Manipulated Image #13: |
| Special thanks to: All the participating artists, Kika Nicolela, Philip Mantione, John Gordon (CCA), Jason Silverman (CCA), Javier Hernandez (CCA), Martin Back. |
 "The mouth" by NIKOLAY KURBATSKY (Saint Petersburg, Russia) |
 "The Labyrinth" by EVA OLSSON (Sweden) |
 "Stoned in L.A." by ALYSSE STEPANIAN (USA) |
 "Sin Titulo" by NINO CAIS (Brazil) |
 above: video still from "For Sore Eyes" (2006, 2:17) by Anders Weberg (Malmö, Sweden) |
EXPERIMENTAL SHORT VIDEOS |
 above: video still from IMPRESCINDÍVEIS [THE INDISPENSABLE ONES] by CARLOSMAGNO RODRIGUES (2003, 05:22, Brazil) |
SELECTIONS BY ALYSSE STEPANIAN 1. GERALD GUTHRIE (Illinois, USA) |
 "We, Self-Portrait" by FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ (Brazil) |
 "Tear/Torn" by MARCELO AMORIM (Brazil) |
 "Flickering" by KIKA NICOLELA (Brazil) |
 "IMPRESCINDÍVEIS [THE INDISPENSABLE ONES]" by CARLOSMAGNO RODRIGUES (Brazil) |
BY ALYSSE STEPANIAN: "Absence||Presence" refers to the opposition of living a conscious, authentic, "present" life, rather than one of "absence," superficiality and oblivion. Gerald Guthrie (Illinois) questions our social values through his animations. His overly refined and sterile characters are impotent, lacking self-will, prisoners of hypocritical mores and contradictory needs. Nikolay Kurbatsky (Russia) has based "Little black" on an excerpt from Sartre's "Nausea." His works are internal reflections of "fears and uncertainties," violence, and "disturbing discomfort of reality." Yaron Lapid (UK) composes an album of found photographs, but refrains from showing the eyes of the subjects, as if the window to their souls is out of bounds. Eva Olson (Sweden) is skeptical about the apparent motives of our institutionalized social constructs, while Simone Stoll (Germany) seems to have embraced the absurd tragedy of this world that runs its course regardless of our beliefs, values, and constructed realities. In Stoll's "Rain" a female figure determinedly keeps her balance on a narrow plank of wood, as she walks toward an unavoidable concrete wall. Anders Weberg (Sweden) brings into question the concept of "reality" itself, through disturbing images of drowning, bound, or floating figures. He speaks of the "meaninglessness" of human interactions, questions concepts of freedom, and the reality of our emotions that are "filtered by the net." |
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GERALD GUTHRIE (Illinois, USA) I was born in 1951 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. My father was a college art professor and former graduate student of Grant Wood (“American Gothic”). I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University if Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1973 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1977. I am currently an Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign. My interest in 3D modeling and animation began in 1996 and I remain self-taught in the use of animation software. Though I have always been intrigued with many art technologies, I now see digital animation as an appropriate tool for my career long goal to create and readily disseminate open ended, metaphorical narratives. I currently teach 3D animation and foundation level design courses, create art, remain happily married, and continue to enjoy the diversity of my life.
