Category Archives: performance

Morrisa Maltz – First Class

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whats ahead
First Class (2010, 127 MB, 3:40 min)

And First Class it is too -we’ve enthused about Morrisa Maltz here quite
recently & her first music vid (for Everybody Else) doesn’t disappoint.
It’s stylish without being glib, chock full of ideas but nicely unified by
a visual language those who’ve seen her work before will instantly recognise.
My only cavil (which I already expressed to her) is the degree of
objectification at work here in the portrayal of women,
(you know…the boys play & the girls kind of dance around
or pose, looking nice &c &c) which I find a tad depressing coming from
a clearly enormously talented & capable woman artist.
More than well made though & I look forward to whatever comes next.

Rupert Howe – The Wicker Man Remade

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wickerman
The Wicker Man (2010, 12 MB, 1:09 min)

wickerman live
The Wicker Man Live (2010, 7 MB, 3:31 min)

Rupert Howe is always doing interesting things.
He’s also an early adopter of the sort of tech that in-my-old-age I
would cautiously leave a few months to see how it turns
out, so many of the interesting things he does mystify me
somewhat at first.
SO.. here he seems to have got given (?) lots of extras
(in what universe does this occur?) to remake a section of
cult British horror film The Wicker Man on Hampstead Heath.
The results are jaw dropping in two ways.
Jaw droppingly charmingly-funny.
And jaw droppingly odd.
Most of his work is essentially some combination of these
two axes. ( Plus serious skills)
As an added bonus there a kind of Making-Of-The-Wicker-Man-Remake
which apparently was originally streamed live from his mobile.
I didn’t even know you could do that.
If anything the ‘making-of’ piece surpasses the substantive one on the
Howe strangeness scale. Even his friends & colleagues seem touched too
by a species of benign insanity.
Long may he flourish.

Donna Kuhn – Please Don’t Look Like A Pear

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Applause
Please Don’t Look Like A Pear (2010, 10 MB, 3:22 min)

I love Donna Kuhn’s work.
I’ve rhapsodised about it here before, so I’ll just note, first,
that she continues to develop in the most thoughtful & interesting of ways
& second that this video is very funny, poetic
& scarier than most horror movies.
( Donna: ‘people don’t believe that these are completely unembellished
craigslist personals ads’)
To do all three – a coup!
More soon please Donna!

Brad Tinmouth – Flashbulb Memory

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flashbulb
Flashbulb Memory (2009, 7.3 MB, 3:40 min)

By Brad Tinmouth.

Omar Souleyman – Music Video for ‘Leh Jani’

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Applause
Leh-Jani (2007?, 10 MB, 3:22 min)

Omar Souleyman being the performer not the video maker,
whose name unfortunately I can’t find.
[STOP PRESS: Mark Gergis has got in touch to say he made the video.
Googling him has unravelled an interesting trail of audio & video work
which we hope to follow further in future]
Anyway the wonderful video ( & it is wonderful -even the cheesy ‘boxy’
effect which is used once & in exactly the right place –
& edit & pacing are pretty much perfect)
serves performer -what a voice!- & song admirably…couple of minutes
of sheer cool & utter exhilaration somehow
paradoxically delivered in the same package.
This is fast shaping up to be my favourite ever music vid,
and the album from Sublime Frequencies (they say they’re sold
out, but a little searching secured me a copy elsewhere) is as good
as this promises.
More to be found on Y**T***.

Kerry Baldry – Applause

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Applause
Applause (2010, 104 MB, 1:02 min)

Last week we showed some of Kerry Baldry’s curatorial work,
now here’s one of her own pieces.

Says Kerry:

“Applause is a piece of work made on 16mm film.
Using superimposition and coloured gels Applause has been edited in camera …”

& its a smart & winning piece which punches above its weight.
It looks great & there’s something about the way the visuals work
that really illuminates the sound – the..er..um..applause-ness –
of the applause & this in turn directs us back, carefully, to the visuals.
(& both make us ponder it as a social phenomenon)
The piece made me listen attentively, mindfully, & then look &
listen & think & then do all three again.

Todd Polenberg – Monster/Identity Prosthetic

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Monster/Identity Prosthetic
Monster/Identity Prosthetic (2009, 54 MB, 1:13 min)

Documentation from last years Spark Festival of a rather splendid
installation by Todd Polenberg.

Brad Tinmouth – cupping

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cupping
cupping (2009, 7.5 MB, 3:30 min)

By Brad Tinmouth.

Max Moswitzer – early found footage and remixed videos

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zwischenlagerung
ZWlSCHENLAGERUNG EINER NULLOESUNG (1988, 10.5 MB, 4:47 min)

computergame
COMPUTER GAME (1987, 9 MB, 3:53 min)

Early videos by Max Moswitzer using found footage material, remix
and live performance.
ZWlSCHENLAGERUNG EINER NULLOESUNG was using documentary
films from 1938-1945 and was a live action performance at the
University of Applied Arts in Vienna in 1988.
COMPUTER GAME was exhibited at ARS Electronica in 1987.

More Max Moswitzer here.

Gazira Babeli – Unbroken Eggs – Monument to Luciano Fabro

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unbrokeneggs
Unbroken Eggs – Monument to Luciano Fabro (2007, 13 MB, 3:30 min)

Physical scripted environment.
A Second Life performance by Gazira Babeli.