Downgrade explores the relationship between connection and control, questioning the meaning of both in the face of a temporal existence.  It is an exploration of self through systems and processes, both external and internal.  Using outmoded digital tactile installations, I allow the viewer a personal glimpse inside myself as I translate experiences living with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (while also navigating life through a myriad of other systems). This is exemplified through a series of audio/video pieces that reflect on different facets of these processes and systems in which I exist.

The exhibition will feature four installations and one separate video piece. 

Four CRT TV monitors will be purchased (or rented from Video Pool).  Four handheld gaming devices will be provided, with two placed out for display and interaction while the other two charge (rotating daily).  One Nintendo Entertainment System will be provided (each game was created with a licenced program).  All audio equipment will also be provided.  Seating will be needed for each installation, as well as two pairs of headphones with AUX connection. A projector will also be required if 5 Minutes of my Time is played in the gallery space.

Proposed Work

Bit Memories

An 8-piece video game series that explores isolation, depression, anxiety, grief, and trauma.  The series of cartridge-based games are played on the original Nintendo Entertainment System and a CRT TV.  Each game is playable by one player where the goal of each is to ultimately escape the systems that trap and confine you. 

Portals

Portals is an audio/visual conversation about control, exposure, performance, and memory.  Viewer A watches VHS cassette footage of collected memories on a CRT TV while Viewer B person, from another TV out of view, is able to watch person A.  They are also able to control what plays on the other TV by controlling the VCR.  They, however, cannot see what is playing, they can only see viewer A.  The viewers become connected through this process yet remain separated through physical space.

Downgraded

Downgraded is a video series, consisting of 10 videos which have been created simulating the pixelated visual style found in early 90’s PC games.  They are viewed on handheld gaming devices (along with headphones) in a corner of the gallery where visitors can sit comfortably.  The portability and isolated experience are meant as a way to drown out external noise and create a focused and personal space.  The videos represent a composite of internal processes and reactions to a multitude of different environments.

Translator

An audio/visual demonstration of how social environments effect internal processes, Translator reworks external noises, creating new indecipherable sounds that intensify as more people occupy the space.  The loss of understanding through the translation is reflective of my process of internalizing social spaces and interactions.  The translation process is visualized on a CRT TV that produces a spectrometer-like graphic.

5 Minutes of my Time

Detailing my emotional and thought processes as a neuro divergent (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder), 5 Minutes of my Time reflects on memory and relationships while navigating four seasons in the 40^th year of my life.  Video documentation began in October and will conclude on my 41^st birthday.  The video will also contain archive VHS footage from my childhood.  Since each installation involves sound in some way, there is a contingency of displaying the video off-site running concurrently with the exhibition or presented as a single-night event. The video can either be shown in the exhibition space or a separate site as an event which runs in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition.

© Timothy Brown 2025