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 above: video still from "Little black" |
NIKOLAY KURBATSKY (Saint Petersburg, Russia) Born 1982, Tomsk, Russia. Studied in Moscow State University, faculty of journalism and Tambov State University, faculty of public relations. Degree of candidate of science in Russian literature. Took part in several group exhibitions in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. 2. "Andryusha" - 3:15 3. "Mrs. Butcher" - 1:12 |
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YARON LAPID (London, UK) "The New Zero" 3:00 The artist has reprocessed the found material to create an atypical “family album” composed of moving portraits that fluidly fade into black before revealing their main features. By reversing the conventions of documentary editing, the video focuses on marginal details such as body posture, clothes and accessories to suggest the habits and costumes of Jerusalem in the 70s, providing hints of the atmosphere of that time. The loop reinforces the sense of a stratified past that cannot be pictured at once, but has slowly informed the layers of this multifaceted society. A society in which the most basic human encounter, eye to eye, is not always effortless and where formal differences often demark profound cultural oppositions. These photographs, which have crystallised a particular moment of individual histories, form a visual archive whose gaps can be filled by the viewer’s imagination and inner projections. (Adopted from a text by Gaia Tedone) |
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EVA OLSSON (Sweden) I’m a swedish artist who works with contemporary art. The moving image and animation are my major way of expression. I have been studied at art colleges and universities in England and Japan. My works are philosophical reflections on everyday life and social issues in the modern western world. I'm reconstructing familiar situations to create new insights to become short animations. My works are mainly shown at videoscreenings and festivals throughout Europe and north America. I'm the project assistant of Art Video Screening which is an international annual event and platform focusing on videoart. Art Video Screening is the initiator and head coordinator for Örebro International Videoart Festival. 1. "The Labyrinth" 2009, 3:41 2. "The Factory" 2009, 2:13 |
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ALYSSE STEPANIAN (USA) |
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SIMONE STOLL (Germany and USA) Simone Stoll studied in Berlin and London, lived in France and Iceland and works currently in Germany and the USA. Her research is based on body and mind, human studies interwoven with personal experience. Earlier in form of painting, she now concentrates on drawing, photo and video. She has collaborated with neuro-scientists and multi-media artists. Her work is intimate, sometimes raw and always poetic in search for beauty. Her means are simple and direct; she is the sole performer of her videos and model to photos. She has been artist-in-residence with the Museum of Reykajvik, the Academy of the Arts Berlin and art centers in France. Her work can be found in European collections. She has participated in video festivals and shows in Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA. In 2007, Simone was part of the Biennale of Québec and received the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant. |
1. "RAIN" 2008, 1:30 |
2. "CROW" 2009, 1:00 Production: Advance Pictures Tech: Pal, colour, sound Concept, camera and editor: Simone Stoll Selected for: NORD ART, Kunst in der Carlshütte, Germany, June-October 2010 "Crow", a poetic observation. This animation consists of a series of digital photographs of a somehow cruel scene of a crow’s feast, picking and pulling at the insides of a frog. This short scene witnesses an essential moment of life, of survival, life and death being paired. Its inherent hierarchy is made evident. The Image as well as the audio is multi-layered. The sound uses recorded squawks paired with electronic sounds that subtly enhance the alarming, frightening side to the raw but poetic images. |
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ANDERS WEBERG (Malmö, Sweden) |
| 1. "For Sore Eyes" 2006, 2:17 Video and Sound: Anders Weberg “For Sore Eyes” is another exploration of the ambivalence of the male gaze and gendered (dis)order. It is a suggestive reflection of life in the pyrotechnic in sanatorium of consumerism freedom. But what is really freedom? 2. "Meaninglessness Act: two" January 7, 2010, 3:00 |
3. "Mirror Mirror" July 2009, 2:30 Collaboration Anders Weberg, Sweden and Alison Williams, South Africa. A mirror is an object with at least one polished and therefore reflective surface. The most familiar type of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface. Curved mirrors are also used, to produce magnified or diminished images or focus light or simply distort the reflected image. Mirrors are commonly used for personal grooming (in which case the old-fashioned term "looking-glass" can be used), decoration, and architecture. In this instance - two people are the mirrors, making an attempt at echoing their emotions through visual media. The looking glass of the soul. Also the artists Anders Weberg & Alison Wiliams have never met in real life, only seen each other on line and therefore their emotions are kind of filtered by the net. More "unreal" than real. |
