Primera Edición - 1999

Segunda Edición - 2003

Tercera Edición - 2004

Cuarta Edición - 2005

:: País, Ciudad: EEUU / Raleigh, Carolina del Norte 

Overview
The Borderline Series is an outgrowth of my interests in photography and other kinds of visual information such as maps, charts and graphs.

I was trained as a photographer. One of the biggest contradictions in photography is the assumption that traits of character can be known by outward appearance, that a photograph can ‘speak’ without the subject being present. Living in a global culture, we are increasingly asked to judge others by their ‘images’, in news media and other forms of ‘photography’.

The Borderline Series is an attempt to engage viewers in becoming self aware about the construction of stereotypes. Some of the interactive work is more subtle, while other interactive pieces are more specific (such as asking for a viewers participation in charting (anonymously) their route into the United States and relating their specific story).

The Borderline Series is an ongoing project, the first piece developed in 2002 for exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art in Prague, Czech Republic. In the Czech/English version, ‘border crossings’ took on a totally different story and meaning, embedded in the recent history of political exiles from the Czech Republic prior to 1989. The series has recently been developed into a Spanish/English version (recently installed in Milwaukee), more relevant to the issues of ‘border crossing’ and re-crossing in the United States.

The Borderline series is about the general world-wide issue of immigration, and also in a broader sense how we include or exclude people from what we consider to be ‘our’ culture. The various interactive pieces of the Borderline series may be shown simultaneously on the web and as part of an installation in the gallery, or as an archive.

Descriptions of projections/pieces:

1. Borderline Stories

Borderline Stories has three stories. After the viewer reads the story, they can respond with the following information: what country or region they are from, who they think is the subject of the story, and they may add any comments. This information becomes part of the Borderline Stories site. Responses are added three times a week over the course of the exhibition. Different areas of the globe get larger based on where people say they are from. The character that is displayed is based on the majority of responses at that time. This changes over time. The person who looks at the responses can think openly about the two pieces of information: of who is looking and who is being imagined in stories where people have unequal relationships on a border. As this information evolves over the course of the installation, viewers online and in the physical space may watch the interpretations change. The visitor may read and add to archived text responses. The relationship between who appears to be dictating a particular interpretation of the character (based on the visualizations of countries or regions becoming larger or smaller) becomes the basis for text responses articulating why the stereotype exists.

2. Border Translations

Borderline Translations relates a story about being in a crowd where one does not speak the same language. It in part uses a text from Carlos Fuentes, and then juxtaposes another self-authored text that relates a specific personal anecdote. This piece allows the viewer to move back and forth from one version that is in Spanish to another that is in English.

Physical installation

Each ‘piece’ is shown simultaneously online and in the gallery space. The piece is projected onto a wall or large screen using a digital projector connected to a laptop. This equipment is contained in a small box. Adjacent to the equipment is a pedestal that has a mouse, and in some cases a mouse with a keyboard for text input. All equipment is contained and is secure.

The projection can measure between 6’ to 15’ wide depending on the distance of the projector from the projection surface. The projectors are bright enough to allow normal illumination in the space. When installed, the projector and computer are turned on and off with one button, automatically starting the interactive piece playing. Electrical power to the equipment box is hidden using flexible wire duct (used in offices to run extension cords). Installation has been done in the past by gallery personnel, or by myself. The pieces that use information from the online audience can be shown “offline”, using previously collected data, or if an online connection is available information can be added to the pieces during the course of the exhibition.

Scott Townsend is an Associate Professor in the Department of Graphic Design, North Carolina State University, where he teaches New Media, photography, and graphic design. His research in general focuses on the intersections between the individual and the community; of issues of personal identity and history, and the use of narrative and imagery. His work is divided between academically based research and electronically based installation art, and other hybrid projects between different media and disciplines. In the last twelve years, he has exhibited in over 60 national and international group and solo exhibitions in the Czech Republic, Havana, Mexico City/Tijuana, Edmonton, Berlin, Hamburg, New York, and Chicago. He has created visual projects and authored writings for such journals and publications as Zed, Contact Sheet (Light Work), Statements, Brujula, Art Papers, Rethinking Marxism, Visual Communication, Design Issues, and is part of a forthcoming book from the EAD (Techne, Design Wisdom). He has also been a featured presenter at Politics and Languages of Contemporary Marxism in the United States, Visions Plus 2 and 3 sponsored by UNESCO in Austria, the University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland, the Center for 21st Century Studies, etc. He most recently was artist-in residence at the Foundation for Contemporary Art, Prague (2002), Lightwork (summer 2004) and Visual Studies Workshop (as part of an installation project) May 2005.