Karen Kilmnic

Karen Kilimnik: Finding meaning in scatteredness

PHILADELPHIA: Karen Kilimnik has gotten the survey that her strange, still difficult achievement deserves. For one thing, her show at the Institute of Contemporary Art is appropriately strange itself, beginning with a barren, seemingly empty, party's-over gallery. It goes deep into her woman-child imagination, touching an all-too-American sense of emptiness. It also makes her efforts in installation art, which encompass materials as various as glitter, fake snow and blood, stuffed animals, ballet shoes and piles of party drugs, feel of a piece with her painting, photography, video and drawing.

The show tours a scrapbook's worth of the heroes, stars, victims and star-victims — both real and imagined, and from stage, screen, fashion magazine and tabloid — that are Kilimnik's obsessions (and often ours too). These form a witchy chain-link fence of intersecting identities and tales: Liz, Gelsey Kirkland, Giselle, Nureyev, the murdered family of the last Russian czar, Lisa Steinberg, Charles Manson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Moss and "The Avengers."

In all, the Kilimnik exhibition confirms once more that the Institute of Contemporary Art, part of the University of Pennsylvania, is among the most adventuresome showcases in the country where art since 1970 is concerned. It chooses its subject well, keeps things accessible through the judicious use of well-written labels and brochures, and takes risks that prove that the curatorial discipline is alive and kicking.

Kilimnik, a 50-year-old Philadelphia native, made an international name for herself in the early 1990s with seemingly random accumulations of cheap objects and materials that functioned a bit like three-dimensional rebuses.

Alternately girlish and demonic, they merged popular culture, personal fantasy, history and current, often violent events and fell under the heading of scatter art, a phenomenon whose definition and membership remains a bit blurred. The artists most often identified with it — like Kilimnik, Sylvie Fleury, Cady Noland and, to some extent, Jessica Stockholder — are women, as are those artists' most important precursors, among them Yvonne Rainer, Joan Jonas, Barbara Bloom and the photo-based generation grouped around Cindy Sherman. It could also be seen as including Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jack Pierson and even Matthew Barney.

continued New York Times Article

Chris Burden in Second Life

If you thought the "game" Second Life was just for squares check out this site for more reenactments by other artist. Wrap your head around that one. "A series of reenactments of historical performances inside synthetic worlds such as Second Life. All the actions are performed by Eva and Franco Mattes through their avatars, which were constructed from their bodies and faces. People can attend and interact with the live performances connecting to the video-game from all over the world. The series started in January 2007." Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG Reenactment of Chris Burden's Shoot Synthetic Performance in Second Life, 2007

Chris Burden Shoot F-Space, Santa Ana, California, November 19, 1971

Naoko ate my cat

Darren Almond

Darren Almond’s diverse work, incorporating film, installation, sculpture and photography, deals with evocative meditations on time and duration as well as the themes of personal and historical memory.

Almond is interested in the notions of geographical limits and the means of getting there – in particular, culturally specific points of arrival and departure. Since 1998, Almond began his ongoing series of landscape photographs entitled Fifteen Minute Moons. Taken during a full moon with an exposure time of 15 minutes, these images of outstanding geographical beauty appear ghostly, bathed in an unexpectedly brilliant light where night seems to have been turned into day. In Schacta, Almond filmed the activities of a Russian tin mine and set them against a haunting soundtrack – made as a field recording – of a local female musician/shaman during her performance. Other works explore themes closer to home: Traction is an ambitious three-screen projection that draws a portrait of the artist’s father, laying bare external and internal scars, whilst revealing the artist’s preoccupation with time. A similar intimacy is evoked in If I Had You, a multi-screened film installation about the artist’s grandmother – a tender portrait of youthful reminiscence and the dignity of old age. In Terminus, Almond negotiated buying back the original bus shelters of the town of Oswiecim (formerly Auschwitz) to make a moving installation about historical loss.

Darren Almond was born in 1971 in Wigan, UK. He lives and works in London. He has participated in numerous important group exhibitions including ‘Sensation’ (1997-1999), Berlin Biennale (2001), Venice Biennale (2003), The Busan Biennale (2004) and The Turner Prize, Tate Britain (2005). Solo exhibitions include The Renaissance Society, Chicago (1999), Kunsthalle Zürich (2001), Tate Britain (2001) and K21, Düsseldorf (2005).

So Hood.

God.

David Lynch "knows" crazy

Pulled this from BB,

Apparently, Mr. Lynch has the directorial ability to conjure crazy really well.

Who would have thunk it.

PBS silence of the bees

I just finished watching some of the PBS piece on the dissapearing bee populations around the world. It is very interesting and you should look for it when it re airs, it probably can be viewed on their website if you like watching an hour of footage. There is a really interesting bit on an area in China where the farmers are forced to hand pollinate their own pear orchards in order to have any sort of crop. Pesticides killed off all the bees and any other insect pollinators in the eighties. Its really fascinating. I like the idea of Richards piece being a more intimate and personal local story.
Hassan

Flanders Art Gallery looking for submissions

Dear Director of MFA Students:
I am writing to you on behalf of Flanders Art Gallery. We are in the process of seeking out emerging artists and possible representation of their works. I hope that you may take the time to make our submission policy known to the members of your M.F.A. program.

Flanders Art Gallery is located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh is a growing metropolitan city with a blossoming art market. Since our opening last year, we have made a commitment to serving the area with art by regionally and nationally recognized artists. We hope to continue to do so, but we would also like to begin introducing this area to emerging professional artists.

If a student in your program is interested in submitting her/his work for consideration, then she/he should send a cv, an artists statement, and six to ten digital images of work through email or post to:
Attn: Artist Submissions
Flanders Art Gallery
18 Seaboard Ave., Ste. 160 Raleigh, NC 27604

At this point, we strongly encourage students with photography or other works on paper to apply.
Lauren Turner, Curator
919-834-5044
flandersartcurator@gmail.com

RIP Lady Jaye

I just read, Lady Jaye P-Orridge of Psychic TV passed away. Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye were a fundamental influence in many punk and post punk bands and artists.

I thought you may be interested in what she had to say....

www.genesisp-orridge.com

Link not working in header........

Studio: October 8, 8:30 AM Workers

LARGE group art show in 3 weeks in Norfolk

If you are interested, My friends are putting together a large warehouse show in Norfolk on OCT 19th... They are accepting submissions through the next few days... it is a loosely themed show called "wonder" I can give you more information if you are interested in participating....
(hit me up!)

Flicker this Thursday night!!

He... I subscrib to this email from James of the Richmond Moving Image Co-Op.... I just saw this email from him, and figured I'd post it... I plan on going this Thursday night.... Anyone wanna go with me??
-------------------------------------------------------------


The Richmond Moving Image Co-op shakes off the cobwebs and fires up the projectors for an 8-week films series at the Canal Club called Club Cinema. All but two programs take place on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. starting next Thursday, October 4. Most shows are $5 at the door, though there are a couple of exceptions (please check our website for details.

The lead off program is Flicker, an ongoing screening series that features short Super 8 and 16mm films by area filmmakers, now in its 10th year in Richmond. The Thursday, Oct. 4 Flicker will take place at The Canal Club, 1545 E. Cary Street (in Shockoe Bottom, near Bottoms Up Pizza). Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $3 at the door. Come early to grab a table and some food. We'll be trying out the Canal Club's newly reconditioned downstairs space, which provides a more intimate, Club Cinema atmosphere.

Check the RMIC website www.rmicweb.org for details about other programs in the Club Cinema series, which includes visits by experimental filmmaker and former Chapel Hill Flicker organizer Roger Beebe, former James River Film Festival guest and A/V Geeks mastermind Skip Elsheimer (has 18,000 films, will travel), and former James River Film Festival guest and renowned animator Bill Plympton.

See you at Club Cinema, starting next Thursday, October 4 and running through Thursday, November 29 (no show during Thanksgiving week, Nov. 22).


