(a)
(b)
(c) Gilbertto Prado, La vendeuse de fer à repasser (Iron saleswoman), 21 x 83 cm, 1991. (a) Top fragment. (b) Middle fragment. (c) Bottom fragment. ______________________________________________________________________________ The images reproduced here are part of a series entitled telescanfax. The process consists of hand-scanning broadcast television images, then transmitting them in real time to other places. To accomplish this I employed a fax-modem card installed in a personal computer. In this process the movement of the original television images is decomposed and the sequential frames go through a series of transformations. Exploring the image-formation differences between the hand scanner (digital) and the television set (analog), I was able to create images that are decomposed and nebulous. These images reveal the scan lines more than the source pictures. The stripes contribute to undo the realism of the source pictures at the same time that they help create new and mysterious forms. The stripes act as a random filter that leaves traces of what happened at the moment of creation and transmission. These images are at the limit of visibility. In this sense, they are more interesting than the source pictures. These new images destabilize our gaze and challenge our imagination. Instead of reinforcing the commodified character of television images, I emptied these images from their appearance and charged them with a strange inquietude. They are at the same time familiar and banal, subtle and mysterious. The first telescanfax images, La vendeuse de fer à repasser (Iron saleswoman), were transmitted from Paris, France, on 13 August 1991. The images were faxed in the context of the electronic art exhibition Luz Elástica (Elastic Light), curated by Eduardo Kac for the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. Some of these images were later sent to other exhibitions. In some cases, the images were scanned live and the transmission took place in real time. The image received by distant collaborators was a transformation of what was on French television at that moment. I also created a series of images using this process and stored them in the computer's hard drive for later transmission. Gilbertto Prado Rua Girassol, 488, Apt. 94 São Paulo, SP, 05433-001 Brazil E-mail: gprado@exatas.pucsp.br
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