presenting work by 11 video artists from 6 countries...

For October of 2012, Alysse Stepanian of Manipulated Image was invited to curate one half hour program for art:screen fest 2012. To date, this curation has travelled to the following festivals:

Coagula Curatorial
September 1, 2013
7pm-9pm
Downtown, Los Angeles, California


Festival Miden
festival dates: July 4 - 6, 2013
Don't Eat the Yellow Snow screening on...
July 5, 2013
Kalamata's Historic Center (Amfeias' square)
Kalamata, Greece


art:screen fest goes on-tour....
presenting Don't Eat the Yellow Snow on
March 9 - April 21, 2013
Vetlanda Museum
Sweden



700IS Reindeerland event
festival dates: Feb 7-10, 2013
Don't Eat the Yellow Snow screenings on...
Friday, Feb 8, 22:30
and
Saturday, Feb 9, 18:30
Nordic House, Reykjavík, Iceland



art:screen Fest 2012
October 5 - 7, 2012
Don't Eat the Yellow Snow screening on...
Oct 5th, 13:30
Bio Roxy
Örebro, Sweden

Don't Eat the Yellow Snow

MANIPULATED IMAGE GOES TO SWEDEN, ICELAND, GREECE...









see images from the October event in Örebro, Sweden here...


select from the left menu or scroll down for details about the curation...
BACK TO TOP

Festival Miden
festival dates: July 4 - 6, 2013
Don't Eat the Yellow Snow screening on...
July 5, 2013
Kalamata's Historic Center (Amfeias' square)
Kalamata, Greece

The central curating is signed by Gioula Papadopoulou and Margarita Stavraki, while certain programs were curated this year by Ioanna Dimitrakopoulou-Koutava, Terpsi Kontargyri, Maria Bourika and Manuela Gascon.

Parallel screenings in Athens, CAMP [Contemporary Art Meeting Point, Kotzia square]

Press Release:
http://issuu.com/gioula/docs/festival_miden_2013_pr_a_eng
Program:
http://issuu.com/gioula/docs/festival_miden_2013_program_eng
Parallel events program:
http://issuu.com/gioula/docs/parallel_events_festival_miden_2013

Also download Parallel Events catalog/program (MI' on pg. 5) here...




BACK TO TOP




art:screen fest goes on-tour....

presenting Don't Eat the Yellow Snow on
March 9 - April 21, 2013
Vetlanda Museum
Sweden



organized by
art:screen
co-founders and curators:
Eva Olsson & Jonas Nilsson
Also see MI's "CURATORS & PARTNERS"

DOWNLOAD CATALOG HERE (1.8 MB)...




BACK TO TOP

Don't Eat the Yellow Snow goes to Iceland...

In this event Stepanian's video, Roghieh will also be screened with the Don't Eat the Yellow Snow compilation


700IS Reindeerland event
at the Nordic House (Feb 7-10, 2013)
Manipulated Image screenings:
Friday, Feb 8, 22:30 and Saturday, Feb 9, 18:30

700IS Reindeerland is based in Reykjavík and
was founded and is curated by
artist and curator, Kristín Scheving
Also see MI's "CURATORS & PARTNERS"









BACK TO TOP



art:screen Fest 2012

October 5 - 7, 2012
opens October 5 @ 12:00 - Bio Roxy
screening of "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" @ 13:30
Örebro, Sweden

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:
During the festival there will be
109 videos screenings selected by
14 invited curators by artists from
31 countries in
16 programs and...
5 video installations by
6 artists

Arranged by
6 organizers at
4 spaces during
3 days in Örebro and Grythyttan, Sweden.
And much, much more …

Head organizers of the festival are art:screen co-founders and curators: Eva Olsson & Jonas Nilsson

Also see MI's "CURATORS & PARTNERS"


Download festival's complete program here... (3.6 MB).

BACK TO TOP

“Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow”
By Alysse Stepanian


The powers that control societies endorse selective blindness that stifles our natural sense of compassion and justice as social beings. They capitalize on our desire for convenience and drive for self-preservation. We tend to look away, unless faced with personal calamity or transgression that affects immediate family, our allies, tribe, nation, or us. The title of this curation was inspired by the iconoclastic American composer, Frank Zappa’s song, which tells the story of a boy that is unable to look away from the beating of his favorite seal by a profit-seeking trapper. The ten videos in this show were chosen based on their relevance to an essay of the same title, available for download here...

