Universo vídeo. Kinetic Histories
A Brief Tour through Five Decades in Ten Works.
Throughout 2011, LABoral will carry out an exhaustive revision of the international video-art scene, with various different seasons at its Mediateca Expandida, an experimental curatorial space giving cultural producers (artists, researchers, designers, architects, musicians, games developers, etc.) an opportunity to take part in an exercise aimed at expanding knowledge through processes that would otherwise remain invisible, as well as at rethinking ways of creating new working interfaces which are not contemplated in conventional exhibitions.
Universo vídeo is the opening shot in a new line of work, through which the Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial wishes to present research into this medium, showcasing works created from the 1960s to date. To this end, it brings on board the differing perspectives of curators from various parts of the world.
Encompassing five decades, the ten single-channel video works in this exhibition are drawn from the extensive archive of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), a nonprofit media art resource in New York. EAI is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2011, a landmark that provides a framework for reflections on the multiple histories, artistic practices and cultural contexts that have informed media art in the United States.
Rather than a survey, Kinetic Histories can be seen as a discursive tour through some of the creative interventions and uncanny visions that have defined artists’ use of video and digital media. Two works from each decade —from the 1960s to the 2000s— are set in dialogue with one another. From the analogue improvisations of the 1960s to the digital remixes of the 2000s, the works capture the specific (and eclectic) cultural, technological and artistic landscapes from which they emerged.
Although these works reveal multiple forms and strategies, the artists’ critical engagements with media culture is a key thread. Radical manipulations of television in the 1960s and 1970s are echoed in recent inquiries into the ubiquity of digital technologies and Internet culture. Activating a dialogue between divergent works in and across time, this kinetic tour also speaks to the idea of the “salon” as a space animated by conversation and exchange.
Curated by: Lori Zippay, Director, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York
Artists: Dara Birnbaum (USA, 1946), Harry Dodge & Stanya Kahn (USA, 1966/ USA, 1968), Joan Jonas (USA, 1936), Kristin Lucas (USA, 1968), Takeshi Murata (USA, 1974), Bruce Nauman (USA, 1941), Nam June Paik & Jud Yalkut (South Korea, 1932-2006 / USA, 1938), Raindance (USA, 1969), Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland, 1962), Leslie Thornton (USA, 1951)
Spatial design: longo+roldán
