Live Audio-Visual Art + First Nations Culture
Abstract
This essay focuses on a selection of First Nations artists that have envisioned their own unique style within the sphere of ”˜Live Cinema’ performance, and other associated genres such as ”˜Vjing’ and ”˜Scratch Video’ – relatively new forms of artistic practice that here I conceptualize as being modernized versions of our ancient traditions of storytelling. Following a ”˜remix’ logic, this essay means to explore some aspects particular to the art of live audiovisual performance, and the ”˜rhythmic’ aesthetic at the heart of Live Cinema that has attracted a number of artists from my generation to make work in these fields, and develop their own strategies for creative expression that remain faithful to our traditions as Onkwehonwe (Indigenous peoples). [1]
- Onkwehonwe, a Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) word meaning ”˜original people.’