P.S. If you would like to volunteer for Flicker or any of our Club Cinema programs -- or if have a film you'd like to screen at Flicker (must originate on film and be 15 min. or less in length) -- please contact James Parrish at james@rmicweb.org. Also, if you'd like to be removed from the RMIC emailing list or need to update your contact information, please hit reply and let me know.
--
James
The Richmond Moving Image Co-op, home of Flicker and the James River Film Festival, is a nonprofit organization that supports independent media arts in Virginia. Shipping: RMIC, 0 E. 4th St. #54, Richmond, VA 23224. Postal: RMIC, P.O. Box 7469, Richmond, VA 23221, PH: (804) 232-RMIC(7642), WEB: http://www.rmicweb.org.

Julika Rudelius - Video Artist

Carolee Schneeman

Yo, check this out Nia!

Interview with David Altmejd

"I am interested in complexity as a form. I am happy when people are fascinated by the thing itself, when they are absorbed by it and know that it contains something more. Personally, I like experiencing complex objects, but not because I necessarily wish to understand the system. I am seduced by complexity itself. From my perspective, my work is intuitive. I am not able to mention specific reasons why I associate these things. I get a feeling from certain combinations, a feeling that something is going to happen when I mix things together. I do not have to say something; the object will say it. I see my installations as organisms. I start making something but at a certain point it starts making choices by itself." - David Altmejd

Sarah Oppenheimer's Screen

hey Tim check out this lady's work.

"stagecraft" in photography for politics

Not such an arty link, but I found this intereseting in terms of controlling elements of a photograph to acheive a certain end.
it's a SLATE.COM slideshow.

I Heart Photograph

Sebastian Campion's Beach Animals

To imitate the natural processes of living through inventions which not only mimic life but also create something new.

Animation Oscar 2005 Delivery

I liked this one. I like animation that stretches the boundaries of what we conceive possible with "cartoons."

Thanksgiving Prayer By: William S. Burroughs

Hope this works...

Ah Pook

I believe this my favorite in the last year for short films adaptation or not.... This is in reference to creating a mythology to all of those that I spoke to about such....

death needs time for what it kills to grow in.......

RSS feed you favorites

If you do not have one set up. A reader or RSS feed of all of your favorite Blogs and news sites is an excellent way to start your day without having to weed through all of the misc. on every one.

All you do is find a reader, (I use Google reader), and create an account, then select what topics or groups of news bundles you want info from. You get daily updates on new stuff. It is also a great way to search for photo and film blogs.....

Any site that has the orange RSS feed logo can be added to your list....

FLICKR sites?

Out of curriosity, (as this is a photo crowd...) does anyone/everyone have a flickr site?




http://www.flickr.com/photos/





(show you mine if you show me yours!! wink wink!)

LOMO Arigato!

I have tossed this idea around among friends in the past, but have not ever actually done it yet... a group show based on lomography... (haha-- called "Lomo Arigato") dealing with the snapshot esthetic and those crazy little lomo (or holga) cameras...


I was just thinking... about the idea of pulling together a slightly low-brow concept show like this-- and somehow pull it off in Miami during Art Basel! Thus possibly making ourselves eligible for some travel grant money through VCU!!

http://www.lomography.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomography






(Is this acceptable matterial on this blog?)

Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit (Land of Silence And Darkness)

I just included a link cause I can.... ;)
Anyway, In my "material intelligence" class we watched the movie Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit by Werner Herzog. The premise of the film follows several characters in various states of deafness and blindness. Some from birth, some from progressive degeneration. The thing I found most interesting is that the film seems like a documentary, and in certain ways it is. Recently the idea of documentary film as objective truth has become better understood as subjective truth. Herzog's film does document the journey of one women's visitations of others with similar afflictions, however her personae acts as Herzog's guide though out the movie. We as the viewer view the film with the assistance of the guide and Herzog through her. The film explores what life and human existence means and is affected by our senses (or lack thereof). There is the obvious caveat in that that we the viewer rely both on sight and sound to interpret the film, however, the movie is in german. So with the exception of the native speakers, we must rely on an interpreter in order to understand the spoken word through subtitles. As I watched people forced to communicate through various interpreters it dawned on me the measure of trust that must exist between them. It occurred to me that the same trust must exist between us the viewer and the interpreter hired for the film. Interpretation is always the politics of language.

