Moving Image Fair

Dedicated to video art, this fair was co-founded by Murat Orozobekov and Edward Winkleman. My photos here. Art Fag City has collected 7 of the vidis here, full-length though compressed; and Hypoallergic has a helpful review of this and the Independent Fair here (I expect to add a post on the Independent here soon).

Moving Image included works by 31 artists, some very well-established. As a videophile, I'd have been happy to see much more; but with so many fairs and so little time, I spent only the better part of one day there, and wished I could have stayed longer.

I was intrigued by Daniel Phillips' River Street (2012), three projections onto three large, suspended concrete slabs, shot in the vicinity of an abandon elevator tower that became his studio for the duration, and glad to see Martha Wilson's now-iconic "worst fear" in the virtual flesh, I have become my own worst fear/ Deformation (2009/1974). I'm always interested to see Valie Export's work, and her Ein Perfektes Paar oder die Unzucht wechselt ihre Haut/A Perfect Couple, or Indecency Sheds Its Skin (1986) was, among other things, a blast from her prescient past. Alex Prager's exquisitely, absurdly cinematic Despair (2010) seemed to allude to persistent dilemmas re- femininity. AES+F's Allegoria Sacra (2011) was exquisite, as was the work I saw in Venice, Last Riot (2007; see visuals starting here), hypnotically slo-mo yet possibly even more visually riveting; and I very much liked Kate Gilmore's Built to Burst and Julia Kul's Passport Reading.

I regret not getting photos of Jaan Toomik's three works, in which: (1) a man hanging from a rope strung high between two trees plunges to and through the grass beneath him; (2) a man in a wheelchair rolls himself along the bottom of a full swimming pool (Seagulls (2004)); and (3) a naked man, his genitals tethered by a rope to a stake in a muddy field, circles the stake, facing outward, with his genitals pulled backward between his legs, with apparent strain.

And there were many other fine works, mostly installed reasonably well, which is a challenge for most video exhibitors; I look forward to future iterations of this fair. I just wish it were up longer . . . perhaps the organizers should consider that, if Moving Image opened a few days before the other fairs, it could have us almost to itself on Monday and Tuesday, when so many other art venues are closed.

For my posts on other fairs or exhibitions seen in NYC during Armory week, see here (5 down, 4 more to go).

New Museum Triennial: "The Ungovernables"

Exhibition website here; a very helpful NYT review here, with a slide show with some beautiful photos; my own photos here; and Art Fag City has a good slide show here.

Among the pieces I found exciting was a video by Wu Tsang, The Shape of a Right Statement (2008; still, right, from Clifton Benevento gallery). In it, Tsang re-speaks a text I found fascinating, from the second part of a video manifesto by autisim rights activist Amanda Baggs, embedded below. Thoughout the 5 min. run of Tsang's piece, he does not blink, a feat which, for me, greatly heightened the intensity of the work.

I saw this piece before encountering Tsang's other work, including Wildness in the Whitney Biennial. Various commentators have expressed concern w.r.t. many contemporary works that one needs a lot of info extraneous to the work itself in order to begin to appreciate it. While Tsang's work draws heavily from its sources and context, for me, it's a great example of a piece that was sufficiently arresting in its own right to make me go look for that info; and I'm glad I did.

Another of my favorites was The Propeller Group's project, TVC Communism (2011), from which two pieces were shown. First was a video installation comprising synchronized video on 5 large screens arranged in an inward-facing circle. Each screen showed one individual in a meeting in which the Propeller team collaborated to develop p.r. to re-brand Communism. Unfortunately, viewers seemed to enjoy being the apparent center of the virtual attention of the Propeller team so much that, while I was there, the area within the 5-screen circle was full of chatting museum-goers, making it impossible to hear the the audio "conversation" among the characters in the videos. The second piece shown from the project was the resulting commercial ad.

It's hard to resist comparing the Triennial and the Whitney Biennial. Perhaps the main observation yielded for me so far is that there was more socially- or politically-engaged work at the New Museum. Given how much of the most exciting art made during recent years has had overtly political concerns, the relative paucity of the political at the Whitney seems striking.

