A teaser/test reel for a project we are developing based on the words and work of Professor Thomas De Zengotita.

Influenced by the media-inspired "culture of performance," we now live our lives as if we are performers practicing method acting. We go through the motions of expected reactions to everything from the 9/11 terrorist attacks to Princess Diana's death. The Internet, satellite television, and a host of technological products and services now give us the impression of participating in current and historical events to such an extent that we can barely distinguish the real from unreal.

In the 1920s, a group of surrealists invented a parlour game. Writing a word on a sheet, folding it and passing it on to the next person was the rule. The group created the sentence "The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine."

We've evolved this concept for the new media age. Basement Arts collective got together some of Toronto's cutting edge artists, designers and video artists to work on a one minute piece of video starting off with only one frame from the previous person's output.

The goal is to have a seamless and unified piece that is also eclectic, absurd and disparate. It is a collaborative process taping into a collective consciousness. It's also really f--king cool.

So come out to Basement's opening party to see more. Details can be found at:

basementarts.com