The Sacrifice and Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Upon finishing Tarkovsky's last film "the Sacrifice" I cried those funny happy tears, the source of which were a mystery to me. In fact most of Tarkovsky's films often ended on a simliar note for me, especially in the realm of mystery - the sense of intuitive understanding as yet unstirred by the intellect, remaining hidden like a great secret. This resulting feeling was in fact the thing that kept me coming back to Tarkovsky's films. Now, I see how his films are so much like myths or fairy tales, and of course dreams. Ladened with powerful symbolism and archetypal conflicts his films have the power to communicate emotional and existential truths on an intuitive level, while still veiled in the shroud of secret hidden meanings and psychologically charged but opaque symbols.
The beauty of it all is that whence the intellect does stir and we do try to interpret Tarkovsky's work, a picture so rich and luminous develops it reminds me of the feeling which brought on the mysterious tears in the first place. It seems to spring from the same source - that is the intellectual understanding and the emotional experience. And the presence of both only enriches one another.
The article Zarathustra's Gift in Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice, does a great job of introducing some of the fundamental issues the director dealt with through out his career. Gino Moliterno also has 100% more interesting things to say about the film than I do. It's worth a read.

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/screeningthepast/firstrelease/fr0301/gmfr12a.htm

Local Show has Promise

This show is in Petersburg, and since I am not in town I will miss it. It looks like an interesting concept and work from Patrick Gregory, local filmmaker (and recent recipient of a Virginia Museum of Fine arts Grant) is in this exhibition.

Billboard Project

Check it out...

Zeitgeist the Movie

I pulled this link from Boing Boing. It is a staggering two hours of conspiracy theory, anonymously posted to Google video. From and aesthetic point of view, It is a lot of quick editing, and not that arty, of course it is not trying to be. The premise, however is intriguing to me because of the impact of the viral video. Information from the fringes in video can work in many ways (for, against, backlash) and have the potential for many more viewers on the web. There is a lot of media theory in there somewhere. The impact and the outrage of some of the responses to this video are going to tell more of a story about what America is than the actual story. Yet it speaks of the disheartening and confusing complexities in government, religion and the perpetuation of the ultra rich. It is good to see people stand up to the institution from the conspiracy camp. Hopefully a healthy dialog will ensue instead of trollfights. Somehow, I doubt it though.

Please forgive my comparison here because Zeitgeist is attempting a world view of humanity, but there is a great deal of horrifying shots all slickly edited together for effect. Several parts make you feel like your eyes are going to bleed. I understand the premise, but feel that perhaps by stretching the facts to force a point it becomes almost a "historical fiction in the making".

So, it has me thinking about the esoteric "Trailer for the Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula" by Francesco Vezzoli. I think of this because it has the potential to speak on several levels about culture, while accepting and promoting the media as "entertainment". I find this angle brilliantly subversive, although I am pretty sure the intention of the Zeitgeist video may be informative (or dis-informative), it acts similarly in the end.

300

I probably should not open with a Hollywood movie but I just watched this again.....
So, I guess like most people I cringe at the film 300 for it's homophobic and perhaps racially inappropriate scenes. Yet, I am a huge Frank Miller fan and the adaptation of 300 and Sin City were amazingly accurate. If you look at the content of 300, being historical fiction, then the only real problem comes from timing of the release. Spartans were a part of the free city/states of Greece and they were a militant society that valued strength and fearlessness. They had huge faults as do most cultures, one being that they were slave owners, another being that they used eugenics, yet claimed to be a free people. Maybe in their minds they were free, as we claim to be. Spartans did however have female equality and women owned up to 40% of their land.

I guess my point is that 300 is stylized and brutish, but beautiful in lighting, cinematography (or should I say post production filters), costume design with a dark fiction that highlights some of the problems of freedom, what it means. If I look at the tyrant Xerxes as an example of our current leaders, the movie takes on a new meaning. Frank Miller chooses topics that he says will never hit mainstream, yet he is so violent and his characters sometimes so deplorable, we can't help but watch. Like a slick slow motion car crash.

I do wish however, that the producers took more responsibility for the tone and the times, and got rid of the homophobic language, no one knows for sure if the Spartans were a strictly heterocentric culture.

Posts

This Blog has been created by the Fall 2007/2008 Graduate Photo and Film studio class, this blog contains opinions of individuals in this course and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the University.