Off World is an exhibition of photographs and video by filmmaker Mateo Guez and commissioned by curator Sanaz Mazinani, realized in situ as a 24-hour interactive public installation by Andrew Mallis as part of the 2009 Contact Toronto Photography Festival.

The installation addresses the Contact 2009 festival theme: Still Revolution.

Our view of the world changed with the invention of the camera, and with each new technological advance in photography, our relationship to the observable world is redefined. Kodak’s Brownie changed the way we photograph by bringing the camera into the homes of everyday people; the Polaroid camera gave us the near-instantaneous image; the digital camera engendered infinitely manipulatable multiples, re-broadcast and shared. Mobile telephony again redefines the camera as an extension of the body, charging every moment with the potential for photography.

In addition to raising questions around media ownership, Off World subverts the gallery model, both physically and conceptually. The name of the gallery, Camera, is also the german word for room. Yet, the Camera contains no photo- graphs. It is a public-facing view finder. Video here acts less as documentary and more as a stand-in for direct experi- ence. If they engage, the viewer leaves with the photography, and the gallery is in the viewer’s pocket.

To quote Bruce Nauman: “release the gas and the container is contained”

Residing alongside personal photos in the visitor’s handset, these images are viewed with hindsight and a familiarity otherwise unattainable on a gallery wall. The gallery is thus conceived of as immaterial and the image, though multiple, is personal; both exist in the intimate yet social spaces now extended by mobile media.