Contemporary Video Art

A series of six contemporary works of video art curated by PAFA.

February 3–February 22, 2009

Burt Barr, Roz (USA, 2004)

Roz stands in the shower and begins to lip sync to a recording of Otis Clay singing a soulful version of "The Banks of the Ohio." Roz's lip-synching looks as if she is following the instructions of someone out of camera view, while the fact that she is singing a song about the murder of an unwilling lover is disquieting. Barr's straightforward approach creates complex references to Hitchcock and Warhol. Running time 5 minutes and 40 seconds.

February 24–March 29, 2009

Alfredo Jaar, Muxima (Chile, 2005)

Muxima is a cinematic elegy. Using five different recordings of an Angolan folksong of the same name, it is a poetic portrait of a complex and changing society in a land of great wealth and poverty. Interested in the inability of images to fully convey what they depict, Jaar uses the music's resonance to express the experiences of Angola's people. Running time 36 minutes.

March 31–May 12, 2009

Jay Bolotin, The Jackleg Testament–Part I: Jack and Eve (USA, 2004-2005)

A one-of-a-kind "woodcut motion picture" opera, The Jackleg Testament reinterprets the story of Adam and Eve as a dark provocative tale in which Eve is lured from the Garden of Eden by a Jack-in-the-Box. The presentation of The Jackleg Testament was accompanied by an exhibition of Bolotin's woodcuts. Running time 65 min.

Performance times:

• Tuesday–Saturday: 10:15 AM, 11:30 AM, 12:45 PM, 2:00 PM, 3:15 PM
• Sunday: 11:30 AM, 12:45 PM, 2:00 PM, 3:15 PM

May 14–June 9, 2009

Breda Beban, Jason's Dream (Serbia, 1997

Featuring real-life characters and locations, Jason's Dream is a musical about a hesitant relationship between two young city dwellers. The events are narrated from the point of view of a song-speech gifted waitress. Scripted and directed by Serbian artist Breda Beban, the music for the film was written by Beban in collaboration with Hrvoje Horvatic and Bell Helicopter. Running time 10 minutes.

June 11–June 28, 2009

Kurt Hentschlager, SCAPE (USA, 2007)

SCAPE is a contemplative video-landscape with surround sound in which time is the subject. A bare-bones minimalist tree in black and white moves in and out of focus in a slow pan evoking the scrolling of a Zen ink drawing of bamboo. Complementing the image with a composed abstract soundtrack, Hentschlager has created a phenomenological work that explores the process of perception itself. Running time 23 minutes.

June 30–August 8, 2009

Mark Wallinger, Threshold to the Kingdom (Great Britain, 2000)

Filmed surreptitiously and relayed in slow motion, the video shows people entering the arrivals lounge of London City Airport. To this moving image, Wallinger has attached a recording of Miserere Mei Deus, a setting of Psalm 51 by Renaissance composer Gregorio Allegri. The result is a ponderous work whose poignancy is tinged with humor and ambiguity. Running time 11 min. 10 sec.