ARTIFACT (circa 2006)

THE FUTURE OF THE PAST
Consider a world where all human communications are represented by numbers, a digital world. Imagine a future archaeologist finding a DV cassette from many 100s of years previous (real found footage, full length and uncut).
Imagine trying to decode this ancient digital object, codecs unknown, obsolete, hardware long lost.

Crack the code? Algorithms scan raw data, reference imagebanks, repair bitrot, reconstruct the artifact. Is the result authentic, or, fiction?

Just before iPhone and Facebook, 2006, the dawn of
self-by-numbers, digitized identity.
What human fragments, fugitive narratives, remain?
What will the algorithms decide?

ARTIFACT (circa 2006)
The archaeology of Identity.

  • Kirk Tougas
    Director
    Letters from Vancouver (1973) / the politics of perception / the framing of perception / Did you used to be R.D. Laing? / Return to Departure: the Biography of a Painting or Watching Pigment Dry and Other Realisms / the medium is the message
  • does not apply
    Writer
  • Kirk Tougas
    Producer
    (as above)
  • does not apply
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Other
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 4 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 27, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    200 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    dv
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4x3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • image.vancouver@gmail.com
    Country: Canada
    Rights: All Rights
  • LightCone Paris, France
    Country: France
    Rights: Video on Demand, Theatrical, Video / Disc
  • CFMDC Toronto, Canada
  • Canyon Cinema, San Fransico, USA
    Distributor
    Country: United States
Director Biography - Kirk Tougas

Kirk Tougas is a noted experimental film artist, director of photography, producer, director, curator, founder of the Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver, Canada, and Canadian Academy Award nominee.

Creator of numerous experimental films, he has been variously described as a structural or conceptual artist. His experimental and personal films have broadly pursued three themes: the inherent nature of the film medium (and later the digital video medium) and its message; portraiture and self-imaging as a human phenomenon from cave walls to the Selfie; and the poetics of a medium composed of image, sound and time.
He is best known for THE POLITICS OF PERCEPTION and THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE which along with his other works have been distinguished with screenings and installations in museums, universities, art schools, art galleries, biennales and film/video festivals. Among the more notable international exhibitions:
ECRA6 - Museu de Arte Moderna - Rio de Janeiro
25th FESTIVAL INT’L DE VIDEOPOESIA, Buenos Aires
CINEMATEKET, Oslo
LIGHT INDUSTRY, Brooklyn, NY
PANTALLA ROTA: APOCALIPSIS TECNOCRATICO, Buenos Aires
SPLIT VIDEOART FESTIVAL, Split, Croatia
BESIDES THE SCREEN, Porto, Portugal
CINEINFINITO #118, Santander, Spain
65th OBERHAUSEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Germany
FRACTO, Berlin
EXPERIMENTADESIGN, Lisbon, Portugal
SYROS INT’L FILM FESTIVAL, Greece
TOKYO METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY
YEBISU INT’L FESTIVAL FOR ART & ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, Japan
MUSEE JEU DE PAUME, Paris
ECOLE DE BEAUX-ARTS, Bordeaux, France
MYKONOS BIENNALE, Greece
ECOLE NATIONALE SUPERIEURE DE CREATION INDUSTRIELLE, Paris
MUSEO DE BELLAS ARTES DE BILBAO, Spain
CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, Paris
CINEMATHEQUE QUEBECOISE, Montreal
THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, London, England
VANCOUVER ART GALLERY, PACIFIC CINEMATHEQUE, “The Impossible Self”.
FESTIVAL OF FILMS ON ART, Montreal
AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL, New York
11eme FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM D'ART, UNESCO,
CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU, Paris
CINETECA NAZIONALE, Rome
ECOLE SUPERIEURE DES BEAUX ART DE GENEVE, Switzerland
MK2 TV, Paris
FILMOTECA ESPANOLA, Madrid, Barcelona
CINEMA DU REEL, Paris
6th VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
41st EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Scotland
OREGON ART INSTITUTE, Portland
EMILY CARR COLLEGE OF ART, Vancouver
NATIONAL FILM WEEK, Canada
"ELECTRA - LES PLASTICIENS DE LA LUMIERE",
MUSEE D'ART MODERN DE LA VILLE DE PARIS
VANCOUVER ART GALLERY, "Art & Artists, 1931-1983"
FESTIVAL D'AVIGNON, France
SHERIDAN COLLEGE OF APPLIED ARTS & TECHNOLOGY, Ontario
XI BIENNALE D'ART MODERNE, CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU
& MUSEE D'ART MODERNE DE LA VILLE DE PARIS
ECOLE DES BEAUX ARTS, Tours, France
LA CINEMATHEQUE FRANCAISE, Paris
GRIERSON FILM SEMINAR, Ontario
MAISON DES BEAUX ARTS, Paris
MUSEE d'ART MODERNE, “CANADA TRAJECTOIRES”, Paris
7th BELLEVUE FILM FESTIVAL, Washington
10th ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL, Michigan

He is the founder of Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver, Canada and Creative/Executive Director for nine years. As a director of photography, producer or director, he is responsible for over 250 documentaries of social, cultural, political and anthropological content, films that have received prizes and accolades from over 50 major festivals.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

THE FUTURE OF THE PAST
Consider a world where all human communications are represented by numbers, a digital world. Imagine a future archaeologist finding a DV cassette from many 100s of years previous (real found footage, full length and uncut).

Imagine trying to decode this ancient digital object, codecs unknown, obsolete, hardware long lost.

Crack the code? Algorithms scan raw data, reference imagebanks, repair bitrot, reconstruct the artifact. Is the result authentic, or fiction?

Just before iPhone and Facebook, 2006, the dawn of self-by-numbers, digitized identity. What human fragments, fugitive narratives, remain? What will the algorithms decide?

ARTIFACT (circa 2006)
The archaeology of Identity.