Final Program for Macau

Exhibition: Human Emotion Project (HEP)
Venue: AFA @ Portuguese Bookshop Gallery
Date: August 8 to September 5
Hours: 11AM to 7PM
Media: Video
Curator: José Drummond

Video is one of the most prolific visual mediums in use today. The Human Emotion Project (HEP) Macau selection links together more than 40 voices from all over the world. Presented in 4 weeks, each with a different program exploring different topics.
“Paradox”, “Loss & Desire”, “Transformation” and “Fantasy” are the chosen topics for understanding video art, its own multiplicity and the reunion around the imaginative subject of The Human Emotion Project (HEP).

Paradox – August 8 to August 14
The artists in “Paradox” investigate the contradictions between documentary and performance, fact and fiction, order & chaos. What is real and what is staged? The absurdity of real life, the ambiguity of movement and the enigma of space are some of the perceptions raised in “Paradox”.

Dave Swensen Until Death Parts Us 01:23 - USA
Nicole Rademacher Walk With Me 01:16 - USA
Khairy Hirzalla Looking for 01:54 - Jordan
Hakan Akcura Catharsis 05:25 - Turkey/Sweden
Larry Caveney Arm Wresting Intervention 08:51 - USA
Kim Miller Thanx for Meeting Me Here 03:11 - USA
Vienne Chan Nightdance 05:53 - HK/Canada
Basmati Corpus Tracks 05:17 - Italy
Irina Gabiani Samaia or Triamzikamno 06:26 - Luxembourg
Xenia Vargova Tutu 03:10 - Bulgaria
Ng Fong Chao Redemption 10:55 - Macau

Loss & Desire - August 15 to August 21
“Loss & Desire” explores the ambiguity of misplaced feelings from the philosophical aspect to the emotional. The strong deficit of engagement, the desire for connection and the interior struggle for clarity are permanent in each work.

Gaia Bartolini Unseen Dialogue 07:21 - Italy
Daniel Chavez Self Examination – I Am Nothing 02:38 - USA
Wilfried Agricola de Cologne Silent Cry 03:05 - Germany
Richard Jochum Mama 01:34 - USA
Alison Williams Cage-panic 01:46 - RSA
José Drummond The Skeptic 02:13 - Macau
Debbie Douez Two in One 03:18 - Spain
Manfred Marburger Proud 02:15 - UK
Gili Avissar Self portrait-Dead artist 00:34 - Israel
Jose Drummond The Illusionist 01:58 - Macau
Masha Yozefpolsky Deep Freeze - Israel
Bianca Lei Won Ton noodles, I love …… IT ! 13:00 - Macau

Transformation - August 22 to August 28
The power of “Transformation” is a vibrant and integral part of our lives. The mystery of life changing, the spirituality of isolated gestures and sounds and the manipulation of these elements compose a space of reflection and intimacy.

Amina Bech Tranquility Inverted 03:40 - Norway
Bill Millett The Book 06:46 - UK
Anders Weberg Undisclosed beauty 03:13 - Sweden
Glenn Church Fragility 05:33 - UK
Alison Williams/Anders Weberg Mirror mirror 02:30 – RSA/Sweden
Christy Walsh Isolation 03:28 - USA
Alberto Guerreiro Transcendent 04:30 - Portugal
Alicia Felberbaum There and Back 02:47 - UK
Sue Pam-grant Portrait 03:26 - RSA
Danny Germansen Alienation & loneliness 01:59 - Denmark
Alice Kok The Duet 03:21 - Macau

Fantasy - August 29 to September 4
“Fantasy” draws inspiration from the apparent fascination of lively graphic imagery. The looping of the modern era, the provocation of literature, the encounter with the fantastical and the employment of technology contribute to the process making of these visual stories.

Adamo Macri OOC 05:51 - Canada
Ebert Brothers Bluescape 02:57 - Germany
Verena Stenke/Andrea Pagnes Crossing 02:44 - Italy
Robertina Sebjanic Bubble 06:02 - Slovenia
Niclas Hallberg The Crying Man 01:23 - Sweden
Michael Chang Concerto Azzurro 06:10 - Denmark
Paolo Bonfiglio Mater 07:20 - Italy
João Ricardo Scarleet 07:04 - Portugal
Cindy Ng Walking 09:25 - China

Sleep

I've been sleeping a lot lately.
I used to always remember my dreams, at least right after I woke up. Now I find that I don't. All that seems to remain is a sensation of the last feeling that I had.

