as Quartet in Transit (Jack Michielsen & Teresa Tam)
Holidays are over. Feelings of vacation ebb away and regular life seems especially dreary. Everyday life returns to its mundane habits. Winter is around for a while longer and tax season is approaching. What remains from vacation are the photos taken and kept, captured moments, genuine or not, does not matter as much as having proof of performing being somewhere else. In vacation photos, we impose ourselves into landscapes, scenarios and body languages that tries to convince everyone that we look happy and have escaped routine. Though why go somewhere when you can fake it? To ease into the renewed daily grind, Stand-in Tourism (SiT) is a chance to imagine and share a happier place during a dreadful time. It is (will be) a new year and perhaps there are desires for a better future despite the antagonistic present day.
SiT is a greenscreen photo platform for people to be imposed onto scenes that depict imaginary vacation scenarios. The vacationer is required to answer short questions that indicate what kind of vacation they want to be keyed onto: Where would you like to be? Are you travelling alone or with other people? Why do you want to be on vacation? Their answers and how they pose in front of the greenscreen would determine what their vacation photo would look like.
A 4×6 photocard and digital copy is given to the vacationer at the end to keep and share, if they want.
Quartet in Transit (Q.i.T.) is a new media collective that examines the effects of digital interfaces with human bodies. We are interested in how human interactions with digital technology can reframe and re-imagine life. Past projects include Recover-Only-Memories for NEXT2015, Stand-in Tourism in IKGLIVE2, and Trial Mode Instant Vacations in EMMEDIA Particle + Wave Festival. Currently, Q.i.T. consists of Jack Michielsen and Teresa Tam.
Question form:
Select examples of vacations:
