On Wednesday, January 27, MOCA is highlighting Polish artist Artur Zmijewski's video Them in the exhibition The Reach of Realism by creating a special screening time at 7:30 pm. Zmijewski takes several different Polish social and political organizations, from the young communists to a church group comprised of old women, and asks each to create an artwork emblematic of their beliefs. The groups are then allowed to adjust each other's artworks however they wish. What starts as polite editing turns into an explosive situation. We invite your feedback on this video.
Wednesday, January 20, MOCA will highlight London-based Emily Wardill's video, Game Keepers without Game in the exhibition The Reach of Realism, by creating a special screening time at 7:30 pm so you can watch it from start to finish. The video is inspired by Pedro Calderon de la Barca's play La Vida es Suena (1635) and follows a contemporary British family in a dysfunctional drama of abandonment and attempted reconciliation. The video is shot against a stark white background, pushing all the characters and props to the fore. They are not grounded in the same reality, but float within it and never touch. Wardill uses innovative narrative techniques, and plays with the construction of a story through precise attention to images and sound. Please join us for the screening and respond here with questions and comments.
http://www.arthood.com/profiles/blogs/arthood-interviews-mocas-ruba
This Wednesday, January 13, MOCA will highlight Norwegian artist Lars Laumann’s video, Shut up Child, this ain’t Bingo, in the exhibition The Reach of Realism, with a special screening time at 7:30 pm so you can watch it from start to finish. The video is shot in a loose documentary style and follows Laumann’s friend and fellow Norwegian artist Kjersti Andvig, who had been working on a collaborative art project with a death row inmate named Carlton Turner. For several months, Andvig moved to Texas where Turner was incarcerated and Laumann captured what unfolded between Andvig, Turner, and the woman with whom Andvig was staying. Without giving the work completely away for those who will attend Wednesday’s screening, Shut up Child, this ain’t Bingo provides a compelling examination into the precarious lines between art, fantasy, and reality. If you’ve already seen the video or plan to view it on Wednesday, please comment with thoughts and questions about this work.
This Wednesday, January 6, MOCA is highlighting British artist Phil Collins' video, "Soy Mi Madre "in the exhibition "The Reach of Realism," by creating a special screening time at 7:30 pm so you can watch it from start to finish. The video follows the fomat of a Mexican telenovella with a plotline filled with deceit and drama inspired by Jean Genet's radical play "The Maids." While Collins maintains the class struggle that Genet used to incite his audiences in the 1940s, today the story fits perfectly well in its telenovella structure. Telenovellas are a huge phenomenon and while primarily originating out of Latin America, they have an extensive global reach. Why is it that the telenovella is so popular and why do you think that Collins has created an artwork borrowing its conventions to adapt a play written in the 1940s? We would love your feedback if you already seen the video, and if not, please respond when you check it out on Wednesday.
Welcome to the MOCA Blog. We created this feature to make it possible for our audience to continue discussing the ideas addressed at MOCA lectures and events as well as respond to exhibitions. We look forward to continuing the conversation.
Bonnie Clearwater, Executive Director and Chief Curator