Jon Rafman – Ad-Vice for a Prophet


Ad-Vice for a Prophet (2005, 78.6MB, 6:59 min)

I wrote the text below in, I think, 2008.
[In case you didn’t notice we’re intermittently re-posting stuff previously
posted on weekends in line with our 5 day a week current policy
– it also takes a bit of the pressure off which, two old guys,
we feel, we feel].
Since then Rafman has gone on to achieve a measure of well deserved
celebrity, showing at the Saatchi Gallery in London amongst other
prestigious venues, especially with his
9 eyes of google street view
I notice the piece we feature here no longer appears on his CV or website.
A shame – it has many merits – not least of which is an embryonic
version of the sensibility which underpins his more current work
although I entirely understand why artists occasionally attempt
to take a broom to old work.

Great piece by Jon Rafman.
I love the refusal to commit to a tone, the playfulness & humor, the wistfulness &
sometimes the vaguest air of menace too.
There’s a curious feel. An air of detachment, as if nothing can be said
directly but that everything is mediated & distanced by the act of editing
and presenting, serving up, (as with the ads).
The whole thing feels haunted by movie history.
I’m curious to know whether this is all found footage, whether some of it is
original or what.

Anyway, tremendous. Lots of other interesting
work on his site.

Robb Bradely/Randy Newman – I’m Dreaming of a White President

 I
I’m Dreaming of a White President (2012, 15MB, 3:16 min)

Great bit of film-making to match a genius song.
But…but…
Of course you want Obama to win just
to wrongfoot the racists et. al. but you
can’t help wishing he’d actually done something
to merit the mad hostility of the rich, the bigots
and the terminally gullible.

Morrisa Maltz – Character 2/3 – Inverted Rose

character_2_3
Character 2/3 – Inverted Rose (2012, 43MB, 55 secs)

2nd in the series of 3, the first of which we posted last week.
I think these are lovely and haunting and I’m impressed by Morrisa
Maltz’s diligence and imagination.
(I love what she does with sound, too)
Is it just me or do these slightly conjure Isadora Duncan for anyone else?
Last one on Friday.

Morrisa Maltz – Character 1/3 (Infinite Loop)

character_1_1
Character 1/3 [Infinite Loop] (2012, 130MB, 1:07 min)

I love Morrisa Maltz’s work. I particularly relish the way
she doesn’t rest on her laurels but pushes herself ever on to new
and (over-used word in the arts but, I think, apposite here)
fearless ways of thinking about and making things.
This is the first of three pieces best described, literally,
as moving pictures.
Tremendous!