AD Projects was happy to help Kenya (Robinson) with her recent performance as part of C24 Gallery’s show Campaign curated by Amy Smith-Stewart. Artnet TV covered the opening and they filmed part of the performance. Check out our own Abby & Jessica in the video around 3:00.

Artnet TV: Campaign at C24 Gallery from Stephanie Szerlip on Vimeo.

Last year, AD Projects coined the term “caméra vivant” to describe narrative, non-documentary camera-based artwork that both captures a performative act and is created with the intention of being experienced by an audience as a video or photograph. We don’t often go around inventing terms, and we deliberated for quite a while before deciding that the concept deserved to be named. We presented CAMERA VIVANT, an exhibition of work by emerging and mid-career artists, at the Central Utah Art Center in February 2011. These images explore this subcategory of new media where performance and the camera, both still and moving, intersect.

(1. Lewis Carroll, Saint George and the Dragon, 1875; 2. Kuba Bakowski, Ursa Major, Bobrek-Centrum Coal Mine, 2008; 3. Gregory Crewdson, Untitled, 2001; 4. Elodie Pong, Video still from Je Suis Une Bombe, 2006; 5. Narcissister, Video still from Mannequin, 2007; 6. Robert ParkeHarrison, From the series titled Architect’s Brother; 7. Bec Stupak, Video still from Flaming Creatures (Blind Remake), 2006; 8. Lucas Samaras, Photo-Transformation, 1976)

Still from Sergio Albiac's Content is Queen care of the artist

Sergio calls the video a generative portrait. He seems to paint the image of the Queen of England via random images and footage. To me it is the 21st Century’s answer to cubism.

Still from Sergio Albiac's Content is Queen care of the artist

In the artist’s words: “It differs from previous attempts of video collage (like the techniques developed by David Hockney, mixing simultaneous points of view of an action) or video mosaic (where still images are represented by whole videos acting as pixels when properly reduced in size). My technique uses regions of video content to effectively represent or “paint” heterogeneous regions of the image. Both the partial content of the videos and the whole image are fully visible at the same time, widening the possibilities to deliver meaning in a contemporary aesthetic language.”

See you tomorrow night!

Still from Rino Stefano Tagliafierro's My Super8 courtesy of the artist

Three, count ‘em, three more days until the show at the Big Screen Plaza! Here are a few beautiful stills from Rino Stefano Taglifierro’s video, which he made as a music video for M+A‘s song My Super8. Rino morphs hundreds of photographs into an animated sequence, showing a love/hate relationship between two young, porcelain doll-like sisters.

Still from Rino Stefano Tagliafierro's My Super8 courtesy of the artist

The girls’ stilted movements seem to remove them from real time, giving their interaction an otherworldly fee; and suspending them in time.

Still from Rino Stefano Tagliafierro's My Super8 courtesy of the artist

I’m glad the program will be cycling a few times on Tuesday, because this video is one I have to watch over and over again to pick up on the visual nuances.  See you Tuesday at 7!

Still from Rino Stefano Tagliafierro's My Super8 courtesy of the artist

Bec Stupak's film still on our cover. Click to read the conversation.

In case you’re missing caméra vivant like we are, here’s a conversation between Abby, Kat, jess and me: CAMERA VIVANT conversation, January 2011. This catalog was produced in conjunction with our show at the Central Utah Art Center in early 2011.

Still from Jacolby Satterwhite's Model It courtesy of the artist

Only five more days until our screening at the Big Screen Plaza! For the next installment of our preview, I bring you Jacolby Satterwhite. We met Jacolby at our friend Kenya’s performance last June as a part of our Reliquary/SUPERDARK series in the East Village and immediately wanted to know more about his work. We’ll be showing his video Model It, which mixes footage of Jacolby performing in front of various luxury boutiques on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan with a virtual environment filled with animated dancers.

Still from Jacolby Satterwhite's Model It courtesy of the artist

Jacolby explains that the video is an extension of a long term project he’s working on using the materials my mother produced during her diagnosis of schizophrenia. She recorded songs and made thousands of schematic diagrams which the artist uses as source material and inspiration. The track heard on Model It is Jacolby’s mother’s voice.

Still from Jacolby Satterwhite's Model It courtesy of the artist

The video is an exploration of complexities aroused when animation, performance, drawing and pop culture are synthesized. Can’t wait to see it on the Big Screen!

Still from Jonathan Ehrenberg's Seed courtesy of the artist

In preparation for our upcoming screening, we wanted to give you a peek into some of the videos we’ll be showing at the Big Screen Plaza. Next up is Seed by Jonathan Ehrenberg. The AD Projects team first saw his work at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and were all drawn in by the haunting narrative in his video. We lost track of time in his darkened studio, which showcased his miniature sets on one end, various masks and props throughout, and this video projected on the other end.

Still from Jonathan Ehrenberg's Seed courtesy of the artist

Ehrenberg creates an otherworldly atmosphere, somewhat reminiscent of Tim Burton’s environments, in which the protagonist undergoes an unusual transformation over the course of his day. Shadows and light dance across the frames, and the music creates a decidedly ominous tone as the story unfolds.

Still from Jonathan Ehrenberg's Seed courtesy of the artist

The overall takeaway from Seed for me is the sense that while this world is totally surreal and unlike my own reality, I understand it and might have dreams similar to this moving forward. Ehrenberg let me know this is inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose, which now I guess I have to read.

Still from Jonathan Ehrenberg's Seed courtesy of the artist

Martin Murphy. Still from Film Spill courtesy of the artist.

In preparation for our upcoming video screening at the Big Screen Plaza, we wanted to share some information about each artist’s work. The first of the eight works to highlight is Film Spill by Martin Murphy (no relation). The video shows a collection of cinematic clips from Hollywood blockbusters that are liquefied and ejected from a syringe across the frame. Recognizable faces and scenes blend together to obscure the originals and create something new.

Martin Murphy. Still from Film Spill courtesy of the artist.

Martin says he thinks of it “as a chemical reaction of pop culture.” I especially like watching the scenes as they ooze, splatter and slip in and out of one another. Films used include Gattaca (1997), Babel (2006), Punch Drunk Love (2002), The Aviator (2004), Alien (1979), Terminator 2 (1991), Apocalypse Now (1979), Blade Runner (1982), and Cliffhanger (1993). Should be interesting to watch viewers attempt to recognize various actors and clips!

Martin Murphy. Still from Film Spill courtesy of the artist.

The screening will be held at the Big Screen Plaza on Tuesday, October 25th from 7 – 9 pm. The program will cycle three times over the two hours.

AD Projects at the Big Screen Plaza