Below is Amanda Baggs' manifesto:

Bloomsday at The Reading Room

"Bloomsday" is celebrated annually in Dublin, New York, and elsewhere on June 16, the day on which James Joyce's Ulysses takes place. Bloomsday celebrations sometimes feature a walking itinerary reproducing that of the book's main character, Leopold Bloom, as well as readings from the novel, which has been acclaimed by some critics as the greatest ever written.

Per Wikipedia, an unabridged reading in 1982 ran nearly 30 hours; but Bloomsday Dallas will last just a few. The celebration will begin at 6 PM with a screening of Harrell Fletcher's video art piece, Blot Out the Sun (wrangled by moi), which was included in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. In Fletcher's video, service station employees and patrons read lines from the novel concerning death, love, social inequality, and the relationship between individuals and the universe. This will be followed by readings from the novel by Jeff Whittington, Charles Dee Mitchell, and Diane Orr.

In addition, Jennie Ottinger's "book" sculpture, Ulysses, will be on view, courtesy of Conduit Gallery. The work is part of her larger library project, which was shown at the 2011 Volta Art Fair in NYC.

Bloomsday Dallas will take place on Thurs., June 16 at The Reading Room, 3715 Parry Ave. (between Exposition and Commerce), from 6 - 10PM.

More at The Reading Room.

UPDATE: Below is scholar Frank Delaney's rap tribute to Joyce (thanks, Karen!):

"Sustenance" Update

Lots more visuals of the exhibition here. (For a larger version of the image at left, click on it; the work is by Jesse Morgan Barnett.)

The exhibition includes works by Brian Fridge, Chris Hefner, Darryl Lauster, Devin King, Frances Bagley, Iris Bechtol, Jeff Zilm, Jesse Morgan Barnett, Justin Ginsberg, Kate Helmes, Kimberly Aubuchon, Kristin Mariani, Linnea Glatt & Jim Cinquemani, Lizzy Wetzel, Lou Mallozzi, Ludwig Schwarz, Matt Hanner, Michael Mazurek, Patrick Murphy, Sedrick Huckaby, Shannon Brunskill (with Courtney Brown), Tom Orr, and Temporary Services. Exhibition checklist and more at the Sustenance FB page or blog.

Falls

New multi-Tube video experiment up here.

Bloodwork

Last time I checked online for blood cell animations, pickings were slim. Now one need look no further than YouTube. I rec. you get as many onscreen as possible (these are formatted so that, if you have the option of making this window big enough, you can get a nice, tight 3 x 3 array of embeds), play them all simultaneously, here or otherwise, then click replay as needed to keep them all going for a bit (audio desirable). (Happy Halloween.)

UPDATE: I made a vidi of my own results here.

Exhibition, "Performance/Art": Shonibare, Ahtila et Al. at the DMA

Opening on Oct. 8, and including

British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare’s film Un ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball), based on Giuseppe Verdi’s opera of the same name . . . ; Finnish artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s quietly intense and atmospheric evocation of an ill-at-ease mind, the three-screen film work Talo/The House; a new installation work by Dallas-based artists Frances Bagley and Tom Orr based on the spectacular sets and costumes they designed for a 2006 Dallas Opera production of Verdi’s Nabucco; . . . a selection of Argentine artist Guillermo Kuitca’s powerful paintings and drawings based on album covers and seating charts of major theaters and opera houses; and David Altmejd’s spectacular sculpture, The Eye, . . . created in conjunction with a recent Metropolitan Opera production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic.

Through Mar. 21, 2010. More at the DMA; or for more on Shonibare, see my previous post.

UPDATE on THE PROGRAM: Week Two Opening

Another full house. If you missed it, the work will as usual remain available for viewing at Conduit through noon this Thur. during the gallery's normal hours, Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm, except there are a couple of pieces that will remain installed longer, and ALSO except that Nathalie Djurberg's Once Removed on My Mother's Side will be available for viewing only on Tuesday and Thursday, and Dumstrut will be available for viewing only on Wednesday (in order to comply with the artist's exhibition requirements and our own installation schedule).

After-party at Bolsa, a lovely, laid-back wine bar in Oak Cliff (recommended! -- 614 W. Davis west of the Bishop Arts District, 214-367-9367). Pics from the opening and after-party here.

