(a)


				

				(b)


				

				(c)

			Gilbertto Prado, La vendeuse de fer à repasser
			(Iron saleswoman), 21 x 83 cm, 1991. (a) Top fragment.
			(b) Middle fragment. (c) Bottom fragment.


______________________________________________________________________________




					The images reproduced here are
					part of a series entitled
					telescanfax. The process consists
					of hand-scanning broadcast
					television images, then
					transmitting them in real
					time to other places. To accomplish
	this I employed a fax-modem card installed in a personal computer.
	In this process the movement of the original television images is
	decomposed and the sequential frames go through a series of
	transformations. Exploring the image-formation differences between
	the hand scanner (digital) and the television set (analog), I was
	able to create images that are decomposed and nebulous. These
	images reveal the scan lines more than the source pictures. The
	stripes contribute to undo the realism of the source pictures at
	the same time that they help create new and mysterious forms. The
	stripes act as a random filter that leaves traces of what happened
	at the moment of creation and transmission.

	These images are at the limit of visibility. In this sense, they
	are more interesting than the source pictures. These new images
	destabilize our gaze and challenge our imagination. Instead of
	reinforcing the commodified character of television images, I
	emptied these images from their appearance and charged them with
	a strange inquietude. They are at the same time familiar and
	banal, subtle and mysterious.

	The first telescanfax images, La vendeuse de fer à repasser
	(Iron saleswoman), were transmitted from Paris, France, on 13 August
	1991. The images were faxed in the context of the electronic
	art exhibition Luz Elástica (Elastic Light), curated by Eduardo
	Kac for the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. Some of these
	images were later sent to other exhibitions. In some cases, the
	images were scanned live and the transmission took place in real
	time. The image received by distant collaborators was a
	transformation of what was on French television at that moment.
	I also created a series of images using this process and stored
	them in the computer's hard drive for later transmission. 



					Gilbertto Prado
					Rua Girassol, 488, Apt. 94
					São Paulo, SP, 05433-001
					Brazil

					E-mail: gprado@exatas.pucsp.br







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