Christopher Coleman’s animation “Modern Times” is a visual essay about the post-911 U.S. government using the fear of terrorism for control and distraction from issues it is unwilling to address. Taiwanese artist, Wei-Ming Ho’s “The Art-Qaeda Project” utilizes the sounds of Morse code and figures from the Environmental Sustainability Index for a video created from the documentation of a series of guerrilla-type nocturnal projections on government and other buildings in Taipei. This work brings attention to the relationship between human activities and the destruction of the environment. In “The Cameo (Collapsing Memory; Savage Series)” Indonesian artist M.R.Adytama Pranada Charda superimposes the living portrait of a man over a still image of a bloody face that represents the military generals allegedly murdered by the G30S/PKI Indonesian communist Party in 1965. While opposing views point to the possibilities of foul play and the involvement of the internal army, the persecution of the communists eventually led to the election of General Suharto as the country’s president. Iranian-born Alysse Stepanian's video, based on her early dream journal, brings attention to the transience and volatility of social and political hierarchical structures in a post-revolutionary Iran. Israeli-born, London-based artist Guli Silberstein uses documentary footage found online, depicting a young woman who tries to protect a group of civilians from the weapons of Israeli soldiers. This powerful image in “Disturbdance” shows the human side of war. One wonders whether the two soldiers are as affected by the image of this heroic woman, as are the viewers. Socially constructed hierarchies often disrupt the flow of information. Iranian artist, Farideh Shahsavarani’s “Circulus Vitiosus” forces us to acknowledge the invisible walls built with blind prejudices. “The Romantic Self-Exiles 1” is a meditation on the memories and emotional attachments of the Iranian-born artist Morehshin Allahyari. Currently living in the U.S., Allahyari reminisces about what once was, before she chose self-exile over self-censorship. In a surreal animation “Dauphin 007” New York-based artist, Jonathan Monaghan relates elements and events associated with the French monarchy to contemporary forms of institutionalized control. In “Boxed” by Eric Hynynen of Finland, an adult-like child wearing a corporate tie cries feverishly. The freakish child is trapped in a box in the middle of the rubble of a destroyed office. U.S.-based artist, Kasumi’s "JIMMY" depicts a boy from an early American black and white movie. We are continuously reminded that Jimmy is “emotionally sick” because he is afraid of others. The image of the terrified child is juxtaposed against scenes of violence; Jimmy “can run, but he cannot hide”. In an animation video, U.S.-born artist, Michael Lasater depicts a man in a constant state of consumption. Using humor in “Billboard”, Lasater equates this man’s ravenous eating to the American consumer society.

PROGRAM
TOTAL RUN TIME: 35:04 mins

1) Christopher Coleman (Colorado/USA)
“Modern Times”
2:46 min, 2004, color, stereo, animation, 4:3

2) Wei-Ming Ho (Taipei/Taiwan)
“The Art-Qaeda Project”
4:11 min, 2010, color, mono, 16:9

3) M.R.Adytama Pranada Charda (Bandung and Jakarta/Indonesia)
“The Cameo (Collapsing Memory; Savage Series)”
0:59 sec, 2011, color, silent, 16:9

4) Guli Silberstein (London/UK)
“Disturbdance”
3:25 min, 2012, color, stereo, 16:9, UK-Israel

5) Alysse Stepanian (Los Angeles/USA)
"Roghieh"
5:31 min, 2009, color, stereo, 16:9, Armenian/Farsi/English subtitles

NOTE: Stepanian did not include her own work in the Bio Roxy and Vetlanda Museum screenings in Sweden.

