UNTITLED 3 (a) + 3 (b) (as if) Beauty Never Ends. . .
JAYCE SALLOUM/VANCOUVER, BC
UNTITLED is a multichannel video installation continuing a series of projects addressing social and political realities and representations. The main monitor features excerpts from conversations with two elder Palestinians that have been living in refugee camps in Lebanon since the Nakbah of 1948. The second tape is projected on a monitor and surrounding walls, displaying a variety diagrammatic visual material and ambient sound, juxtaposed with images shot after the 1982 massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. The two images work together to create an elegiac response—directly, viscerally, and metaphorically— while commenting on the condition of a forced (and collective) permanent temporariness.

VIA LOS ANGELES
THE CHARM BRACELET/PORTLAND, OR
In January 1976, the Portland Center for Visual Arts presented VIA LOS ANGELES, an exhibition that showcased the work of six emerging Los Angeles artists. Among these was Chris Burden, an artist who'd gained notoriety for himself in the early ’70s with "actions" that included shooting himself with a .22 revolver, locking himself in locker for five days, and attempting to electrocute himself. Charm Bracelet’s web-based video piece/site documents what happened at PCVA and how a particular incident rippled its way through the Hollywood film community.

DIPTYCH: GRAVITATIONAL PULL VERSUS THE DESIRE FOR AN AQUATIC LIFE
CHRIS BENNETT/PORTLAND, OR
Two contrasting super-8 images create a play between monochrome and color, youth and age, serenity and synchronicity.

MARIE TYRELL
PAT “FLICK” HARRISON/VANCOUVER, BC
MARIE TYRELL is an interactive film recalling the life of a radical on death row through her psych report, her teenaged diaries, and letters from her lover. Though the narrative is only 20 minutes long, hours of supplementary materials are made available to the viewer by accessing the intricately designed DVD, exposing further character development, political expository information, and background on the making of this challenging piece.

WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE
STEPHEN SLAPPE/PORTLAND, OR
A presidential debate, a celebrity wedding, bad weather, a newly discovered solar system. . .all are given oddly weighted news coverage as viewers are chased endlessly through the airwaves. In a time of 24-hour news channels it is surprisingly difficult to glean meaningful, in-depth information. Originally created four years ago as a response to the increasingly blurring boundaries between entertainment and reality, Slappe’s installation will bear new meaning after updating just two days after the 2004 presidential election.