BY KIKA NICOLELA: This selection of video works from Brazilian contemporary artists presents different approaches and strategies in the use of the video media. What they all have in common is the investigation of the tension between absence and presence within the video frame. In many of the videos, the artist is actually present in the frame, often performing an action that emphasizes and/or questions life’s ephemeral quality – examples are Nino Cais “Sin Titulo”, Luiz Roque’s “The Red Project” and Marcelo Amorim’s “Tear / Torn”. Other works question the idea of self-representation, such as Renata Padovan’s “Self-Portrait in Media”, Fernando Velazquez’ “We, Self-Portrait” and Kika Nicolela’s “Flickering”. These artists explore the paradox of self-portrait in video (which may seem realistically representational): once the artist reduces him or herself to an image in the frame, does his/her own body become an empty shell or a double of his/her real self? In works such as Lucas Bambozzi’s “Here Again”, Juliana Mundim’s “Things that Happen When I Think of You” or Dellani Lima’s and Ana Moravi’s “El Dia Que Me Quieras”, the artist’s discourse and sensitivity manifests itself strongly throughout. While the artist might be mostly absent from the frame, manipulations on the audio and image editing create a very subjective experience, conveying the artists’ unique perception of the world. And finally, Carlos Magno Rodrigues’ “Imprescindíveis” and Roberto Bellini’s “The Landscape Theory” deal directly with the tension of absence / presence, as well as with the act of framing, of watching and being watched. In these works, the artist’s presence behind the camera is evident through his voice off screen in a constant dialogue with the image onscreen. These works take place in two simultaneous spheres – that which is present on the frame, and that which is absent - and both are continuously interacting with each other. Most of the artists in this selection come from either São Paulo or Minas Gerais – two Brazilian states from which have originated a wealth of video art production for the past three decades. These videos were also chosen with the intention of presenting artists that are established and have well-known productions (such as Lucas Bambozzi and Giselle Beiguelman) alongside emerging artists with very interesting recent productions (like Felipe Barros or Juliana Mundim). Some of these artists work mainly with video (CarlosMagno Rodrigues, Roberto Bellini, Dellani), while others come from the contemporary art scene and work with other media such as painting, photography, and installation (Renata Padovan, Nino Cais and Marcelo Amorim). |
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RENATA PADOVAN (Brazil) Born in São Paulo, Brazil, where she lives and works. Graduated with a BA degree in Social Communications from FAAP, São Paulo, followed by an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, in 2001. Among the artist residencies: NES at Skagaströnd, Iceland; the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Canada; Nagasawa Art Park in Japan, and Braziers international artists workshop in the UK. Padovan has held solo exhibitions in several galleries including Galeria Millan, Galeria Valu Oria, Galeria Thomas Cohn and Galeria Eduardo Fernades in São Paulo and in Rio de Janeiro at Espaço Cultural dos Correios, Paço Imperial and Museu do Açude. Among the group shows: 2010 ‘Wolderland, actions and paradoxes’ Centro Cultural São Paulo; Videoformes, Clermont-Ferrand, France; 2009 ‘Unframed world’ MAC São Paulo, Director’s Lounge, Berlin; 2008 ‘Container art’, São Paulo; 2007 ‘The Lucifer Effect’, Gallery Primo Alonso, London; 2006 ‘Interações Urbanas’, Pelotas; Festival Pocket Film, Centre Pompidou, Paris; 19 Instants Vidéo, Marseille, France; 2005 ‘Protest Academy’, London; ‘Ocupação’, Paço das Artes, São Paulo. |
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CARLOSMAGNO RODRIGUES (Brazil) Carlosmagno Rodrigues, born in 1972 in Brazil, holds a degree in Animated Films and Fine Arts. His videos have been shown at several exhibitions and festivals in Brazil and abroad. Rodrigues is artistic consultant for the Implementation Program of geographical data processing in the State of Minas Gerais - Brazil and electronic art teacher at FUNARBE Art Foundation. IMPRESCINDÍVEIS [THE INDISPENSABLE ONES] 2003, 05:22 min A father tries to subvert his son, who reacts and resists. Based on domestic images, the video deals with manipulation. |
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GISELLE BEIGUELMAN (Brazil) Giselle Beiguelman is a new media artist and curator. She teaches Digital Culture at the Graduation Program of PUC-SP (São Paulo, Brazil) and is Artistic Director of Sergio Motta Institute. In her work she researches the cultural impact of technology and explores the potentials of emerging forms of networks. HÁ MARES2009, 02:50 min Seascapes built by the superposition of different oceans. Recorded at: Rio de Janeiro, Patagonia, Paros, Sergipe and Yucatan, using different cell phones from 2006 - 2009. |