I and my co-curator Charles Dee Mitchell are, briefly, on tv, on KERA's Think program. If I got it right, the remaining broadcasts are 8/4 at 11:30 am, and Wed. 8/6 in the wee hours, at 1:30 am. I think it's also supposed to be available online and/or by podcast for a week or two. (Thanks again to everyone at KERA, as well as Lisa Taylor for setting it up!)

Upcoming highlights: on Sat., August 9, we'll open Ryan Trecartin's A Family Finds Entertainment (42 jam-packed minutes, installed -- be sure to make the time to see it; it will be up through the remainder of THE PROGRAM), Tryptych TV (a compilation from a vlog by jimpunk, Mr. Tamale, and Rick Silva a.k.a. Abe Linkoln), and Michael Bell-Smith's Battleship Potemkin Dance Edit (120 BPM). The popular ShiftSpace installations will also remain up. The seated screenings will include another Trecartin plus works by Andrea Fraser, Kalup Linzy, Shana Moulton, and Anthony Goicolea, among others.

If you'd like to see Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 13 (27 min.), it runs through noon on Thursday, August 14, Tues.-Sat 10am-5pm.

ALSO, there will be a panel discussion at the Dallas Museum of Art, with the three co-curators and Paul Slocum and moderated by Suzanne Weaver, the Nancy and Tim Hanley Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, on Sun., Aug. 10 at 1:30, featuring three additional works as well as clips from those shown at Conduit.

Details including the most up-to-date version of the schedule here.

IF YOU HAVE DONATED at the Kilobyter ($100) level or above, you are entitled to one or more reserved seats at the seated programs (number depending on the level of donation). To reserve your seat(s), please e-mail the Video Association's Exec. Dir., AC Abbott, at ac(a)videofest.org with your name, the number of seats you'd like to reserve, and the programs for which you'd like to reserve them. And thank you for your support!

SCHEDULE (UPDATED): THE PROGRAM

THE PROGRAM is a new series of video and other media-based art exhibitions opening on five consecutive Saturday evenings beginning July 26, 2008, including more than 50 works by over 40 artists, most of them internationally-recognized. The exhibitions are co-curated by me, Bart Weiss, and Charles Dee Mitchell and presented by the Video Association of Dallas. Except as noted, all exhibitions will be located at Conduit Gallery, Dallas, Texas, and installations and videos will remain available for viewing during the remainder of the week through noon Thurs. during Conduit's regular hours (Tues. - Sat., 10am - 5pm).

Reserved seating is available for Video Association supporters at the Kilobyter ($100) level and above; for more information about reserved seating, sponsorship opportunities, and membership, please e-mail ac(a)videofest.org. Admission is otherwise free, subject to availability, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Donations to the Video Association are greatly appreciated. All programs are subject to change.

Parental discretion is advised (L, N, S, V).
Where else can you find this concentration of exciting video art and other media-based art? Plus, parties.
Additional comments on Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 13 and Ryan Trecartin's A Family Finds Entertainment here. 

NOTE: Because of the exigencies of installing tech stuff for a mostly-new exhibition each week, the pieces shown at each week's opening will remain available for viewing at Conduit Gallery during normal gallery hours (Tues.-Sat. 10-5) only through noon the following Thursday (so we can begin installing the next week's work).

WEEK ONE

SATURDAY, JULY 26
Exhibition Opening, Conduit Gallery

5:00 – 8:00 PM: RECEPTION WITH INSTALLATIONS:

1. Drawing Restraint 13 by Matthew Barney (and b.t.w., all of M. Barney's websites are really helpful), 27:45 min. (2006). Barney as General Douglas MacArthur in a scene that refers to both MacArthur's infamous WWII landing on the Philippines and the Japanese surrender. (See curator's comments here.) Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery.

2. RMB City – A SecondLife City Planning by China Tracy by Cao Fei, 6:08 min. (2007). A promotional demo trailer for the artist's "China-like" virtual real estate project, where development rights are now on sale within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life ("RMB" is a name for the Chinese currency). (CS) Commissioned by Serpentine Gallery; courtesy of Lombard-Freid Projects.

3. Online access to RMB City-related web pages.

4. Torcito Project by Marcin Ramocki (2005). The artist uses re-purposed Mac software to transform a gallery of cel phone portraits into sonic bitmap scores which are now "played." (CS) Courtesy of the artist.

