Looking At: Looking Into is an upcoming series of short motion pictures on the subject of Mediated Voyeurism. Mediated Voyeurism is the act of consuming voyeuristic content through means of a 3^rd party, most typically through a mass media outlet such as: television, radio, newsprint or internet. The films will be presented within hand-crafted Mutoscopes, a primitive exhibition device popular before the advent of the film-projector. Mutoscopes are essentially a box with a ‘peep hole’ attached. A viewer looks into the device and turns a crank which animates a  motion-picture. Looking At: Looking Into will paint a typical portrait of Mediated Voyeurism from today’s media. The viewer will look at these shorts and instantly recognize them as familiar, something they see everyday and are likely complacent with. The film’s presentation within a Mutoscope greatly amplifies its already voyeuristic nature, because of the divergent formal properties Mutoscopes have over traditional media systems. Mutoscopes require the viewer to be an active and willing participant in the content they are consuming, by choosing to look into the ‘Peep Hole’ the viewer is committing themselves to a voyeuristic act, and by turning the crank the viewer is actively engaging with the content inside. By making the viewer an active participant in the voyeuristic content they are watching, I am inciting the viewer to be accountable for the content they are consuming. This makes Looking At: Looking Into a commentary on the viewers complacency with Mediated Voyeurism. It is my hope that the combination of voyeuristic content and a participatory means of consumption causes the viewer to reflect on their role in the proliferation of Mediated Voyeurism, and maybe re-examine it.

BLUE HANDS IS A SERIES OF 6 SHORT EXPERIMENTAL FILMS PRINTED BY HAND USING AND ANTIQUE PHOTOCHEMICAL PROCESS KNOWN AS THE CYANOTYPE. THE FILM IS ANTIQUARIAN IN NATURE AND HARKENS BACK TO A TIME WHEN CINEMA WAS VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT HAS BECAME TODAY. THE 6 FILMS MIMIC A STYLE OF FILM KNOWN AS ‘ACTUALITY FILMS’ A BODY OF WORK SPANNING 25 YEARS BEGINNING IN THE 1890′S IN WHICH FILM WAS A SIMPLE DOCUMENT OF THE WORLD AROUND US AND NOTHING MORE. BLUE HANDS IS SIMILARLY SIMPLISTIC IN IT’S REPRESENTATION OF CRAFT PERSONS PREFORMING THEIR PARTICULAR CRAFT WORK. THE REPRESENTED ARTIST REFLECTS MY OWN CRAFT WORK AS I SEE THE APPLICATION AND PRINTING OF EACH OF THE 11,000 CYANOTYPES TO BE AN EXERCISE OF CRAFT (IN RELATION TO FILM-MAKING). IN TOTAL THE 6 FILMS SPAN 4 YEARS OF WORK BEGINNING IN 2008 AND ENDING IN 2012. BLUE HANDS WAS PRODUCED THROUGH A 2010 EMERGING ARTIST PRODUCTION GRANT FROM JEROME FOUNDATION.