UPDATE: The Program, Week Four

So click here for full details regarding this week's exhibition, which includes two more pieces by Nathalie Djurberg, Stealing Beauty by Guy Ben-Ner, and iMirror (A Second Life Documentary Film by China Tracy a.k.a. Cao Fei).

But here's the scoop on one installation new this week. In Second Life, eteam has created a dumpster for the virtual things people there decide to delete. At right, see a bunch of "virtual-virtual" objects selected by me, Danette Dufilho, and AC Abbott per eteam's guidelines to resemble such discarded items (which were of course originally designed to look real). These objects were then photographed by Ben Britt and me from multiple angles, and eteam used the photographs to construct virtual-virtual-virtual objects, which they placed in their dumpster in Second Life -- see the following virtual photographs of the objects they made and put there (if you see the objects in "Real Life," eteam's work is even more impressive -- nice work, eteam!). Next, eteam "filmed" the programmed decay of these objects, sent me the file, and it's playing on the tv included in the installation.

The artists see Second Life Dumpster as "a continuation of their interest in the value of property, possibilities of land use, (web) site specificity, ownership, and investment."

I also see this project as, among other things, part of a trend toward art as mad scientist-experiment. See more of eteam's findings from this research here.

New Work from Eteam

What can you learn about a society from what it throws away? These and other questions are explored by eteam's new video, PRIM LIMIT, which follows what happened after the artists opened Second Life Dumpster (more here and here) – what items were dumped there, who hung out there, how the Dumpster fit in with its virtual surroundings, etc. You can see a low-res version of the video here.

Eteam also has another new piece I like a lot, Truth in Transit; you can see that and more of their work here.

(Both images are from PRIM LIMIT; click on them for larger versions.)

"100 meters behind the future"

. . . a new work by eteam,

is a live film . . . shot, acted, directed, edited, screened, watched and deleted in real time. It’s a film about delay, the expansion of cinema and the paranoia that creeps in when the mash-up of several time zones and realities escapes the logical explanations of the captive audience.

The screening room is the front row of a van in which one or two people are being driven around while following the action in double view - through the windshield of the car and the screen of the device they hold in their hands. They simultaneously see what is happening right now and what has happened 10 seconds ago.

The project was part of the “For Real” program at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, 2012. Read more about the program here.

Video and more details re- eteam's project here.

"THE PROGRAM": In the Code

UPDATE: New, much more detailed post here; although as of this addition, I haven't yet had a chance to add images to the new post.

As you may know, the Video Association of Dallas was the first in TX to show video art by Michel Auder, Matthew Barney, Paul Chan, Harun Farocki, Graffiti Research Lab, William Kentridge, Paul McCarthy, Tony Oursler, Pipilotti Rist, Martha Rosler, and Bill Viola, among many others.

The Video Association's Dallas Video Festival is now dividing into two parts. This year for the first time, most of the video- and other media-based art you might normally find in museums or galleries will be presented in a separate, expanded series of exhibitions at Conduit Gallery. The rest of the Fest, including documentaries and other venerable varieties of video, will be presented in October.

The new, video art + other media-based art exhibition series to be shown at Conduit, called THE PROGRAM, starts July 26: 5 shows over 5 weeks, with openings on 5 consecutive Sat. nites, after-parties, etc. etc. Co-curated by me, Charles Dee Mitchell, and Bart Weiss.

Where else can you find this much exciting, recent video art and other media-based art by internationally-recognized artists -- esp. on our near-null budget? (I certainly hope never to work this hard again for negative income.)

This is not a complete listing, and all programming remains subject to change:

Guy Ben-Ner's Moby Dick and his latest, Stealing Beauty (see Postmasters gallery).

John Bock's latest, The Palms (see Anton Kern gallery).

Dena DeCola + Karin E. Wandner's five more minutes (see the Video Data Bank).

Matthew Barney's latest, Drawing Restraint 13 (see Barney's DR site or Gladstone Gallery).