5. Compilation: End Notes by Tom Moody (with jimpunk), ca. 2:30 min. (2006); New Monuments by Tom Moody, ca. 1:40 min. (2008); and Hoedown by Tom Moody, ca. 1:30 min. (2007). Courtesy of the artists.

6. The Arrangement of Two Opposites While their Maximum Contact is Under Generation by Yves Netzhammer, 27:36 min. (2005). Evocative 3-D animations by an artist exhibited in the most recent Venice Biennial. (CS) Courtesy of Galerie Anita Beckers.

(Still from The Arrangement of Two Opposites While their Maximum Contact is Under Generation by Yves Netzhammer.)

5:30 PM: ART TALK by Carolyn Sortor on Drawing Restraint 13, Conduit Gallery.

8:00 PM: LIVE PERFORMANCE by Treewave. UPDATE: In the past, Paul Slocum's band has been known for his original composition "chiptunes" (8- and 16-bit music) using Commodore 64's, an old PC FM sound card (OPL3), a Compaq Portable II, an Epson LQ500 dot-matrix printer, and an Atari 2600, with projected video created with original and hacked Atari code. But at this performance, Paul played a complex mash-up incorporating some of the music he's made before and a lot of other cool stuff.

12:00 AM: LIVE PERFORMANCE / AFTER-PARTY: Apples in Stereo perform at Sons of Hermann Hall, corner of Elm and Exposition (map; separate admission fee to Sons, but {thanks, Sons!} a limited number of discount coupons will be available at the Conduit Gallery opening).

WEEK TWO

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2
Exhibition Opening, Conduit Gallery

7:00 – 7:30 PM: RECEPTION WITH INSTALLATIONS:

1. Drawing Restraint 13 by Matthew Barney (and b.t.w., all of M. Barney's websites are really helpful), 27:45 min. (2006). Barney as General Douglas MacArthur in a scene that refers both to MacArthur's infamous WWII landing on the Philippines and the Japanese surrender. (See curator's comments here.) Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery.

2. Accidental Blue Screen and Lord of the Flies by John Michael Boling and Javier Morales (see also http://www.gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.com), (2006). The artist repurposes material from corporate and amateur sources to yield meaningful surprises. (CS) Courtesy of the artist.

3. cover this YouTube in blood, Bricks video, and 9 Short Music Videos by Guthrie Lonergan. So many good reasons for this. (CS) Courtesy of the artist.

4. Shiftspace Demo (ShiftSpace was initiated in 2007 by Mushon Zer-Aviv and Dan Phiffer). ShiftSpace is an open source layer "above" the web that allows community members to comment or build overlays on any web page, including adding postit-like notes, image swaps, source code modifications, and trails to other URLs, enabling artists, activists, educators, hobbyists, and others to create online contexts on top of existing websites. (CS)
5. Shiftspace Interactive. Try it out.

6. The Arrangement of Two Opposites While their Maximum Contact is Under Generation by Yves Netzhammer, 27:36 min. (2005). Evocative 3-D animations by an artist exhibited in the most recent Venice Biennial. (CS) Courtesy of Galerie Anita Beckers.

7. Sitcoms by Matt Marello, total ca. 15:00 min. (1996), with the artist as various philosophers displaced into t.v. times: The Beverly Hillbillies featuring Jean Paul Sartre (decontextualized Sartre always cracks me up); Bewitched with Georg Hegel; Gilligan's Island with Rene Descartes; Hogan's Heroes with Friedrich Nietsche; and The Munsters with Immanuel Kant. Courtesy of the artist.

7:30 PM: SEATED SCREENINGS:

1. Bend by Liz Magic Laser and Felicia Garcia-Rivera, 7 min. (2008). Five young men in a motorcycle club follow a series of instructions from an off-camera woman. (CS) Courtesy of the artists.

2. Meals on Wheels by Jon Pylypchuk, 4:24 min. (2006). The spirit of volunteerism is alive but not so well in this possibly all-too-realistic narrative. (CDM) Courtesy of Friedrich Petzel Gallery.

3. Rien du Tout by Clemens von Wedemeyer and Maya Schweizer, 30 min. (2006). An open casting call has drawn dozens of young people to audition for a Medieval epic, a film to be directed by one of the most perfectly odious characters ever created. One not so lucky kid is chosen while the others are told wait outside in the cold and the rain. The peasants begin to revolt. (CDM) Courtesy of Galerie Jocelyn Wolff.