 

6) Farideh Shahsavarani (Tehran/Iran & Chicago/USA)
“Circulus Vitiosus”
00:48 secs, 2010 (should be 2011 - see movie), color, stereo, 16:9

7) Morehshin Allahyari (Dallas & Denver/USA)
"The Romantic Self-Exiles 1"
5:05 min, 2012, color and blk/white, stereo, digital animation, 16:9

8) Jonathan Monaghan (New York/USA)
“Dauphin 007”
3:11 min, 2011, color, stereo, CGI animated HD film on BluRay disc, 16:9

9) Eric Hynynen (Ivalo/Finland)
“Boxed”
0:42 secs, 2010, color, stereo, animation, 4:3

10) Kasumi (USA)
"JIMMY"
2:55 min, 2008, blk/white/color, sound, 4:3

11) Michael Lasater (Indiana/USA)
“Billboard”
5:21 min, 2007, color, stereo, Digitized archive film, text, synthesized sound, animation, 16:9

BACK TO TOP


BIO:
Christopher Coleman received his BFA in his native state from West Virginia University in 2001 and his MFA from New York State University at Buffalo in 2003. A number of his undergraduate years were devoted to studying Mechanical Engineering, knowledge that he brings to bear in his installations. His work includes sculptures, performances and videos as well as interactive installations. Coleman was twice a participant in the VIPER Basel Festival in Switzerland and has had his work in exhibitions in Singapore, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Germany, France, China, the UK, Latvia and 14 other countries. Domestically his work has been shown at more than 40 events and festivals, Spaces Gallery in Cleveland, the Albright Knox in Buffalo NY, and the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art to name a few. In 2009 he received the Metropolis Art Prize Grand Prize and had his work featured in Times Square NYC. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado and is an Associate Professor at the University of Denver.



Christopher Coleman (Colorado/USA)


“Modern Times”
2:45 min, 2004, color, animation, stereo; sound design by George Cicci, 4:3

ARTIST STATEMENT:
"Modern Times" examines the issues we cope with regularly such as racism, surveillance, and apathy by using imagery from specific safety brochures. These pamphlets about terrorism readiness, provided by the Department of Homeland Security, are part of a larger system designed to promote meta-fears like terrorism that serve to distract people from their everyday concerns. This animation discusses the effects of fear, apathy, and isolation, and how they are transmitted and utilized for control.

"Modern Times" is an animation created over 18 months and completed in 2005. Because the Department of Homeland Security made their Terrorism Readiness brochures available in digital format, much of the imagery in the video is directly taken from the source, recontextualized, arranged and animated. The original movie, Modern Times, featured Charlie Chaplin struggling to deal with man’s relationship to technology in the Industrial Age. We have now moved into the Age of Information in which our connection to the world around us is not only defined by technology, but the information it does or does not provide.

When first encountering these brochures I was struck by how they, along with other safety illustrations like those found in the back pocket of every airplane seat, are supposed to simultaneously alarm and calm us. There is no sign of fear on the faces of the generic passengers bracing for a water landing. It is interesting to note that while the public was still quite shaken from the events of 9/11 when the US government released these brochures, they were an instant source of ridicule. I have attempted to return their levity but with a different focus.

 



BIO:
Wei-Ming Ho was born in Taipei. He is a visual artist and filmmaker. He works across the fields of experimental film, video installation and media art. His works have been presented in cinemas and artistic contexts.



Wei-Ming Ho (Taipei/Taiwan)


“The Art-Qaeda Project”
4:11 min, 2010, color, mono, 16:9

ARTIST STATEMENT:
The site-specific video intervenes in the urban landscape. A series of nocturnal projections present the conversation between the images and the city environment. Do the images represent the secret signals, an extraordinary parade or a silent protest?



BIO:
M.R.Adytama Pranada Charda (born 1987) lives and works in Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia, as an artist and Art Director for Liaison Art & Visual Project, a contemporary artist and design initiative. Current awards include: 1stPrize Soemardja Award 2011, Soemardja Gallery, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Bandung. Best Video in OK Video “Flesh”, the 5th Jakarta International Video Festival, National Gallery, Jakarta.