Michael Bell-Smith, t.b.d. (see Foxy Production or and/or gallery).

eteam: with luck, something re- their Rhizome commission proposal, Second Life Dumpster (see their commission proposal site). I personally also loved 1.1 Acre Flat Screen, 'though it's not looking like we'll be able to show it, but you can view it on their website; just click on "videos" and scroll on what opens.

Nathalie Djurberg: her Camels Drink Water, which debut'd at Art Basel Miami just last year, and, I hope, one or more other works (see Zach Feuer Gallery). I'm pretty sure, 200 yrs. from now, if you search for what might help you both survive and forgive humanity, Djurberg's work will pop.

John Michael Boling + Javier Morales (see their site at http://www.gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.com).

Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung's animations featuring Al Gore as a polar bear, his Nobel around his neck, deploying solar panels against a BBQ'ing Bush (see Postmasters and Hung's site).

Cao Fei: knock on wood, her Second Life "documentary," iMirror (see Lombard-Freid Projects), which showed at the Venice Biennale, this year, and her newest piece, RMB City.

Guthrie Lonergan: net art from a favorite New Museum alum (see his site).

Shana Moulton's work takes you back to everything you thought you hated about the 80's but now "pine" for (see Country Club gallery).

Tom Moody: appealing and intriguing shorts from a former Dallasite who's shown around the world (see his site).

Meiro Koizumi's latest, The Human Opera. If I say he's the new M. Barney, that's just shorthand for, i.m.h.o., you need to see his work -- it's going to come up again (see Nicole Klagsbrun gallery).

Matt Marello: Marello greenscreens himself into the horror flick that made Charles Dee Mitchell want to be an art writer; plus, Friedrich Nietsche converses with Hogan's Heroes.

Yang Fudong's An Estranged Paradise. This wonderful early piece illumines the work he's made since (see Marian Goodman Gallery).

Yves Netzhammer: evocative 3-D animation from one of my faves from the '07 Venice Biennial (see Galerie Anita Beckers).

Jon Pylypchuk's animations with hotdogs -- not even bacon is better (see Friedrich Petzel Gallery).

Steve Reinke's Hobbit Love is the Greatest Love. Yes, he actually makes it work (see Video Data Bank).

Treewave (Paul Slocum's band) performs live (see his Tree Wave page, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, or and/or gallery).

Ryan Trecartin: A Family Finds Entertainment and Tommy Chat Just E-mailed Me. He may seem hallucino-gen-Y'd, he may even be really fun; he's also profound (see Elizabeth Dee).

Kalup Linzy's Melody Set Me Free and Ride to da Club, both totally smart + fun (see Taxter & Spengemann gallery).

Rick Silva, a.k.a. Abe Linkoln, + jimpunk + Mr. Tamale: a compilation from Triptych TV (also check outAbe + Mo Sing the Blogs: e.g., one blogger's daily psychotropic dosage, à la metal -- and more {here's Rick's site; I also love jimpunk's}).

Clemens Von Wedermeyer: compelling work from one of Europe's stars (see Galerie Jocelyn Wolff).

The main venue for THE PROGRAM will be Conduit Gallery in the Design District, where lots of great galleries are now located (go here for lists by neighborhood with url's, addresses, etc.); and our opening nite, Sat., July 26, will also be "gallery walk" nite in the Design District. The gallery walk hours will be 5-8 pm. We expect to open THE PROGRAM with Matthew Barney's new video, although that's not set in stone, and with Paul Slocum's performance starting around the time the gallery walk winds up (plan to end up back at Conduit).

Then, for our after-party that nite . . . remember Apples in Stereo, whose lead appeared on The Colbert Report with his paean to Stephen? And the inestimable Danette Dufilho, Asst. Dir. at Conduit and Dir. of the Project Room there? Well, her hubby, John Dufilho (of Deathray Davies fame), plays drums in the Apples, and the Apples are playing Big D that very nite, at one of our fave venues, Sons of Hermann Hall, starting after Paul's performance. And strictly betw. us, the Apples might show up at Conduit for Paul's show; and we might be handing out coupons for a discount to get into the show at Sons . . .