4. Residential Erection by Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, 4:34 min. (2008). A cut and paste animated recap of the campaigns so far. Disheartening news: it could also be a glimpse into the future. (CDM) Courtesy of Postmasters gallery.

5. Once Removed on My Mothers Side** by Nathalie Djurberg, 5:31 min. (2008). A young woman ministers to an obese elder. (CS) Courtesy of Zach Feuer Gallery.

6. Host by Kristin Lucas, 7:36 min. (1997). Lucas has said, " . . . I participate in an on-line therapy session directed by the system operator of a streetside multi-media kiosk. . . . [the session becomes] an amalgamation of daytime television and tabloid, wherein the surveillance camera becomes the eye of the media." Courtesy of the artist.

7. Nude Beach by Jon Pylypchuk, 4:59 min. (2006). “I thought this was a public beach.” Famous last words. (CDM) Courtesy of Friedrich Petzel Gallery.

8. Dumstrut** by Nathalie Djurberg, 4.12 min. (2006). A boy torments a cat, testing its and his own limits. (CS) Courtesy of Zach Feuer Gallery.

9. The Human Opera XXX by Meiro Koizumi, 17 min. (2007). The artist subjects a man to an "experiment" in which he is to "share a tragic story of his life in front of a video camera" in return for "a monetary payment"; brilliant and profoundly disturbing. (CS) Courtesy of Nicole Klagsbrun gallery.

(Photo from The Human Opera XXX by Meiro Koizumi, courtesy Nicole Klagsbrun gallery.)

**NOTE: During the remainder of the week, Once Removed on My Mother's Side will be available for viewing only on Tuesday and Thursday, and Dumstrut will be available for viewing only on Wednesday and Friday.

9:00 PM: AFTER-PARTY: Bolsa, 614 W. Davis St. (Just west of the Bishop Arts District, at Cedar Hill; map)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5

7:00 PM: SEATED SCREENINGS at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth: (Please see descriptions under Saturday, August 2 Seated Screenings.)

WEEK THREE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9
Exhibition Opening, Conduit Gallery

6:30 – 7:30 PM: RECEPTION WITH INSTALLATIONS:

1. Drawing Restraint 13 by Matthew Barney (and b.t.w., all of M. Barney's websites are really helpful), 27:45 min. (2006). Barney as General Douglas MacArthur in a scene that refers both to MacArthur's infamous WWII landing on the Philippines and the Japanese surrender. (See curator's comments here.) Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery.

2. A Family Finds Entertainment by Ryan Trecartin, 41:12 min. (2004). The artist's entourage and himself in multiple roles play media-immersed characters in a story about Skippy's adventures in "coming out." [See curator's comments here.] Courtesy of Elizabeth Dee gallery.

3. RMB City – A SecondLife City Planning by China Tracy by Cao Fei, 6:08 min. (2007). A promotional demo trailer for the artist's "China-like" real estate project, where development rights are now on sale, within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life ("RMB" is a name for the Chinese currency). (CS) Commissioned by Serpentine Gallery; courtesy of Lombard-Freid Projects.4. Triptych TV, compilation from a vlog by jimpunk, Mr. Tamale, and Rick Silva a.k.a. Abe Linkoln, --- min. (2008). Courtesy of the artists.

5. Shiftspace Demo. ShiftSpace is an open source layer "above" the web that allows community members to comment or build overlays on any web page, including adding postit-like notes, image swaps, source code modifications, and trails to other URLs, enabling artists, activists, educators, hobbyists, and others to create online contexts on top of existing websites. (CS) Initiated (in 2007?) by Mushon Zer-Aviv and Dan Phiffer.

6. Shiftspace Interactive. Try it out.

7. Battleship Potemkin Dance Edit (120 BPM) by Michael Bell-Smith (with the assistance of Jeff Sission), 12:29 (2007). The artist "separated the film into its constituent shots and time stretched them one by one to the exact same length [, and] then replaced the soundtrack with a one-second dance loop synced to the cuts", replacing the original editing structure of the revolutionary narrative, which has been called seminal in its use of montage, with the "dumb, visceral, metric montage favored by dance visuals and music videos". Courtesy of the artist and EAI.