M.R.Adytama Pranada Charda (Bandung and Jakarta/Indonesia)

“The Cameo (Collapsing Memory; Savage Series)”
0:59 sec, 2011, color, silent, 16:9

ARTIST STATEMENT:
"Memory has the ability to bridge the 'gap' between the past with the present to connect the principle or personal beliefs to the audience because it has a memory and a similar experience. Memory also has the function not only as a reminder of the past but also as an attempt to reconstruct all the 'things' that represents the current (present). " – Adytama Pranada Charda

I live in Indonesia, a democratic country that since its establishment has had a long history of violent conflicts. This work is about how actually subconsciously, explicitly, the ruling party or the media uses fear and violence as a selling tool and controller, without us realizing that we have 'approved it and enjoy it' through the shows on television, until conflict games – it is also suspected that recent violent conflicts in Indonesia is due to the impression that rampant violence has eventually become 'the role model' and most efficient way to resolve problems. But actually violence has also occurred due to the ruling party's repressive reaction not only in Indonesia, but also in other countries.

G30S/PKI (Communist ‘partai’ uprising) museum diorama's mannequin image that describes the seven military generals, who were kidnapped and tortured by the communist party sympathizers, is projected onto the place of privacy of a home. The G30S/PKI Indonesian Communist Party uprising to overthrow the government was thwarted by General Soeharto. He used this to get rid of his political opponents, consolidate his power, and become the president of Indonesia. This also caused millions of deaths, missing people, detentions on charges of communism without obvious reasons, and millions of other people experienced physical and mental harassment. In my childhood, I was forced to go to the museum and watch the movie about Soeharto's 'Heroism' on the national television. The museums are still running, and with its subtle ruling party these methods are still used.





BIO:
Guli Silberstein (b. 1969) is an Israeli-born, London-based video artist. He received a BA in Film & TV from Tel-Aviv University in 1997 and a MA in Media Studies, specializing in digital video and media art, from New School University, New York City, in 2000. Since then, he has been working with appropriation to produce video art works dealing with situations of war & terror, cognitive processes and electronic media, which have been extensively presented in festivals, museums and galleries including: Transmediale Berlin, Kassel Film and Video Festival, EMAF Osnabrueck Germany, ‘Human Frames' exhibition & DVD Lowave Paris, Museum on the Seam Jerusalem and the National Centre of Contemporary Art Moscow.



Guli Silberstein (London/UK)


“Disturbdance”
3:25 min, 2012, color, stereo, 16:9, UK-Israel

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Like in a choreographed dance scene, on a little hill in a rough landscape, a young woman is trying to obstruct two armed soldiers from firing at a group of protesters in a village behind her. The surreal but real image, picked up from the multiplicity of news clips found online, is digitally processed, turning the video from journalistic to allegorical. The video moves to an abstract and estranged level, highlighting the unexpected interruption to a never-ending cycle of violence, reminding us of a human component which is still there; or is it?

“Truth to tell, the best weapon against myth is perhaps to mystify it in its turn, and to produce an artificial myth: and this reconstituted myth will in fact be a mythology”
Roland Barthes



BIO:
Please see here...

Alysse Stepanian (Los Angeles/USA)


"Roghieh"
5:31 min, 2009, color, stereo, 16:9, Armenian/Farsi/English subtitles

ARTIST STATEMENT:
This video is based on Stepanian's early dream journal shortly after moving to the U.S. from post-revolutionary Iran. “Roghieh” paints a surreal picture of the early stages of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when it empowered the underprivileged, who had a significant role in the overthrow of an elitist regime. A cleaning lady’s broom becomes a weapon symbolizing newfound strength. She jumps into the revolution from the wall-less bedroom of a young girl caught in the middle of great social changes and role reversals.

(This work was not included in the Bio Roxy and Vetlanda Museum screenings in Sweden)



BIO:
Painter, photographer, and video/filmmaker, Shahsavarani is well known for combining sound and pictures in a variety of art forms. Farideh holds an MFA in Painting, has served as Department Chair of the Graphic Department at Islamic Azad University in Tehran, and currently serves as a member of the faculty board. Farideh is a Member of the Association of Iranian Painters (AIP), an Honorable Member of the Visual Art Development Center of Iran and a member of Group 30+. She has participated in over 12 solo and over 90 group exhibitions internationally. Farideh began her art career painting at an easel, but with changing times, her perspective changed. She began to sculpt, weave, cut, smash, attach, detach, build up, tear down—searching for the means to express her obsessions and the burning questions. She discovered video—a means to draw her audience into her work so that they face the whys and wherefores and become an essential part of the work. This mixture of images and space make it possible to express reality and illusion and has opened a broad spectrum of possibilities to create works that communicate more directly—allowing her to express her search for the light, the soul, the hidden meaning of life and the source of a new day.