And, believe it or not, there's more spectacular stuff in the works! As well as a panel discussion at the Dallas Museum of Art on Sun., August 10 at 1:30 pm and evening screenings in Fort Worth on August 5 and 12. I'll post more details about the schedule as they're firmed up.

I've been working really hard on this, so pls cancel any and all conflicting oblgs, ink us in for the 5 consecutive Sat. nites starting July 26 plus, + tell your friends. (And by the way, if you can't make the opening nites, the shows will remain on exhibit or available for viewing until it's time to install the next week's work.)

Thanks of course to the artists, galleries, and others already mentioned above. I'd like also to go ahead and thank Suzanne Weaver at the DMA for her advice to me over the years, which greatly helped me educate myself, as well as for her support in arranging for our panel discussion to take place at the DMA; the folks at Electronic Art Intermix (esp. Josh Kline), whose advice and screening room have also been invaluable to me; Paul Slocum, who has also generously shared his advice, esp. regarding new media artists; Danette Dufilho and Nancy Whitenack at Conduit, not only for providing us a great space for free but also for their advice, time, and effort in many areas, all of which have been and will continue to be essential to bringing this thing off; volunteers such as LeeAnn Harrington and Emily Ewbank; my co-curators, Bart Weiss and Charles Dee Mitchell, from whom I've also learned so much; and last but not least, our presenting organization, the Video Association of Dallas, which has for over twenty years been one of the foremost proponents of video as a creative medium (please join and support it!).

Until I do a new post based on more definite info, check back here 'cause it's easier for me to just update this post.

Dallas VideoFest 2010 is Almost Here!

Opening night is this Thursday, September 23, and it runs through the weekend. The whole thing is at the Angelika Mockingbird. There will be 3 different channels of programming on 3 screens at all times.

So, time to start deciding what to see.

If you prefer to see more titles at a glance and don't mind clicking for each program blurb, see the online schedule for the Fest here. The Fest website also has trailers and other good stuff.

If you prefer not to have to click for the program blurbs, you can download a PDF of the complete schedule in chron order here. This is the "classic" version I've been putting together for some years, with the programs in chronological order WITH the blurbs right there. The PDF is also (yellow-) highlighted to indicate which programs sounded most interesting to me based on my own idiosyncratic preferences, what I've seen before, etc.

I haven't kept up with all the info coming out about particular programs (see the Fest's Facebook page), so please feel free to add info in comments to this post.

Hope to see you at the Fest!

UPDATE to share the benefit, such as it is, of some additional notes for an art-oriented friend:

On the chron schedule, in some cases I just highlighted the first letter – those also sounded interesting but maybe not quite as much, for me. Most of my guesses are based solely on written descriptions – I didn't have advance access to any Festival submissions this year – and I could easily change my mind.

Beyond that, I CAN say . . . I think more than one doc on Thursday will be very good – I'd pick one of those based on your interests.

On Friday, DON'T MISS the Alt Animation compilation. Re- Lethe, I've seen just one other Lewis Klahr piece – with my co-curator, Danette Dufilho, for the I Heart Video Art series – and it blew both our minds. And I've seen David Reilly's Please Say Something, and it's brilliant.

On Saturday, if you haven't already seen a lot of Ant Farm, the doc on them would be good. I think Bela will be educational for me; and I don't want to miss the Macbeth piece, although Shakespeare inspires not-so-great as well as great stuff, so you never know. I'm looking forward to the doc on Jeff Koons and The Girl with Black Balloons, and Mars.

Sunday, I'm curious about Webisodes. I think the Vid Garbage compilation shd be considered "do not miss" – in particular, I've seen Prim Limit (which is sort of a sequel to the eteam installation I wrangled for The Program 2008), and I think you'd really like it. I'm v. interested to see Erasing David. Curious about Memories of Overdevelopment. And I never miss The Texas Show, as a way to keep up with the Texas-based community.

All that said, there's usually something I failed to focus on that turns out to be wonderful.

