serial consign

[jackson 2bears / performance of iron tomahawks / 2007-2008]

Vague Terrain is thrilled to announce the launch of our most recent issue, Vague Terrain 09: Rise of the VJ. This issue is guest curated by Saskatoon-based VJ/artist Carrie Gates and consolidates a diverse selection of video and theory. An excerpt from Carrie's statement encapsulates her excitement about the possibilities offered by performative video:

The diversity of the concepts, techniques, and aesthetic qualities is remarkable, suggesting that this practice is not rooted in any one particular mindset, but instead, emerges from a wide range of trajectories that are converging within a contemporary form of media based performance art. However, live video mixing performances certainly address a hunger for immersive and synaesthetic sensory experiences where aural and visual elements work together to create a whole that is something beyond the sum of the parts. To experience the live performance of a talented VJ (or live cinema artist, if you prefer) alongside the talent of an innovative sound artist is a treat indeed; the senses are enveloped and the mind is tantalized into a world being spun into existence on the spot.

With this enthusiastic statement she introduces the largest, most international body of work we've presented in a Vague Terrain issue yet.

[defasten / screen capture from untitled #2 (01.20.48_d) / 2008]

Vague Terrain 09: Rise of the VJ contributors include: Ana Carvalho, Kelly Bolen & Jake Hardy, Defasten, Francis Theberge, Jackson 2bears, Lara Houston, Leeane Berger, Michael Betancourt, Mo Selle, Neubau & Kero, Ryan Stec, Tim Jaeger, VJ Pillow & VJ Mademoiselle, VJzoo and Chrism & Fenris, Xárene Eskandar and Ziv Lazar. The issue also features interviews with Jaygo Bloom and Solu by way of Michelle Kasprzak and Peter Kirn.

Please take some time to check out the issue for yourself as Carrie has brought together a wide body of work from artists the world over.