Farideh Shahsavarani (Tehran/Iran & Chicago/USA)


“Circulus Vitiosus”
00:48 sec, 2010, color, stereo, 16:9

ARTIST STATEMENT:
It Is man made. In every form, size and whatever substance, earthly or ethereal.

It shelters us from nature's violent forces, as it hinders us to see the light rising from the horizon.

It has become, through times, part of our heritage. Part of the genetic structure of our civilization.

WE ALL, women as men have had our share of rising them to heavens, or surrounding our nearest and dearest by them, condemning those to live in hell.

Deep inside, we are imprisoned by our own fears, prejudice and ignorance. These invisible ones are the most vicious.

Therefore The emergence of the myth of FREEDOM.

I am talking about WALLS.



BIO:
Morehshin Allahyari is a new media artist and an art activist. She was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States in 2007. Her creative and research interest encompasses 3D animation, digital filmmaking, web-art / design, performance and extensive activity as a curator and producer. The topics of her practice include the social, political and cultural issues of Iran, creative writing, art activism, media art, and collaborative art. Morehshin’s animated films and curatorial projects have received worldwide acclaim. She has been part of exhibitions, festivals, and conferences in Tehran, Denver, Dallas (Dallas Biennale + oliver Francis Gallery), Chicago, New York, Germany (The 7th Berlin International Directors Lounge (Berlin) + 25th European Media Art Festival (Osnabrück), Virginia (The Taubman Museum of Art), San Francisco, Denton (University of North Texas), Portland, Ohio, Brazil, Sweden, Romania (Arad art Museum), Netherlands, and Canada.

Morehshin Allahyari (Dallas & Denver/USA)


"The Romantic Self-Exiles 1"
5:05 min, 2012, color and blk/white, stereo, digital animation, 16:9
Video and Text: Morehshin Allahyari
Sound Design: Ivo Bol

ARTIST STATEMENT:
To build a land; an imaginary home. To push the limits of real and unreal, memory and imagination, locality and universality, self-censorship and self-exile, time and space. To put together my most vivid memories on flat planes or 3D cubes. Inside and outside the empty rooms, rooms without bodies, rooms left behind. To construct the remembered, missed, identical objects. Things I care for, love the most, miss the most... To put together every five sense of my body into one (“sight”) through text and animation. A reflection and presentation of emotional attachments. Collective and personal.



BIO:
Jonathan Monaghan (b. New York, 1986) makes CGI animations with a range of iconic subject matter. From mythical animals, to video games characters, to Baroque architecture, Jonathan's work creates a distorted mix of reality, imagination and cultural critique. Work by Jonathan has been shown in the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., the BFI Southbank in London, the Today Art Museum in Beijing, as well as other galleries and venues in New York, Oslo, Berlin and London. Jonathan has been awarded residencies from MakerBot Industries in New York, Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, and Seven Below Arts Initiative from Burlington City Arts in Vermont.

Jonathan Monaghan (New York/USA)


“Dauphin 007”
3:11 min, 2011, color, stereo, CGI animated HD film on BluRay disc, 16:9

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Referring to the heir-apparent to the French throne, Dauphin 007 is a short animation which draws on elements and narratives surrounding French monarchy. The Dauphin is portrayed as a would-be king lion who meets an untimely demise after an eagle snatches his crown away. Medical devices re-occur throughout the animation, hinting at a more contemporary form of institutional control. With an almost irreverent use and misuse of these references the film attempts to create an absurd reality that is both familiar and alien at the same time.



BIO:
Eric Hynynen is a Finnish/Australian artist living and working in Ivalo. He completed his Master of Fine Arts in 2009, at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki.

Eric Hynynen (Ivalo/Finland)


“Boxed”
0:42 secs, 2010, color, stereo, animation, 4:3

ARTIST STATEMENT:
(This video was originally part of an installation)
Boxed takes place in an office that has been completely destroyed. Within this apocalyptic vision, a monitor displays the act of destruction as recorded by surveillance cameras. There is one video within another video.

