Plague and Locusts 2020: Sean Christopher Dwyer
- Ephemereye
- Jul 4, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 5, 2023
As video art is situated on the cusp of art and technology, it is not always easy to separate it from film making or performance. The fluid boundaries include an innumerable variety of short form moving image work from abstract visuals to fictional narratives with everything in-between. Responding to Ephemereye's artist call, Sean Dwyer, a Toronto artist, actor, and cinematographer, submitted his short Cell Block Cellar. Isolation Movie!!, a tongue-in-cheek armageddon sci-fi, that he created in his basement during the lockdown as a one man show. His narrative nevertheless resonates with the feeling of nearly complete isolation, a sense of split-personality, and the surreality of the pandemi
Cell Block Cellar. Isolation Movie!! Sean Christopher Dwyer, 2020
Sean has answered our questions about his work, life, personal and professional experience, and the pandemic.
SD: I'll try to keep it short, but... my life has been a constant struggle to concentrate and focus in on something, haha... I have always carried through to the end any project I have undertaken, but that being said I have afterwards jumped off to something else, perhaps completely different. Although there is a through line, that is for sure. From acting at age 11 in community theatre, to travelling, to learning and living in French, to trying out law studies, but mixing it in with indy film production, to ending up filming a ton of shows at the Montreal Fringe Festival and that leading to producing an artistic dance video, and during the pandemic moving from painting to acting to writing... and a whole heck of a lot of that taking place in the basement!
E. How did you get involved with video as an art medium? SD: Yah, I filmed the show of an amazing choreographer in the Fringe Festival and we decided to collaborate on a project afterwards. During that period, I was constantly involved in one project or another producing videos, editing and graphics for non-profits, research laboratories, a very sick child at one point... and even just straight up for the love of the art! E. How things has changed in during the pandemic, what about the work you make now, what preoccupies you most now, when compared to your previous dominant themes? SD: This pandemic pushed me through a few different phases. The other social upheavals that it brought up did, too. And even other aspects of my current experience and on and on... the main impulse has been not, as it looked like it might initially be, to push me towards finally "settling down", but rather just to give me an intense interest in economy, markets and investing, haha... which most definitely has an art to it as well. And allows me to otherwise delve full on and freely into art making. I also had just gotten back from a year in Japan (doing another form of video art you could say; a show called T2: 3-D that mixes video and live stunt performance in fact), and so I made a painting reflecting my experience over there. I am still finishing it up... and would love to find a way to get paintings out into the world as well! E. Are you finding these conditions very hard? Or is it a welcome break to be able to concentrate solely on work, rather than do other, money-making things? SD. Well, actually I ended up with a pretty solid-arse money-making thing, which actually I think is incredibly worthwhile and just wow I am so glad that the stars aligned to put me into this position. Without going into detail, it has to do with assessing compensation for stories coming out of the class action lawsuit concerning Indian Day Schools. So since last summer, I do that all day on the computer in my basement, and then each evening I hustle like crazy to advance various artistic projects. Internationally so! I am very happy with the developments, have kept extremely busy in my basement and look forward to getting away from the screen and keyboard; and to the voice and holographic interface! In fact, I'm writing a Sci-Fi book about it right now! E. Have you noticed a change in your tempo since Lockdown? Has your concentration intensified or fallen away? SD. I have to say intensified... I can hardly imagine going back to driving an hour or so to get to meetings and things... although I MISS WALKING and biking to things... have to find a balance somewhere in there... and I mean sheesh we're not going to be able to use any MORE HOURS IN THE DAY after this!! aiyay!! E. Is making work therapeutic or challenging nowadays? In difference to before. SD. Yah I would say as therapeutic as ever, even more so... like NECESSARY, more so than it was previously... could be my time of life as well, a certain boldness with age, or a desperation to get creation out there... frustration maybe even... but also during pandemic and in general a transition towards really appreciating the creative act and that being an evening's activity; really enjoying it and yes absolutely making the challenge of the experience very much a therapy. Like weaning yourself towards enjoying salad! Salad IS AWESOME!
Sun Can't Always Shine on Me. Sean Christopher Dwyer, 2020 E. Do you think being artists makes you more resilient in these times? Meaning that those who have regular jobs, salaries etc. are now stuck at home with very uncertain futures ahead, as you always have. SD. LOL, that's interesting... yes that could certainly be true... that initial reaction I had to settle down and buy a condo and kids and such... I'm glad I had my usual light, floaty bouncy style to get back to and be ready for whatever happens; and to realize that fundamentally it is not only a part of me, but a beloved aspect of my being. E. How do you think the role of the arts may change post-Lockdown? SD. I believe that the most significant impacts on art will be 5G, Articial Intelligence and Holograms. Things will change GINORMOUSLY... for example, theatre can be holographic (see zoom call theatre going projection into your living room), robots can do the bupkiss jobs, at least for a while, and humans can focus on innovation and art... yep, those are a few possibilities... and I feel like the pandemic is the last darkest moment of our past recent decades before popping out of the tunnel in a crazy new (yet and still nuanced, varied and challenging to be sure) world! E. Do you think this whole event will alter the way we engage with the world afterwards?
SD. Yes, but even what come next will keep changing and flowing forward, mixed in with ebbs... but even then again on a simpler level... restaurants will be less hands-on, less human-served, a lot of our online existence will not go away, sharing art around the WORLD instead of your local community will become more and more normal... oh yah, the changes are just beginning and here's hoping we can find ourselves somewhere in there.. because if we don't someone else will; and they'll probably be younger than us!! lol
The Dreamer. Sean Christopher Dwyer, 2020
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