Coming out of Vancouver's 1970s photoconceptual tradition, Rodney Graham's work is often informed by historical literary, musical, philosophical and popular references. He is most often associated with other West-coast Canadian artists, including Vikky Alexander, Jeff Wall, Stan Douglas, Roy Arden and Ken Lum. He was taught by fellow Vancouver school artist Ian Wallace while at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, from 1979 to 1980. Around this time, he played electric guitar in the band UJ3RK5 with fellow artist Jeff Wall on keyboards and Ian Wallace on electric bass, among others. His wide-ranging and often genre-busting work has frequently engaged with technologies of the past: literary, psychological and musical texts, optical devices, and film as an historical medium.