(Still from Battleship Potemkin Dance Edit (120 BPM) by Michael Bell-Smith (with the assistance of Jeff Sission), courtesy of the artist.)

7:30 PM: SEATED SCREENINGS:

1. Studies in Transfalumination by Peter Rose, 5:30 min. (2008). Courtesy of the artist.

2. May I Help You by Andrea Fraser, 19:47 min. (1991). A gallerist extols a series of black paintings by Allan McCollum, oddly and at great length. (CS) Courtesy of Friedrich Petzel Gallery.

3. Ride to da' Club by Kalup Linzy, 5:06 min. (2002). Linzy plays the female lead and many of the voices in this cheerfully profane conference call all aimed at getting to the club. Now, why is it no one wants to ride with Big Dick Johnny? (CDM) Courtesy of Taxter Spengemann gallery.

4. Whispering Pines 8 by Shana Moulton, 7:36 min. (2006). One of a series of episodes in which the artist's naive, trusting alter ego, Cynthia, resorts to various 80's diversions in a continuing struggle against existential depression. (CS) Courtesy of Country Club Gallery.

(Still from Whispering Pines 8 by Shana Moulton, courtesy Country Club gallery.)

5. Tommy-Chat Just E-Mailed Me by Ryan Trecartin, 7:15 min. (2004). Described by the artist as a "narrative video short that takes place inside and outside of an e-mail," the artist's friends and himself in multiple roles play Pam, a lesbian librarian with a screaming baby in an ultra-modern hotel; Tammy and Beth, in an apartment filled with installation art; and Tommy, in a secluded lake house. Courtesy of Elizabeth Dee gallery.

6. Artist Trilogy by Matt Marello, 13 min. (2001-2002). Mr. Marello plays the lead in three classic – well, maybe not so classic – films about artists as victims, killers, and charlatans. Let’s see, did he leave anything out? Oh, yes, insatiable sex fiend. (CDM) Courtesy of the artist.

7. five more minutes by Dena DeCola and Karin E. Wandner, 17:23 min. (2005). The artists enact intimate moments between a "mother" and "child," to poignant yet peculiar effect. (CS) Courtesy of the Video Data Bank.

(Photo from five more minutes by Dena DeCola and Karin E. Wandner, courtesy of Video Data Bank.)

8. Melody Set Me Free by Kalup Linzy, 14:06 min. (2007). The talented Mr. Linzy, in impeccable Whitney Houston drag, overcomes a mother's negativity and competitors' backstage backstabbing to find true love and a chance at stardom. You go, girl! (CDM) Courtesy of Taxter Spengemann gallery.

(Photo from Melody Set Me Free by Kalup Linzy, courtesy Taxter Spengemann gallery.)

9. The Code by Anthony Goicolea, 1:18 min. (2007). Courtesy of Postmasters gallery.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10

1:30 PM: PANEL DISCUSSION at the Dallas Museum of Art, Center for Creative Connections (f.k.a. the Orientation Theater), featuring the three co-curators plus media-based artist/gallerist Paul Slocum, with clips from various works and screenings of the following complete pieces:

Still Point by Alfred Guzzetti,14:30 min. (2008). The camera lingers on a series of beautifully-framed scenes.

The Dating Game by John Pylypchuk, 5:19 min. (2006). A send-up of the '60's-70's t.v. show in which the "behind the scenes" isn't very.

Moby Dick by Guy Ben-Ner, 13 min. (2000). The artist and his young daughter enact the entirety of the novel, almost entirely in their kitchen.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12

7:00 PM: SEATED SCREENING at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth: An Estranged Paradise by Yang Fudong, 76 min. (1997/2002). This is Fudong’s first, near feature-length film, shot six years before he began work on his multi-part masterpiece, Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest (2003 – 2006). Fudong speaks for a generation of young Chinese intellectuals caught at “a moment when we have to negotiate our past while inventing our future.” The protagonist of Paradise is Zuzhi, a young man who drifts through a rapidly modernizing Shanghai, suffering from an undefined illness that seems to come on with the rainy season. Although he has two girlfriends he admits he is happiest when visiting with doctors or entertaining his parents on their trips in from the countryside. Yang opens his film with a lesson in Chinese landscape painting, in which what is left out can be the most significant elements. (CDM) Courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery.

