Rockstar

description

Canines primarily investigate the world through scent-perception. Human noses have six million scent receptor sites, while dog noses have about three hundred million. Dogs have more genes for coding olfactory cells, more olfactory cells, and the receptors in the nose  connect directly to olfactory bulbs. This combination of more and differing types, and quicker connections, affords dogs an estimated million times more sensitivity to scent than humans.

Dogs love to travel with their head out the window of a moving car. They experience a rush of scent. Perhaps this pleasurable act can be compared to a human visual psychedelic experience. In Rockstar, Tom is portrayed close up as he travels and sniffs in this way. The visual effects and soundscape form a semblance of his perceptual and emotional experience. The soundtrack is produced from studio recordings of Tom’s vocals and from the engine of the car he traveled in.

Shown at:

• 2013 “Beyond Human: Artist – Animal Collaborations“, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.
• 2013 screening: “our animal others”, Fabulous Festival of Fringe Film, Durham, Ontario
• 2012 “performance, platform. body affects”,  Sophiensaele, Berlin
• 2010 “passages”,  Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada

Production Team:

Julie Andreyev: video and soundscape
Tom: concept, actor, vocals
Simon Lysander Overstall: sound studio recording
Masayo Takada: cinematography
Hao Ting Mai: Research Assistant

Supported by: Intersections Digital Studios, Emily Carr University of Art + Design