artists previously engaging with the archive have been local, and coming in from a very different cultural background and lived experience makes it possible for Jarkko Räsänen to view the material from a new point of view, create unnoticed connections and draw unexpected conclusions.

You can view the Digital Film Archive and the original materials used in the exhibition here, and the UTV collection here.

As part of the exhibition Jarkko Räsänen and Raquel Meyers will deliver 'Hidden Signals', an online TeleText Workshop on Thursday 11 November 2021, 1 – 3pm. Order your free ticket through our online shop here.