WEEK FOUR
SATURDAY, AUGUST 16
Exhibition Opening, Conduit Gallery

6:00 PM: SPECIAL PRESENTATION of An Estranged Paradise by Yang Fudong, 76 min. (1997/2002). (Please see description under Tuesday, August 12.).

7:00 – 7:30 PM: RECEPTION WITH INSTALLATIONS:

1. A Family Finds Entertainment by Ryan Trecartin, 41:12 min. (2004). The artist's entourage and himself in multiple roles play media-immersed characters in a story about Skippy's adventures in "coming out." [See curator's comments here.] Courtesy of Elizabeth Dee gallery.

2. Who’s Listening 1 by Yu-Chin Tseng, 7:55 min. (2003-04). A series of children are surprised. (CS) Courtesy of the artist.3. RMB City – A SecondLife City Planning by China Tracy by Cao Fei, 6:08 min. (2007). A promotional demo trailer for the artist's "China-like" real estate project, where development rights are now on sale, within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life ("RMB" is a name for the Chinese currency). (CS) Commissioned by Serpentine Gallery; courtesy of Lombard-Freid Projects.

4. Triptych TV, compilation from a vlog by jimpunk, Mr. Tamale, and Rick Silva a.k.a. Abe Linkoln, --- min. (2008). Courtesy of the artists.

5. Second Life Dumpster by eteam in collaboration with Relder Waco, Whooter Walworth, Dunn Bing, and others, 45 min. (2008). The artists are creating a dumpster within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life, to collect virtual trash such as unmarketable virtual merchandise and superseded avatar body parts. (CS) Courtesy of the artists.


6. Max Payne Cheats Only 1 by JODI, 23 min. (2004). A video game said to have influenced John Woo is deconstructed. (CS) Courtesy of And/Or Gallery.7. Battleship Potemkin Dance Edit (120 BPM) by Michael Bell-Smith (with the assistance of Jeff Sission), 12:29 (2007). The artist "separated the film into its constituent shots and time stretched them one by one to the exact same length [, and] then replaced the soundtrack with a one-second dance loop synced to the cuts", replacing the original editing structure of the revolutionary narrative, which has been called seminal in its use of montage, with the "dumb, visceral, metric montage favored by dance visuals and music videos". Courtesy of the artist.

7:30 PM: SEATED SCREENINGS:

1. Timbuktu** by Nathalie Djurberg, 4:40 min. (2007). A bureaucrat loses in a contest among three different kinds of power. (CS) Courtesy of Zach Feuer Gallery.

2. Stealing Beauty by Guy Ben-Ner, 17 min. (2007). Ben-Ner and his family make themselves at home in a furniture store – literally – while discussing the virtues of capitalism. (CS) Courtesy of Postmasters gallery.

(Still from Stealing Beauty by Guy Ben-Ner, courtesy Postmasters gallery.)

3. Hogan's Heroes by Matt Marello, 2:47 min. (1996). Friedrich Nietzsche chats up America’s most lovable POW’s and their charming SS guards. (CDM) Courtesy of the artist.

4. IMirror (A Second Life Documentary Film by China Tracy a.k.a. Cao Fei) by Cao Fei, 28:07 min. (2007). A documentary created by the artist within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life; this piece was shown at the most recent Venice Biennial. (CS) Courtesy of Lombard-Freid Projects.

5. Hobbit Love is the Greatest Love by Steve Reinke, 14 min. (2007). The artist explores literal and figurative projections in space and time. (CS) Courtesy of the Video Data Bank.

6. Gas Zappers by Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, 5:45 min. (2007). Al Gore as a polar bear wields solar panels against a BBQ'ing Bush. In glorious color and delirious bad taste. “Bring it on!” (CDM) Courtesy of Postmasters gallery.

(Still from Gas Zappers by Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, courtesy Postmasters gallery.)

7. Snapshot: 6 Months in the Life of a Korean American Male by Valerie Soe, 4:30 min. (2008). Courtesy of the artist.

8. Camels Drink Water** by Nathalie Djurberg, 3:48 min. (2007). Two camels help a parched, differently-abled person. (CS) Courtesy of Zach Feuer Gallery.