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NINO CAIS (Brazil) Born in 1969 in São Paulo, Brazil. Lives and works in São Paulo. Nino Cais conceives his body as a framework, a starting point and a material for his artworks: drawings, photographs, performances and videos. In his video Sin Titulo the artist is facing the immensity of the ocean, after the Romantic tradition. But, with his feet in the water contained in a bucket, he brings down this vast amount of water to human scale. SIN TITULO |
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LUIZ ROQUE (Brazil) Luiz Roque (Cachoeira do Sul, 1979). Lives and works in Sao Paulo. He works with film, video, photography and recently in projects involving neon light. His works has been shown individually in places like Paço das Artes (São Paulo, 2oo8) and Atelier Subterrânea (Porto Alegre, 2oo9) and in group shows such as "Abre Alas 6" (A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro, 2o1o ) and "Video Links Brazil" (Tate Modern, London, 2oo7). "Projeto Vermelho" (The Red Project) won the FIAT Prize (2oo6) and was exhibited at the 12th. Biennnial de l'image en Mouvement (CIC, Geneva, 2oo7) and included in the selection LÚCIDA, an overview of the latin american videoarte aired on argentinean television (channel (à) in 2oo7) and travelled to FIFA Festival (Montreal) and Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno in the Canary Islands (both in 2oo9). PROJETO VERMELHO [THE RED PROJECT]2006, 05 min Alternative clouding process. |
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FELIPE BARROS (Brazil) Graduated in Visual Arts, in Santa Marcelina University, Felipe Barros began his works in 2005. For him, video art is a tool for his research about memory, time and identity. Since then, his work involves materials like old family films, which he subverts, creating a new narrative. He also uses old photographs, subjecting them to the physical conditions of wear, such as immersion in corrosive or freezing in blocks of ice, dealing with the issue of the disappearance of memory. Another aspect of his work involves the possibilities of digital imaging. Felipe Barros uses these resources to create new narratives and filmic realities that deal from the urban landscape the passage of time. MÚRMURIO DA VIDA [LIFE BUZZ] |
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MARCELO AMORIM (Brazil) Born in 1977, Amorim lives and works in São Paulo. He has taken photograph courses in the Catholic University of Goias and ESPM (Sao Paulo). Took part of the group of accompaniment of artistic processes with Juliana Monachesi and Guy Amado between 2007 and 2008. Also participates of the Atelie Fidalga, group of research co-ordinated by Albano Alfonso and Sandra Cinto. Is integrant of Atelie 397, place of production and exposition of contemporary art. Participated of solo exhibition in Centro Cultural Sao Paulo and collective exhibitions in institutions as Sesc Pompeia (2007, 2008), Municipal Gallery of Art Victor Kursancew (2007), Museum of Art of Ribeirao Preto Peter Manuel Gismondi (2008), Fototeca Juan Malpica Mimendi (2008), Sesc Pinheiros (2009), Museum Victor Meirelles (2009) and Carpe Diem Art and Research (2009). TEAR/TORN |
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DELLANI LIMA and ANA MORAVI (Brazil) Born in Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. Filmmaker, musician, and producer from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. His major exhibitions include showings at Vidéoformes (France), Asolo Art Film Festival (Italy), Media Forum in Moscow, the Hamburg International Short Film Festival, the JVC Tokyo Video Festival, VideoBrasil, and South Africa's KO Video Festival. Curator and jury of projects inBrazil: Mostra Vídeo do Itaú Cultural, Indie - Mostra de Cinema Mundial, Mostra do Filme Livre and III DOCTV (MG). For the past ten years, he has performed in five musical intervention projects, "Madame Rrose Selavy,"Splishjam," and "E Disse Que Era Economista," which he founded and also provides digital support for. Ana Moravi Director and researcher of visual arts. Studies in Media and Art Education, residing in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Develops projects in audiovisual and art education. EL DÍA QUE ME QUIERAS |
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JULIANA MUNDIM (Brazil) Juliana Mundim is an artist and filmmaker who lives between Sao Paulo and New York, eventually spending months traveling the world making videos, drawings and photos. Her videos have been shown in Germany, USA, France, Brazil and Japan among others. In her work people inhabit an often dreamy, somehow abstract reality, where action heads beyond the mundane happenings of our everyday life. THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN WHEN I THINK OF YOU |