FURTHER UPDATE: Just uploaded a slightly revised chron schedule with one correction and reflecting additional info from Bart about what he'd thought I'd like – here. His estimates re- my likes aren't 100%, but helpful.

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)

Update on "Second Life Dumpster"

here.

Here's a pic of another virtual-virtual incarnation; objects curated by Marcin Ramocki, Lovid, Olaf Breuning, Makiko Aoki, Caspar Stracke, Gabriela Monroy, Ijan Hilaire, Kirin Schwindt, Jason Dean, Arnold von Wedemeyer, Annette Gödde, Penelope Umbrico, Jim Supanick + more.


Background here and here. eteam comprises Franziska Lamprecht + Hajoe Moderegger.

One Project Spurs Two Controversies:

Is art work?

And is ART WORK "art"?

For most of my life, I have not been a fan of overtly political art (although I happen to think all art works {as well as other expressions} have at least indirect political implications, by omission or otherwise). So why did I take on this project?

First, I did connect to the politics of Temporary Services' ART WORK newspaper. Society benefits tremendously from artists' efforts, yet very few artists make a living at it; indeed, many whose works are in major art museums need dayjobs to get by.

But more importantly, artists could be poster-kids for the lower and middle classes in general. People in the U.S. work at least as long, hard, and efficiently as workers anywhere in the world. Our productivity has doubled, but our inflation-adjusted incomes have actually declined. The quality of life for most of us as measured by important criteria has fallen dramatically since the 1970's and earlier (see Elizabeth Warren's brilliant presentation; see also here), and it's substantially below that enjoyed in many other developed countries (see here; see also here).

Meanwhile, the rich have grown vastly richer, and the gap in wealth between the top few percent and the rest of us has skyrocketed to an all-time high (see here; also here). As Warren Buffet's said, "It's class warfare, [and] my class is winning, but they shouldn't be." (CNN interview).

If there's been one good result from our tribulations during the last ten years, it's that many more of us have realized we simply cannot afford not to pay attention to political and economic matters, and that things probably won't get much better so long as we continue to allow the few who control disproportionate wealth to make all the big decisions (see, e.g., here).

But while the rest of us have overwhelming numbers, we remain powerless unless we understand what's going on, and organize, at least for certain purposes.

Most of us have been operating as individual entrepreneurs for years now, and there are benefits to that approach. But it's left us atomized and isolated from one another. Maybe we're ready to put our heads together to think about ways to have our entrepreneurial cake and still put food on the table.

Change for the better may not be easy – destruction is easy; creation is hard – but I happen to believe with Andy Warhol, Margaret Mead et al. that it can be done (hey, if we can change Earth's climate as a mere side-effect of other efforts, imagine what we could do if we actually tried).

But that was not the only reason I got involved in the ART WORK project.

During the last few years, I'd become aware of the terms, "relational art," "littoral art," "discursive art," "participatory art," etc. These terms have been used by various writers (Nicolas Bourriaud, Grant Kester, Claire Bishop, Liam Gillick, et al.) who define them in distinctly different ways, but there seems to be some overlap in the kinds of art they're talking about. I've found these terms to be powerful tools for thinking about a trend I personally, roughly describe as art in which the artist's main focus is the production or modification of relationships among people, as distinguished from the production of some other art object. That is, while the project or practice may yield material artifacts, or involve performance, the construction of an environment for viewers, or other things or activities we've recognized as art in the past, what's new-ish is that the artist's principal preoccupation seems to be with the creation or modification of relationships, rather than any object, environment, or even performance – i.e., arguably, the principal art "object" is the relationships formed, or the modifications made to them, in the course of the practice.

(Writers discussing the relational trend disagree intensely about the best ways to define it or to evaluate the works it might include. Such questions go beyond what I can address in this post, but they'd be part of conversations I'd like to have.)