9. Anaconda Targets by Dominic Angerame, 10:51 min. (2004). As video games become more and more sophisticated, we admire their realism. Here’s a harsh reminder that realism is based on the real. (CDM) Courtesy of the artist.

10. Aria by Brooke Alfaro, 3:20 min. (2002). A young woman sings La Wally to unusual accompaniment. (CS) Courtesy of the artist.

**NOTE: During the remainder of the week, Timbuktu will be available for viewing only on Tuesday and Thursday, and Camels Drink Water will be available for viewing only on Wednesday and Friday.

9:00 PM: AFTER-PARTY: The Windmill Lounge, 5320 Maple Ave. (between Motor/Medical District and Inwood; map).

WEEK FIVE
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23
Exhibition Opening, Conduit Gallery

7:00 – 7:30 PM: RECEPTION WITH INSTALLATIONS:

1. A Family Finds Entertainment by Ryan Trecartin, 41:12 min. (2004). The artist's entourage and himself in multiple roles play media-immersed characters in a story about Skippy's adventures in "coming out." [See curator's comments here.] Courtesy of Elizabeth Dee gallery.

2. Who’s Listening 1 by Yu-Chin Tseng, 7:55 min. (2003-04). A series of children are surprised. (CS) Courtesy of the artist.3. RMB City – A SecondLife City Planning by China Tracy by Cao Fei, 6:08 min. (2007). A promotional demo trailer for the artist's "China-like" real estate project, where development rights are now on sale, within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life ("RMB" is a name for the Chinese currency). (CS) Commissioned by Serpentine Gallery; courtesy of Lombard-Freid Projects.4. Triptych TV, compilation from a vlog by jimpunk, Mr. Tamale, and Rick Silva a.k.a. Abe Linkoln, --- min. (2008). Courtesy of the artists.

5. Second Life Dumpster by eteam, 45 min.(2008). The artists are creating a dumpster within the multiplayer online virtual reality game, Second Life, to collect virtual trash such as unmarketable virtual merchandise and superseded avatar body parts. (CS) Courtesy of the artists.

6. Max Payne Cheats Only 1 by JODI, 23 min. (2004). A video game said to have influenced John Woo is deconstructed. (CS) Courtesy of And/Or Gallery.

7. Hand Flurry by Joel Holmberg, 1:00 min. (2008). Courtesy of the artist.

7:30 PM: SEATED SCREENINGS:

1. The Guest by John Bock, 11:25 min. (2004). A rabbit. An apartment. A man with lettuce tied to his feet. (CDM) Courtesy of the artist.

2. Palms by John Bock, 59:14 min. (2007). In the films of John Bock, mad scientists and crazed farm workers conduct visceral experiments in settings that range from pastoral landscapes to baroque palaces. In Palms, his first American-produced film, he takes on the world of Sunshine Noir. Two European killers arrive at LAX, rent a Lincoln convertible, and set off on a journey that is part hit job, part road trip, and possibly a spiritual quest. Expect blood, funny props, music, classics of modern architecture, and dialog that doesn’t really get scary until it begins to just maybe make sense. (CDM) Courtesy of Anton Kern gallery.

(Photo from Palms by John Bock, courtesy Anton Kern gallery.)

3. Anniversary Waltz by David Adamo, 3:58 min. (2007). The party is over. The guests have all gone home. The artist dances alone. (CDM) Courtesy of Fruit and Flower Deli.

9:00 PM: AFTER-PARTY: Absinthe Lounge, 1409 S. Lamar St., #008 (at Southside on Lamar; map)

VidArt from VAD at Conduit

If you're in the Dallas, TX area, here's your chance to catch up on the medium that's now at the forefront of attention in the art world. The Dallas Video Festival has been showing great video art for twenty years, and in celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Video Association of Dallas is presenting a series of five programs of "greatest video art hits" from its archives, co-curated by Danette Dufilho and -- yeah, me.

The series, I Heart Video Art, takes place on five consecutive Fridays beginning June 29, at Conduit Gallery, at 1626-C Hi Line Drive, Dallas, TX (near the Oak Lawn exit off of 35E). Doors open at 7:30 pm; screenings start at 8 pm. For more info, call Conduit Gallery at 214-939-0064.

We're still finalizing the details, but you can see a draft program schedule here.