Artifact Institute

Service 1: Consultation provided to assist individuals in determining what to do with their electronic equipment

 

May 4 -May 27

Opening reception : Saturday May 5th, 5pm

Exhibition: May 4th to May 27th

 

As part of International Digital Arts Biennial organised by Elektra (ACREQ) and of OFFTA

 

The Artifact Institute will establish a temporary facility at articule where its personnel will provide free public consultations. These consultations aim to help participating individuals determine what to do with electronic equipment that is broken, malfunctioning, or perceived to be obsolete.

 

Participants are invited to bring their electronic equipment to the facility during regular gallery hours. Equipment may be in any condition or of any type. Examples include televisions and monitors, computers and peripherals, cellular telephones and handheld devices, audio and video equipment, and domestic appliances. Artifact Institute personnel will examine, assess, and evaluate the equipment, facilitate participants in an exploration of the relationships they have with it, and provide a context for considering the production, consumption, use, repair, and disposal of technological artifacts from a variety of perspectives. Artifact Institute personnel will then propose courses of action that participants may wish to take with their equipment. For example, the Artifact Institute may service or repair the equipment, provide referrals to other facilities such as repair shops or recycling depots, or effectuate the disposal or redistribution of unwanted equipment.

 

To accommodate individuals who are unable to visit the temporary facility in person, an online questionnaire will also be available. In addition, a series of public discussion events will explore ideas of technological progress, obsolescence, and waste as they relate to changing values ascribed to artifacts.

 

 

 

The Artifact Institute was founded in 2007 by Tim Dallett and Adam Kelly to study and intervene in the processes by which artifacts undergo changes in use, value, and meaning. To fulfill this mandate, the Artifact Institute conducts research, acquires and collects artifacts, provides technical services, creates exhibits and displays, makes public presentations, and produces and disseminates publications. The Artifact Institute uses artistic, institutional, and activist methods and practices to address the relationship of artifacts to their aesthetic, technical, and social contexts.

 

 

Artifact Institute founders

Tim Dallett is an artist, project manager, and consultant. He studied art history at the University of Toronto and architecture at Carleton University before receiving an MFA in Fine and Media Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD). Dallett has presented his media installation and performance work at festivals and artist-run centres in Canada and in Finland. In parallel with his art practice, he has worked as a manager, curator, artistic director, writer, publication editor, and technician for artist-run organizations and media arts centres across Canada. Dallett currently assists arts organizations with facility design and construction projects. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

 

Adam Kelly is an artist, technician, programmer, educator, and community activist. He received a BFA from NSCAD and an electronics technician diploma from the Nova Scotia Community College. Kelly was involved with the Halifax chapter of Food Not Bombs for over a decade. He was a founding member of the Halifax Scavenger Society, a loosely knit group engaged in various activities surrounding the practice of urban scavenging. He also introduced and developed the Electronics Lab at the Centre for Art Tapes, the first free and open space in Halifax for people to learn about electronics and work on electronics-based projects. Kelly is currently the broadcast technician for CKDU-FM, Dalhousie University's campus and community radio station, and an instructor at NSCAD in electronics, mechanics, and programming. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

 

The Artifact Institute acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $154 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.

 

Articule on the exhibition featured in Le Devoir:

http://www.ledevoir.com/culture/actualites-culturelles/349177/apportez-votre-commodore-64#partager

 

Image : Tim Dallett and Adam Kelly, Investigation 1 : Electronic equipment discarded by arts and cultural organizations in the Halifax Regional Municipality, 2011