Bio Alex Poruchnyk is an internationally-recognized video artist who has taught video for over fifteen years. His last feature length video was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has toured through the United States. Poruchnyk teaches at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. Works Falling 2013 Alex Poruchnyk “Falling” is an experimental documentary from Alex Poruchnyk’s ongoing project on 14 acres of treed land, beside Lake Winnipeg, titled “Floating and Falling.” “Through the process of filming the forest he began to see the forest as being about complex relationships often acted out between individuals (trees or other vegetation usually) and that reading the landscape is really about uncovering these relationships in time. “ Richard Perron Dock-Watch-Bay 2002 Alex Poruchnyk Weather vanes can be looked at for the promise of good weather and smooth sailing or with concern, Sailor take Warning. Open Room 1993 Alex Poruchnyk A video-audio environment in which the viewer is drawn by necessity into interacting with the piece. Ten Minutes to Show Time 1990 Alex Poruchnyk Alex Poruchnyk went on a pilgrimage in search of lost drive-ins. His quest took him throughout the Canadian west. What he found was a spirit - a spirit that keeps people on the land and surviving on the edge of extinction. 10 Minutes to Show Time melds together interviews, scripted re-creations, and computer animations with original intermission film segments. Face March 1984 Vern Hume, Alex Poruchnyk A grandmother spends one year gathering news coverage of war, thinking about a silent army. The results strip away all of broadcast television’s trappings. All we are left with are people in conflict, people in pain, people afraid for the future, leaders coming and going, and new leaders coming and going. Original soundtrack by Hume and Poruchnyk. The Cube 1984 Alex Poruchnyk This is a documentation of a sculptural performance installation mounted at Arthur St. Gallery in 1978. The culmination of a one-year preparation period involving study, weightlifting, yoga, and aerobics, this piece was a forerunner of contemporary endurance performances. Renovations 1983 Alex Poruchnyk Renovation follows an individual’s attempt to purchase and renovate a derelict house in downtown Winnipeg. Through a combination of still photographs and video footage, the tape casually explores the interior of the house and the community in which the house is located. Live Wire 1982 Alex Poruchnyk An exercise of choice in a system where the paradox is that you always have one. The problem of certain alternatives is only realized by people with their backs to the wall. The Man in the Box 1981 Alex Poruchnyk An endeavor to set up a communication that really matters. The man in the box tries to break down the distance from the viewer by becoming isolated in a concrete structure. The communication out is via camera to monitor mounted outside the concrete enclosure. The communication in is a microphone outside to an amplifier inside the box. Ultimately, the communication breaks down when water from the casting leaks into the enclosure and short-circuits the system. The audience witnesses a failure to c When I Was a Kid 1980 Alex Poruchnyk A child’s poem about time and space. A child closes its eyes, thinks about the world and tries to imagine if everything has been walked on. Are there any new ideas? Is everything known? The Chair 1979 Alex Poruchnyk Chained to a chair ... mouth taped over ... a key hangs before you. Who will act? Who will set you free? Who will take responsibility for your actions? The Last Flight 1979 Alex Poruchnyk Thinking of home? In this installation/performance, Poruchnyk builds an outdoor set of a metal airplane hull and seating. This bilingual piece investigates communication, work and the motions of work as a dance. The Proposal 1979 Alex Poruchnyk Who is up there? Who is at the top? This endeavor to move from one place to another was influenced by Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” in which a character travels through an unknown landscape.