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KIKA NICOLELA (Brazil) Kika Nicolela is concerned with examining the connections between the camera, subject, author and viewer. She’s interested in issues such as the construction of identity, communication and voyeurism. She also investigates how the relationship between our body and the surrounding world (ie. nature or urban settings and culture) shapes identity. Her works often involves participative methods, engaging communities in the creative process, as well as collaboration with other artists such as visual artists, dancers, musicians, photographers, writers, actors and performers. As part of her creative process, she often creates set-ups that make her and her collaborators get out of their comfort zones, provoking unexpected, original results. FLICKERING2009, 02:44 min From darkness to light and back to darkness. |
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LUCAS BAMBOZZI (Brazil) Lucas Bambozzi is a multimedia artist and curator based in São Paulo, Brazil. His works are constituted by authorial and independent pieces, including a wide variety of formats, such as installations, single channel videos, short films and interactive projects. His works have been shown in solo and collective exhibitions in more than 40 countries. Recent exhibitions include Interconnect at ZKM, Karlsruhe/Germany (2006), Pensé Sauvage at Frankfurter Kunstverein in Germany (2007); Emergentes at Laboral, (2007/2008) Gijon/Spain and Fundación Telefonica (2008), Buenos Aires/Argentina; RE:akt!, reconstruction, re-enactment, re-reporting, at ŠKUC gallery, Ljubljana/Slovenia and at Museum of Contemporary Art Rijeka/ Croatia, Restraint at Oboros Montreal/Canadá. Recent curatorial projects include: SonarSound (2004); Digitofagia (2004); Life Goes Mobile (Nokiatrends 2005 and 2006), Motomix Art & Music Festival (2006) among other shows. He is one of the initiators and curators of the arte.mov, International Mobile Media Art Festival (2006-2009). AQUI DE NOVO2002, 06 min Aqui de Novo is a video-essay about gaps, blurred definitions and contemporary contradictions. It evokes a sentence by Felix Gonzalez Torres (somewhere better than this place/nowhere better than this place) to rely on conflicts between public and private spheres: what one wants and what one will effectively do; when the other is desired and when he/she is avoided. |
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FERNANDO VELÁZQUEZ (Brazil) Invisible structures of everyday life gain form in painting, installation, object, video, and off- and online programming by this Uruguayan artist resident in Brazil since 1997. The tensions of life in society and the ways in which identities are structured inspire his creations, the most recent of which are based on research into self-portraits and landscapes. “The universe of art is a field of action with its own characteristics. For me, making art is a way of being and living in the world in dialogue with that universe”, explains Velázquez. A graduate in multimedia design and holder of a specialization in video and digital technologies from the Barcelona Superior School of Design, a master’s degree in fashion, art, and culture from Faculdade Senac de Moda (São Paulo), and currently pursuing a doctorate in communication and semiotics from PUC-SP, Velázquez has participated in such events as FILE (São Paulo) and the Thessaloniki Biennale (Greece) in 2009. This year he will hold a solo exhibition at Galeria dos Arcos and feature at the 7th Mercosur Biennial, both in Porto Alegre. Among the awards he has won are the Mídias Locativas arte.mov, at the International Festival of Mobile Media (Belo Horizonte, 2008), Vida Artificial 11.0 and 2008 Culturas awards, both in Madrid, as well as UNESCO and Capes master’s degree and scientific research scholarships. WE, SELF-PORTRAIT |
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ROBERTO BELLINI (Brazil) Roberto Bellini Graduated in Drawing from the School of Fine Arts, at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. He has participated in several collective exhibitions and international video festivals with work in diverse media in Brazil and abroad. His videos have received prizes in the 15º Salão de Arte da Bahia, Festival do Filme Livre in Rio de Janeiro, 2nd Inter-American Biennial of Video Art in United States and the 10th Santa Maria da Feira Film Festival in Portugal. His videos have been screened in exhibits and festivals all over the world including the 61st International Locarno Film Festival, in Switzerland, Untamed Paradises at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vigo, Spain, the 14th and 15th VIDEOBRASIL Festival in São Paulo, Kunst Film Biennale in Germany and Ways to See at the Centro Fundación Telefónica in Peru. Roberto recently finished his MFA in the Transmedia department of the University of Texas at Austin. With his work in Texas Roberto participated in important shows such as the 2007 Texas Biennial, Lone Star Video at the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv, This Land is Your Land at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and Texas/Nexus at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston. LANDSCAPE THEORY |