Smile: Formaggio con Queso

Smile: Formaggio con Queso
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Smile: Formaggio con Queso installation

An examination of 21st century travel, holiday memento and the pitfalls of not keeping a straight face. Smile: FconQ looked at the performance and ritual of the smiling process by documenting tourists documenting themselves around the relics and attractions of Europe.

Back in June 2004, over a two week period, seven European capital cities were visited in an attempt to investigate both tourism and the rituals of being a tourist. Central to the project was the capturing of the smiling process performed by tourists for the camera; that preparatory moment before and after the ‘cheese’ drops from the lips. Armed with a digital camcorder, minidisc recorder, still camera, pen and diary, a mass of material was captured and collated, edited and placed in a database for a digital installation that recreates the experience of almost being there.

The digital ‘materiality’ of this project comes from the documentation captured as part of a field trip; the transience of travelling in and around Europe exploring tourist performativity. From out of the material a database was constructed for a computer network which randomly selected the components of video, spoken word, soundtrack and ambience. Each component was one minute in length. Three computers contained the following amount of files:

PC1 – 100 soundtracks / 140 video
PC2 – 100 ambient / 140 video
PC3 – 100 spoken dialogues / 140 video

The work was a triptych of projection and surround-sound, with the sound formed from the three components moving independently around the space.

Single Screen Interaction and Public Participation

A kiosk was also created to include all the meta-data. This consisted of a single computer that contained all the installation files along with still images and texts written during and after the trip. The kiosk essentially allowed the public to ‘play’ with the components giving them the opportunity to explore different combinations reflexively. For most people the experience of each minute of sound and vision was the first and last time they experienced it. The installation piece was constantly changing and was never the same. The kiosk then allowed the public access to the whole database, including all the textual elements such as diaries, field notes and maps; it allowed the artistic process to become transparent.

The public was also encouraged to participate in the project by being invited to send the Gallery a holiday postcard containing an anecdote of their experience during an actual holiday. This anecdote was accompanied by a photograph of the sender performing their smile in situ. This material was added to the project. The public was also encouraged to respond to the work textually and this was also incorporated into the kiosk.


Photographic Exhibition (Lisa Kelly)

Accompanying the installation was a photographic exhibition of images from the fieldtrip; its process, the participants involved and artistic responses to each of the locations and spaces. These photographs were created by Lisa Kelly who was also the production manager during the trip. The exhibition amounted to approximately fifty framed photographs of varying sizes; from A4 to A0.