HEAT SINK by Nathan Butler

Fellow OPENPORT festival curator and friend, Nathan Butler, created a fantastic installation and time-based performance at the MCA for the 12X12 Series. I had the opportunity to participate in the actual install of the heaters and video tracking system. It was a great experience and once again is a lesson in having the right tools makes all the difference.

Nathan’s Description of the work:

Heat Sink is a method of accumulating, recording, and translating the bodily presence of a performer over time. The gestures, translated from one medium into another - from live performance to video, from video to a computer program, from a computer program to an electronic circuit, from an electronic circuit into a space heater - explore how performance can be presented in multiple modes and serve as an instrument for a continued performance. In an era of high technology where live performance can be easily replaced by automated systems, Heat Sink explores not only the role and presence of the live performer but also how automated systems can extend the duration of a performance.