Much of the art I've found most exciting during the last decade and more arguably falls into this "relational" category, as defined in the way I currently find most interesting. I'm thinking of, e.g., Rotozaza's GuruGuru (discussion here), Cao Fei's RMB City (see also here), Meiro Koizumi's Art of Awakening and Human Opera XXX (here), eteam's Second Life Dumpster (see also here), Graffiti Research Lab (see also here) and at least some of Good/Bad Art Collective's projects (see here; and other highly-respected artists associated with this trend and whose work I admire or find interesting include Marina Abramovic, Liam Gillick, Pierre Huyghe, and Phillippe Parreno, to name a few).

Temporary Services' project is definitely relational. They didn't just produce a newspaper; they recruited people nationwide to help distribute it, and they invited everyone interested to take the ball and run with it – to use the newspaper as a springboard to create their own exhibitions, discussions, or events. Their goal is to create and modify relationships – in particular, to inspire us to combine our creativity and other strengths to bring greater fairness to art workers and others, creating or modifying relationships not only among ourselves but within society at large.

(Temporary Services' project may also be related to trends having to do with collectivity and socially-engaged art practices generally, which have their notable practitioners and theorists, as well as to conceptual art. I also find it interesting that the artists chose to distribute their publication in the form of hardcopy newspapers, at a time when print is on the ropes, as well as via the project's website. The collective has been described as "working out of a Situationist tradition"; their work or publications have been been featured at Mass MoCA, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, the Smart Museum of Art, and elsewhere.)

But although relational art and theorizing have been around for some years (Bourriaud's seminal Relational Aesthetics was first published in French in 1998 and discusses work created in the 90's), we've seen relatively little of this kind of work in the Dallas area (Good/Bad was a brilliant, early instance; but I know of few others); and I'm aware of even less public discussion here of relational (or of socially engaged) practices.

So another motive for turning Temporary Services' project into an occasion for an exhibition, etc. was to bring more of this kind of work into view here and perhaps inspire conversation about the ART WORK project as art – relational or otherwise – or not-art.

The work shown in the main gallery at CentralTrak "present[s] projects that propose solutions for contemporary artists seeking to work outside of the 'white box' to secure greater economic autonomy during this post-market-glut economic correction" (see CentralTrak); i.e., works reflecting artists' responses as individuals (among other things). This portion of the exhibition was organized by Kate Sheerin, Director of CentralTrak, and includes works by Richie Budd, Gary Farrelly, Thomas Riccio and Frank Dufour, Ludwig Schwarz, Marjorie Schwarz, and give up. The opening reception also included "Son of Trunk Show," presented by Shelby Cunningham and featuring eight other artists.

The materials in the CentralTrak corridor focus on collective efforts (among other things). This portion of the exhibition was organized by moi and includes the ART WORK newspaper plus materials on works and/or writings by Gregory Sholette, Harrell Fletcher, Liam Gillick, Not an Alternative, Mel Chin, Lize Mogel, Maria Lind, Research and Destroy, Robert Projansky and Seth Siegelaub, W.A.G.E., Michael Corris, Hollis Frampton, Don Celender, and Julius Getman.

I think the two areas complement one another in interesting, even provocative ways.

Is ART WORK "art"? After viewing the show, one prominent local critic told me I should be an activist – implying that I should stay away from art. I suggested there could be no greater art project than to help make a better world (to which s/he objected, "[i]sn't that terribly self-absorbed?" I replied, how is that more self-absorbed than building a company or having a family?)
So yes, my own working hypothesis is that, to some degree or in some sense, ART WORK is art.

And you don't have to like ART WORK, or agree with its political orientation, or even agree that it's art, to agree that now is a good time for us to talk about those questions.
For more info about the ART WORK in dallas event series, see my previous post, or click on the "ART WORK in dallas" label below.

(The image top right is of a naturally-occurring fractal in the form of a Romanesco cabbage, from "Fractal Food." The image center left is of Tracy Hicks' Moose, from the National Academy of Sciences Online via Mutable Matter, and the image bottom right is also from Mutable Matter, apparently by the blog author – thanks, Angela!)

UPDATE: Great review of the show by Erin Starr White in Art Lies, Fall 2010. For visuals of the exhibition, see here.