Eyes Everywhere

I am participating in a new project: Eyes Everywhere (Ojos por Todos Lados).

Eyes Everywhere is a collective photo project in which women around the world dialogue through images. Every week artists post images from their location. Every month the theme changes. The project currently involves artists from Mexico, USA, Spain, Uruguay, Malaysia, Argentina, the Netherlands, Dubai, Austria and France. Every Saturday images and place speak, not words.

The images posted from Santiago de Chile are mine.

Enjoy!

What the rain brought

The past week has been dreary, rainy, gray, and cold.
Starting Friday night and not letting up until late Saturday evening we had an utter downpour.
But after the rain, the smog cleared and the view was magnificent, spectacular, and, yes, breath-taking.



The city was quiet (ok, fine, it was a holiday anyway). I think I saw smiles on people's faces - even though I suspect that the Chileans barely notice their fantastic physical location (this is backed-up by an experience the last time the rain cleared the smog: ¡Mira la vista! I said. ¡Tan bonita! ¡Impresionante! my chilean friend's response was, ¿Qué?)

New Media

I think this one speaks for itself:









or maybe you can't see all the digital cameras ------------------------>

Gesture and Contrived Realities

Much of the last week has been spent remastering and re-exporting videos for the web. As mentioned in yesterday's entry, I finally uploaded videos to my vimeo profile. And of course I am using them (well, the ones that have better quality) for my site - ah free bandwidth.

This has given me an extraordinary chance to truly look at the videos I have made over the years (even the in-camera edited one from 2002 - or maybe it was 2001). I found that even though I find text and language fascinating, I rarely use it in my work - or the dialogue that is present, I have not employed for its meaning, but rather for its noise or symbolism.

In When I grow up ... in particular, the words hold no meaning on their own, they tell no story. They story is in the gesture, in the symbolism, in the nonsense.

Similarily in día, the words only give the viewer reference to time of day and place in the world. The story is told through the order of the shots, the repetition of the actions, the gesture and acting.

This continues through every video, up to my most current work - where my MFA thesis (of 2008, which I think I may still be battling with) specifically and opening looks at gesture and its ability to tell a story - to construct a story, in fact.

I started constructing my stories through gesture, and now I document the gestures and allow them to construct their own stories. The gestures lead me to tell you what I see.

Walk with me, for instance, was nothing more than boredom on my friend's balcony in Barcelona. I saw that the women were walking in sync. I tried three times to get the right shot. I used their motions to guide me through the editing, to direct me (rather than me being the director), to reveal their story to me and thus to the viewer.

I am putting together (aka writing) a proposal for a residency, here in Chile. I have been looking at my work and the work of others (in particular Eija-Liisa Ahtila [just google her]), trying to make sense of things - ya know, in a cohesive and somewhat logical fashion. I always knew that something was missing from that series of 62 videos, but the question was: what? My thesis committee (and other faculty members) pushed me to figure that out. Unfortunately, things come when the come for me - be it slow or immediately. The missing part for this came about a year too late. I think I am a late bloomer when it comes to things of the mind, but that is besides the point. So, they pushed and pushed, and what came out? Writing: semi-poetic writing about the videos, attempts to explain in English what I saw and felt, an attempt to give the viewer more direction on how to see my work.

An aside would be how I feel about "telling" people how to see my work, but we can save that topic for another post - preferable one that isn't at almost 2am.

All in all, I think that what I wrote during those months (see thesis books) is very valid. In fact, that is where I am at with this body of work. I am interested in sucking the narrative out of the videos and finding the words. After the words have been extracted, I will need to refine them, to let them show me how their story plays out.

Well, I guess I should try to get some sleep. Any thoughts, as always, are welcome.
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Vimeo - for real!

So I finally uploaded videos to my vimeo account.

You can see all the new ones and some oldies. In fact you can see the entire version of día ... aw memories...