Presented by Ed Video Media Arts Centre’s Analog Mayhem
Never Not Nothing c/o: Tasman Richardson.
Live Performance:
Thursday, November 19th 2026 @ 7PM
Free Admission
SAW Centre — 67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, ON K1N 6E2
Two works of live audiovisual performance push obsolete video technology past its limits, turning malfunction and feedback into image and sound drawn from the same source. Never Not Nothing (6 min) repurposes analog video feedback from obsolete tech, using RCA splitting, duplication, and audio rerouting so the video literally sounds like it looks; the captured feedback is sliced into tones, textures, and pulses, MIDI triggered and composited live into complex expression pulled from nothing.
A Line Has Two Sides (18 min) weans power from an Atari 2600 to generate an endless stream of glitches, catalogued into playable video drum machines; the audiovisual triptych, MIDI triggered and composited live, rushes the audience with hundreds of clips in a pulsating wall of visual music made entirely from its own source sound, a signature of the JAWA method Richardson developed in 1996. “Scrambled and scratched into virtuoso techno-Pollocks.” — Catherine Elwes, Video Art: A Guided Tour
Artist Talk & Workshop:
Friday, November 20th 2026 | 1-3PM
Free admission, but prior registration is required.
Register HERE
SAW Centre — 67 Nicholas St, Ottawa, ON K1N 6E2
Richardson defines video’s essence and then offers two paths, video life or video death. Comparisons and demonstrations will include sampled cinema vs. generated noise, and capturing memories vs. harvesting glitches. He extends this to analog error versus digital stability, and ultimately to human possibility versus AI predictability, an end of time feeding on the past, or a collaboration with failure for an evolving future. “His investigation of images tests the limits of our cultural and perceptual boundaries, which he breaks apart and reconfigures with disturbing precision.” — David Jager, NOW magazine
Afterwards, the audience will be invited to move from spectators to participants in a hands-on exploration of analog video synthesis. Community members can sign up for guided sessions using Ed Video’s analog equipment, learning to generate and manipulate video signals by mixing live inputs, feedback and textures to create evolving visuals. With support from Richardson and Ed Video’s Technical Director, participants will experiment with tactile systems that respond in real time, discovering how images can be shaped through play and improvisation. The results will be projected at large scale, transforming the space into a collective, ever-changing exhibition of community-generated work. The workshop demystifies specialized technologies while giving participants direct access to tools rarely available outside professional media arts facilities.
Tasman Richardson is a cultural composite, making cultural composites. His practice spans video art, immersive installation, and live a/v performance. He established himself by pioneering his cut-up method “JAWA” in 1996, and co-founding the FAMEFAME arts collective and Videodrome international a/v tournament. Richardson critically examines “contemporary necromancy”, “voluntary surveillance”, and video as “a soul without a body”. His large-scale installations include Necropolis (MOCCA 2012, Karsh-Masson 2015) and Kali Yuga (Arsenal Contemporary 2019, 2020). More recent works investigate social silos and class war. His collected observations spanning two decades are published by Impulse(b) in his book “Objects In Mirror”, launched in Toronto, Berlin, and Izmir (2023). His work is held by the National Gallery of Canada.
Analog Mayhem is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts through the Arts Across Canada and Abroad program.