Understanding video as art
Karachi: A series of short films, made as part of video art by international artists, were screened in the city on Tuesday.
The films are part of the eldest collection of such works in the n. b. k. Video-forum in Germany, and have been brought to Pakistan by German curator Kathrin Becker. The pervading theme in all the films was tracing the roots of video as an art form and the 40 year history of video art.
The first session of videos screening was held at the V. M. Art Gallery, where art and video students watched the films. Later in the evening, the second session was held at the Goethe Institut to a smaller yet mellow audience.
The first screening session included Wolf Vostell’s ‘Sun in your head’ (1963), Nam June Paik’s ‘Global Groove’ (1975), Peter Campus’s ‘Three Transitions’ (1973), Joan JonasÂ’s ‘Left Side/ Right Side’ (1972), Richard Sierra / Nancy Holt’s ‘Boomerang’ (1974), Marina Abramovic’s ‘Art must be beautiful, artist must be beautiful’ (1975), ‘Ant Farm’ from The Cadillac Ranch Show (1974) and Bjorn Melus’s ‘The Oral Thing’ (2001).
The second half at the Goethe Institut focused on Berlin-based artists, with selected works presenting an array of different camera angles, expressive films and their transition from being surreal to documentative, and even a visual representation of a theoretical essay.
The films shown during this session included Marc Aschenbrenner’s ‘Zweite Sonne’ (2005), Elise Florenty’s Kino Krov (2005), Ninon Liotet / Oliver Schulbaum’s ‘Dictaphonetic’ (1998), Michel de Broin’s ‘Shared Propulsion Car — HellÂ’s Kitchen’ (2005), Ina Wudtke’s ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Worker Remix’ (2006), Annika Eriksson’s ‘AnagramÂ’ (2001) and Corina Schnitt’s ‘Once Upon a Time’ (2005).
The subjects presented displayed how different artists used the tool of the camera in different ways, including single shots from a solitary camera to watching live events unfold.
The selected screenings will continue on Tuesday at Koel Gallery and at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture on Wednesday.
Source: The News
Date:10/15/2009
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