Flow is Vancouver's first photo/media-based permanent public art work. A daily Flow concept developed by Fiona Bowie and Sidney Fels, based on using various components, such as time of day and weather, partially influences the behaviour of how images in the work appear. A system custom-designed by Bowie and Sidney Fels with Morgan Hibbert allows figures shot at different times to appear as if they are simultaneously present with a core group of these figures or actors recurring in a manner that implicitly suggests they're part of a larger narrative. Over the course of the day and night, Flow shifts between live and constructed or theatrical tableaus. During the early morning and after dusk Flow presents as a continuously changing tableau in which hundreds of photographic portraits and landscapes, shot by Fiona Bowie over a number of years, are blended and projected onto a special projection material, switch glass. As viewers come close to the image, the switch glass causes portions of the imagery to disappear as the surface of the glass panels 'switch' from translucent to clear. The scenes in Flow change every two to four minutes. The transitions from one scene to another are so slow that the work has been described as having a dream-like or hallucinatory quality. Because the projection system constantly varies the scale of images (between life size and zoomed in), a particular shot of a particular character may vary from scene to scene, seemingly either fore-grounded or backgrounded. During daylight hours, Flow's dynamic glass projection surface creates viewing portals, framing details of the activity inside and outside. This provides individuals inside with shifting views and details of the street (these views change according to their proximity to the street) and passersby are able to view activity going on inside the building.
Credits:
- Developed Daily Flow concept (crows, weather): Fiona Bowie, Sidney Fels
- Initial daily flow concept: Fiona Bowie, Sidney Fels, with Rebecca Belmore
- Photography and moving image, locations: Fiona Bowie
- Image selection, Editing, Photography Post: Fiona Bowie
- Portrait/Character/friend Diegesis: Fiona Bowie
- System design: Sidney Fels, Fiona Bowie, Morgan Hibbert
- Coding: Morgan Hibbert and Sidney Fels
- Slow transitions, disappearing image/ switchglass concepts: Fiona Bowie
- Website concept: Fiona Bowie
- Website markup and design: Fiona Bowie
- Put words in our mouths archive: Kay Higgins
- Project and crew management: Fiona Bowie
- Live switchglass execution and cam: Sidney Fels, Morgan Hibbert