Cat Ashworth | Recent Work: Imprint

Producer: Cathleen Ashworth
Director: Cathleen Ashworth
Length: Interactive - total length 12 minutes
Production Format: DV, 16mm, hand drawn animation (paint on glass)
Genre: Video Art Installation
Completion Date: 2001

IMPRINT, a video installation by Cat Ashworth, consists of a carved wooden table with built in audio/video display. Two handprints are carved on the top of the table, each finger on the handprint has an electronic sensor that activates the video display. There are ten selections (each 1-2 minutes in length), that correspond to each finger button. If the viewer does not want to watch the entire section, the viewer can just press a different finger selection. Through the interactivity of the display, the viewer can construct their own version of the story of Imprint. The content of all ten video sections are interrelated and overlap.

IMPRINT is an ancestral altar, an attempt to electronically activate the spirits of my ancestors and engage them in protecting my daughter from harm and the horrors that humans inflict on each other. Each button activates a densely layered video/audio collage that represents one of my ancestors. Each of the ancestors represented tell their story of survival and perseverance during many of the 20 th century's greatest horrors. The images consist of family photos and films, historical archival films, recently shot film and video, and painterly animations. All of these images work together to distill the essence of my ancestors, what they have imprinted on me, and what I will imprint upon my daughter. Although the theme of IMPRINT is personal family history, the subject matter of family, protecting your child from harm, and the power of memory are universal.

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Cat Ashworth > Recent Work > Imprint
	Producer: Cathleen Ashworth Director: Cathleen Ashworth Length: Interactive - total length 12 minutes Production Format: DV, 16mm, hand drawn animation (paint on glass) Genre: Video Art Installation Completion Date: 2001 IMPRINT, a video installation by Cat Ashworth, consists of a carved wooden table with built in audio/video display. Two handprints are carved on the top of the table, each finger on the handprint has an electronic sensor that activates the video display. There are ten selections (each 1-2 minutes in length), that correspond to each finger button. If the viewer does not want to watch the entire section, the viewer can just press a different finger selection. Through the interactivity of the display, the viewer can construct their own version of the story of Imprint. The content of all ten video sections are interrelated and overlap. *IMPRINT* is an ancestral altar, an attempt to electronically activate the spirits of my ancestors and engage them in protecting my daughter from harm and the horrors that humans inflict on each other. Each button activates a densely layered video/audio collage that represents one of my ancestors. Each of the ancestors represented tell their story of survival and perseverance during many of the 20 th century's greatest horrors. The images consist of family photos and films, historical archival films, recently shot film and video, and painterly animations. All of these images work together to distill the essence of my ancestors, what they have imprinted on me, and what I will imprint upon my daughter. Although the theme of *IMPRINT* is personal family history, the subject matter of family, protecting your child from harm, and the power of memory are universal. << Back to Recent Work	VIDEO CLIPS Wait and A Solution Will Come (Quicktime, 9.4 MB) SCREENINGS October 16 - November 17, 2001: Visual Studies Workshop, Gallery 31, Rochester, NY; two-person show, video installation, in conjunction with the High Falls Film Festival.
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