the washington post friday, december 17, 2010 l
16 EZ
OnExhibit
BOOK SIGNING William Christenberry will sign copies of his new book, “William Christenberry: Kodachromes,” on Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m. at Hemphill Fine Arts. 202-234-5601.
www.hemphillfinearts.com.
IGOR AND SVETLANA KOPYSTIANSKY/ SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM
Svetlana and IgorKopystiansky’s “Yellow Sound” speaks to old and newmedia.
THESTORY BEHINDTHEWORK
A sub-theme of the evolving art forms in
“Watch This!” is the evolving technology it takes tomake and display them. The show features state-of-the art plasma screens, a VHS projector and something calledDigital Betacamtape (transferred fromoldU-matic tape and playing on a restored cathode ray tube inside the shell of a vintage TV). The nexus ofmediumandmessage ismost
apparent inRussian-born Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky’s “YellowSound.” At first, it looks like a still photo.But it’s actually video of found black-and-white filmfootage of a record spinning on a turntable, played in such excruciatingly slowmotion that it doesn’t appear to bemoving. What gives it away? Stare longer and you’ll
AMERICAN ART FORUM/SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM The Smithsonian’s American Art exhibit “Watch This!” features Jim Campbell’s “Grand Central Station #2,” which uses 1,728 LEDs. The evolution of video as art Smithsonian’s American Art Museum spans 40 years with ‘Watch This!’ BY MICHAEL O’SULLIVAN For fans of video art, Christmas came
early this year. Just last week, the Smithso- nian American ArtMuseum joined a grow- ing list of institutions that have opened dedicated long-term galleries exclusively for media art, also known as time-based media. The inaugural installation of “Watch This! New Directions in the Art of theMoving Image” features nine artworks, spanning 40 years of history and spotlight- ing technology as disparate as a digital animation in3-Dprojection—the kindyou look at through cheesy paper glasses with red and blue lenses — to an array of 1,782 twinkling LEDs controlled by customized electronic circuitry. It’s worth a visit, even if you’re one of
those who aren’t convinced that videos are
art.Maybe especially if you’re one of those who aren’t convinced that videos are art. (The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s Black Box theater, now an aston- ishing five years old, can’t do it alone.) John Hanhardt, SAAM’s consulting se-
nior curator for media arts, selected the works in the show, which range from
called time-based
media.The running time for Paik’s video? A whopping 80 minutes; Arcangel’s is two hours. Don’t be put off by that though. You’re not meant to sit down and watch either in its entirety. Hanhardt says he created the space to be inviting (it is), as well as a place visitors will want to return to. And you very likely will—if not not to catch parts of videos you missed, then to check out new additions. The museum plans to swap out pieces from time to time, making “Watch This!” a rotating showcase for videos newand old. Among the standouts here are two
CORY ARCANGEL/SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM
Astill from Cory Arcangel’s “Video Painting,” which was recorded on VHS.
pioneering video artist Nam June Paik’s “9/23/69:ExperimentWithDavidAtwood” (shown in a restored vintage television) to Cory Arcangel’s 2008 “Video Painting,” recorded on VHS tape—yes, you read that right — and projected onto a nearby wall, which it almost fills. True to its name, Arcangel’s monumental, though not espe- cially painterly, work appears at one point inside a giant gold frame. Watching both Paik’s and Arcangel’s work, you’ll understand why this stuff is
works by Jim Campbell. If you’ve traveled recently between the
National Gallery of Art’s East and West buildings on its underground moving walkway, you’ve no doubt seen artist Leo Villareal’s “Multiverse,” featuring approxi- mately 41,000 LEDs in a trippy moving light show. Campbell works with the same technology, but on a much smaller scale. And his evocative pictures — for it’s not exactly accurate to call them videos — are arguably more powerful than Villareal’s. Campbell’s “Grand Central Station #2”
features a photograph of an empty train- station concourse. We see the floor, inter- rupted only by a stray newspaper someone
see occasional dustmotes and scratches on the film. There are other allusions to the intersection of the antique and the avant garde. Thework’s title comes froman experimental theater piece by painterWassily Kandinsky (published in 1912but never performed during his lifetime). The running time of theKopystianskys’ video is an inside joke. At4minutes and33seconds long, it’s a tip of the hat to composer JohnCage’s famous 1952work—“4’33” ”—which features exactly thatmuch silence, and nothing else. —MichaelO’Sullivan
has dropped. But because that photograph is printedona kind of plastic transparency, like a light box, we also see, underneath, 1,782 LEDs programmedto flash on and off in such a way that it looks like people—or, more accurately, their shadows — are walking across the concourse. The effect is ghostly, like looking at an
old still photograph whose subjects have died, or otherwise moved on. Campbell’s other piece, “Reconstruction #7,” is a street scene featuring spectral pedestrians. Together, these works offer beautiful commentary on the transitory nature of life. They give new meaning to term mov- ing pictures.
osullivanm@washpost.com
WATCH THIS! NEWDIRECTIONS IN THE ART OF THEMOVING IMAGE
On long-term view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F streetsNW(Metro: Gallery Place). 202-633-1000 (TDD: 202-633-5285).
www.americanart.si.edu. Hours: Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission: Free.
ITo see additional images from “Watch This!” go to
goingoutguide.com.
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