It s becomingly increasingly common to have exhibitions curated by

Transcription

1 May 12-June 20, 2012

2 It s becomingly increasingly common to have exhibitions curated by artists. The novelty of Super Long Play! takes this idea further by substituting artists for their audience. It is an exhibition comprised of 50 VHS tapes, spanning approximately 14 hours that Benton-C Bainbridge, with the collaborative assistance of Ezra Bainbridge Powers, Ryan Hogan, Johnny Invective, Perrin Ireland, Erin Law and Tony Youngblood compiled for individual viewing on the provided television/vcr set. Visitors can watch tape after tape from beginning to end. Or they can view several different tapes for varying periods and from various stages. Therefore, each viewer has an alternating, yet malleable encounter within the space and with the works. The works featured in the exhibition consistently portray various stages of individuals at play and performance. The ability to leisurely cull through the tapes creates an arbitrary, yet also directed viewing experience, as is the case with intriguing titles like Death Games or Sharktooth. Eventually, one wonders who is performing, the audience member or those they are watching; as one certainly has to move back and forth or side to side during the selection process. In Death Games, viewers watch a lightheartedly rambunctious young boy literally at play. He energetically and laughingly jumps on a couch, makes funny noises and voices, presses his face against the video lens and acts out imaginary fight scenes with creatures constructed from LEGOS. Watching the entire reel, what becomes most fascinating is the psychology of children and how they relate during the process of play. The work encourages viewers to wonder how a child s creativity and playfulness changes as they become an adult. Furthermore, it is entertaining, but also somewhat reflective about the modes of childlike amusements. Another intriguing video, Eating and Thinking, portrays the prosaic task of a meal eaten in a solitary environment. Viewers observe the segmented image of a man eating, but never quite discover if the meal is finished or exactly what the protagonist is thinking. The artist s ability to make the activity of eating and thinking provocative yields an enigmatic, yet relatable piece. Furthermore, the audience may find the aural nature of this work alluring, even though it is mostly atmospheric.

3 Super Long Play! not only incorporates the diverse visualizations of technology, it also emphasizes its auditory nature. Bainbridge, known for his early and continued innovations in video art for himself, the Beastie Boys and others, says that he believes video is a visual form of music; and this idea is most evident in works like Silk Cocoon or Crying. Super Long Play! is mostly engaging, but it is also an exercise in the observation of the mundane. Despite its use of an almost obsolete technology, this exhibition engages multiple aspects of viewer sensory perception. Bainbridge and his collaborators found a way to play on the nostalgia of time and technology. Their methods revive the medium to show the fresh possibilities that one can encounter using the archaic technologies of yesterday in the vein of contemporary art today. Overall, Super Long Play! participants will curate their own dynamic experience as they repeatedly choose a tape and press play. Rehema Barber is an independent critic and curator based in Memphis, TN. Detail view, SUPER LONG PLAY!

4 Below an old television set atop a pedestal sits several stacks of 50 bright orange VHS tapes, each with hand written descriptions in blue sharpie. The same handwriting appears on the pedestal, providing an invitation for the viewer to Please touch. In contrast to the standard do not touch policy of most art galleries and museums, Benton-C Bainbridge s video installation SUPER LONG PLAY! at Seed Space welcomes interaction. You re encouraged to choose from the tactile orange tapes, pop one in the VHS player, and manipulate the controls as you wish. Each tape contains a 15-minute 'electronic sketchbook' of real-time recordings of rehearsals and studies, united by the theme of people and pixels in motion, painted with live electronics. For example, tape Crying, made with collaborators Erin Law and Perrin Ireland, portrays a video of Bainbridge s face with streaming lines of feedback that appear to be spilling from his eyes. The background sound of Law and Ireland laughing is played at half-speed, making it sound more like crying. Another tape, entitled Studies in Motion, shows the dancing figure of Ireland in a dark room with colorful, dizzying lights projected on her in front of a white screen. Strange ambient tones created by another collaborator, Tony Youngblood, plays in the background. At one point, bright colored feedback trails behind Ireland s dancing figure. Another moment, the scene goes in slow motion. For this video, Bainbridge and his collaborators simply capture their experiments with dance and media. Bainbridge includes the quote a stopped clock is right twice a day in his artist statement, a proverb that suggests a person or instrument can occasionally provide correct information, even if only by accident. Despite its negative connotation, the quote is apt in thinking about SUPER LONG PLAY! as a sketchbook. Bainbridge s experiments may not all be perfect, polished works (they were all made in one take) but something really interesting can be found in each one. Like in a painter s sketchbook, some drawings may not work, but within the process the artist may stumble upon pure strokes of genius. It s a rare treat for the viewer to

5 see such an unfinished piece, a glimpse inside the trial and error that go into an artist s work. SUPER LONG PLAY! is a study in VHS as a medium, an example of obsolete technology that s rarely in use today. Bainbridge also provides QR coding, another technology that some argue is obsolete, for viewers to access information about each video. Obsolete technology encourages a physical and conscious reaction from its viewers. As technology progresses, it continues to blur the line between our tools and our bodies that control them. Bainbridge reflects this in his video content, beautifully intertwining technological manipulation and body movement. Although he works with VHS in SUPER LONG PLAY!, Bainbridge also collaborates on technologically groundbreaking live performances and music videos for well-known musical artists such as TV on the Radio and The Beastie Boys. In one of his videos for SUPER LONG PLAY!, Bainbridge pays tribute the late Adam Yauch, A.K.A MCA from The Beastie Boys, in the tape VHS FOR MCA. This piece shows live concert footage, an oscilloscope music visualizer, and Bainbridge himself speaking about his experiences with the group. In working with them closely I became a big fan. There s so much integrity to their work. I respect how much they care about their audiences. Not trying to cater to them, but trying to expand their horizons. MCA had a lot to do with that. Bainbridge definitely takes a cue from MCA in SUPER LONG PLAY!, presenting the challenging medium of video art as both accessible and engaging. Text by Rachel Bubis, independent arts writer and curator of Seed Space.

6 Installation view, SUPER LONG PLAY!

7 Artist Benton-C Bainbridge is a media artist based in Nashville and The Bronx. Bainbridge has presented video in immersive environments, screenings, installations and live performances across 5 continents, collaborating with scores of artists around the world. Recently, Glowing Pictures (Bainbridge and V Owen Bush) designed visuals for one week of concerts at the gate of Daming Palace in Xi'an, China and the launch of Canon's Cinema EOS cameras at the Paramount Pictures Lot' Sky Wall'. Curator Rachel Bubis is an independent arts writer and curator of Seed Space. She holds a BA in Art History from Rollins College. Her writing has appeared in the Nashville Scene, Art Now Nashville, Art Art Zine, The Nashville Wire, and the Examiner. Writer Rehema Barber is a curator, arts administrator and faculty member at the University of Memphis and the Memphis College of Art. She served as the Executive Director of Power House Memphis and the curator of Amistad Center at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. She has worked in various positions at organizations including the Saint Louis Public School System, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Chicago History Museum. Barber holds a B.A. from Roosevelt University, an M.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a certificate in Elementary and Secondary Art Education from the University of Missouri, Saint Louis.

8 Seed Space is a lab for site-specific installation, sculpture, and performance-based work in Nashville. We support our program in three specific ways. We bring in nationally recognized art critics to write our exhibition essays. We host regularly scheduled public talks. We facilitate meetings among artists, critics, and curators. Through these means we aim to foster an exchange between a growing network of local and national artistic communities, which we feel is one of the best ways to support the careers of emerging artists. Located within a 100-year-old factory building in South Nashville, Seed Space is supported by Nashville Cultural Arts Project, and is made possible with grants from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Metro Nashville Arts Commission. May 12-June 20 Benton-C Bainbridge July 9-August 24 Nicole Baumann September 10-October 26 Natalie Dunham November 9-December 31 Sonya Clark Director: Adrienne Outlaw Curator: Rachel Bubis Volunteer: Janet Yanez Contact:

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