“Boxed” expresses a concern for the shortening or loss of childhood in today’s world. Training for working life and a good job starts earlier and earlier. Kids are often under a great deal of pressure, as they compete against others within the education system. This begins at an earlier and earlier age. Increasingly, out of fear, we train (educate?) our young to become tools for those in power. Our children must be prepared for the competition of life, or they will be left behind.



BIO:
Kasumi is a media artist uniquely blending film and live-performance into dynamic videoart. Known internationally for her innovative work, she employs an arsenal of powerful digital technology to weave vibrant visuals and powerful audio into experiences of synaesthesia, with poignant cultural-political meaning. Kasumi’s richly expressive and compelling compositions have appeared worldwide at venues including from Carnegie Hall and Württembergischen Kunstverein Stuttgart. She has collaborated with the likes of Grandmaster Flash, DJ Spooky, and the New York Philaharmonic. Most recently Kasumi expanded her repertoire to include the role of executive producer of young filmmaker Kitao Sakurai’s feature, AARDVARK. Her video, “Breakdown, The Remix” was the 2010 Vimeo Awards Remix Winner, and in 2011, she was named a CPAC Creative Workforce Fellow and was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship.

Kasumi (USA)

http://www.kasumivideoart.com
http://www.kasumifilms.com
"JIMMY"
2:55 min, 2008, blk/white/color, sound, 4:3

ARTIST STATEMENT:
Text by Douglas Max Utter
At just under three minutes in length, Jimmy sketches a complex study of fear in search of a context. This emerges as a half-perceived storyline strung between images suggesting family relationships and acts of violence. It begins with a distant, soft scream, and an approaching siren. The found, painted and distressed celluloid footage include repeated sequences of a boy running awkwardly alongside the wall of a school building. He’s a child of the latest mythic American past, with crew-cut, striped t-shirt and shorts. His arms are at his sides, helplessly limp as his bare knees pump around a brick corner into shadow. A man in a dark suit strides briskly after him. A male voice speaks the lines, “Jimmy is emotionally sick. His terror of others cannot be dismissed as mere shyness.” Thick with prejudgment, the voiceover takes on the finality of an inquisitorial sentence; a witch has been found. The imagery tells us the obvious: he can run, but he can’t hide. Then Kasumi moves quickly into a montage of violent scenes set against a rhythmic, industrial-martial soundtrack. An older boy is seen swinging an ax; a woman’s face fills the screen -- she looks insane. Another woman is running down a corridor, a man is falling, a man swings his arm as if hitting something with all his strength. Several times we hear the words “Desolate, barren, empty.” This wasteland-like evocation introduces larger themes. Violence, isolation, even psychosis, are the inevitable social outcomes of the abuse of power. Brief clips of what might be a military training film show a man walking away from a gun turret; strong light behind him compresses his shadowy image: he becomes wraith-like, an alien in a nightmare. Then, soon, it all ends, as Jimmy’s tear-stained face looks woefully upward, toward horrible realities he can neither comprehend nor change. The political implications that emerged from Jimmy suggested the themes of blowback and retribution that characterize the political content in the films that followed.



BIO:
Michael Lasater was born in 1947, in Hutchinson, Kansas, USA. A professor, musician, filmmaker and gallery artist, he holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and Syracuse University. His work in documentary and gallery art has been widely exhibited in the United States and Europe, including the Hun Gallery New York, California Museum of Photography, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Dallas Center for Contemporary Art, University of Rome, Wienviertelfest-Austria, and others.


BACK TO TOP

Michael Lasater (Indiana/USA)


“Billboard”
5:21 min, 2007, color, stereo, Digitized archive film, text, synthesized sound, animation, 16:9

ARTIST STATEMENT:
A monotonous snare drum riff drives this composition. With each drum roll words fly and tumble onto the screen, then exit. A man in neon outline eats ravenously, constantly. The rhetoric of Billboard is that of mass advertising, vaudeville, and TV situation comedy. It's a sales piece, designed first and foremost to simply get and hold the attention of the audience. What it's selling is a message with several possible interpretations.