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LOOP
’00 ART BARCELONA,
"Fira de Videoart", the new International Video Exposition, took
place from November 27-30 in Barcelona, Spain at the beautiful Barcelo Hotel
Sants. Based upon my conversations with the artists, many of them were planning
to sell work or make gallery contacts. Some of the gallery owners were present
to promote their artists, while others were there to promote themselves. For
the viewers, Loop ’00 was also an excellent opportunity to see and be seen,
whatever the intentions of the organizers. It was a social and cultural event
full of high fashion, champagne and culinary delights.
The goal
of Loop ’00 was to raise awareness of video as an art form. The galleries and
artists were given the freedom to show their work as multi-media presentations
using a variety of screens: videos projected on unusual surfaces, video boxes
created to screen intimate vignettes, and other more traditional screens such
as monitors or the hotel room walls. The most wonderful video art was shown at
the Off Loop ’00 screenings featuring over 40 institutions, museums and galleries
throughout the city of Barcelona, turning it, for a moment, into the world
capital of video art. Of these, the work of Dias & Riedweg at MACBA, the
contemporary arts museum, was the most experimental, including split screens,
quad screenings and images presented on a bed. The videos ‘ subjects and themes
all focused on presenting different ethno-political and religious cultures. It
was this presentation that crystallized the power of video and multi-media as a
cultural communicator.
The
primary organizer of Loop ’00, Pere Soldevilla, owner of the Galeria
Metropolitana de Barcelona is to be commended for the video art education that
Loop ’00 and Off Loop ’00 achieved. My only disappointment of the "Loop
’00 Fira de Videoart" beyond occasional technical difficulties and the
absence of a video artist panel, was the physical impossibility of experiencing
the entire Off Loop ’00 presentation. Some of the special exhibits that I
regret missing included the World Trade Center presentation, the Caixaforum
event, and a special Super 8 retrospective from the Museu Nacional D ‘Art de
Catalunya.
I spoke
with a couple of the art dealers and one artist. In one case the work moved me
personally because of my own cultural background, in another it was the beauty
and/or ingenuity of the work that impressed me as a great art. Finally, I was
impressed by the fearlessness of the art created. I was curious about how close
my interpretation of the work was to the artist ‘s intent.
Spencer
Tunick with I-20 (Habitacion Room 120) created a living and breathing work of
art, a record breaking nude event in Barcelona. The amazing works of Reynold
Reynolds’ "Burn" and Patrick Jolley ‘s "The Drowning Room"
caught my eye at Roebling Hall (Habitacion 134). Both were intensely dramatic
and culturally saturated videos dealing with the natural elements of fire and
water, excellent examples of the depth video art can encompass in a short
format.
MIZUMA
(Habitacion Room 130). The gallery owner, Sueo Mitsuma, chose to screen a video
presentation of a giant dragon shot under water that was pummeled with balls
emitting red ink underwater that resembled water firecrackers. "Happy New
Year – Memorial Project Vietnam II" is an emotional and dynamic video
utilizing the whimsy of water and the energy of the balls in the video that
suggested resiliency and celebration simultaneously. All great art is open to
interpretation however the beauty of the dragon ‘s dance in the video suggests
triumph over adversity.
NY ARTS:
Could you give the name of your gallery and your artist?
Sueo
Mitsuma: My gallery is Mizuma Art Gallery and I came from Tokyo. My artist name
is Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba he is half-Japanese and half-Vietnamese.
NY ARTS:
You mentioned earlier that this artist’s work was actually video poetry. Could
you clarify that statement?
Sueo
Mitsuma: This video was made in 2003 and the title is "Happy New
Year-Memorial Project Vietnam II". This artist is shooting a big story at
a Vietnamese seashore. Approximately 15 years ago more that 200,000 people
escaped from Vietnam and those people were called boat people. Nobody knew
where they ended up because they were floating endlessly like a wave…
NY ARTS:
So the dragon symbolizes the boat people?
Sueo
Mitsuma: Yes the dragon was born in 1968. At that time, the Vietnam War was a
very, very hard time and it was the new year season, when Chinese and
Vietnamese people traditionally love to celebrate the New Year with dragons and
the dragon dance. But in 1968 there was a surprise attack from the Vietcong and
the northern troops and the president of South Vietnam was occupied with
defense therefore the tradition of celebrating the New Year was broken. After
the surprise attack the war took a turn for the worse for South Vietnam and
eventually the war finished. At this time, the artist was born and his family
went to America but he was always seeking his identity. His mother was
Japanese, his father was Vietnamese and he grew up in the United States but he
was always thinking that he wanted to create a tribute to his mother ‘s
country.
NY ARTS:
Did he move to his mother ‘s county?
Sueo
Mitsuma: Yes he moved to Hochimen, at a time that was very difficult and he
created the first underwater video art.
NY ARTS:
How long was the creative process?
Sueo Mitsuma:
It took him two weeks to shoot the video underwater but it took about three
months to create the narrative story behind the video, and then approximately
the balance of one year in total to edit, and compose the music for the piece.
One video, one year.
NY ARTS:
What has your experience been here at Loop ’00 and what are your goals for this
presentation?
Sueo
Mitsuma: It has been very nice. I have two goals, one is to introduce video art
to the world and also I want to see how video art is growing to develop a
market in Europe.
NY ARTS:
For me the only frustration with Loop ’00 has been the technical problems with
the DVD players.
Sueo
Mitsuma: Technology is always difficult because DVD is a new development, and
right now there is NTSC and PAL, it’s so stupid. If they could in one year or
more find one system it would be very easy to show everywhere.
NY ARTS:
For me video art is one of the most successful ways to share culture.
Sueo
Mitsuma: This is a very important point…
NY ARTS:
Because everyone can appreciate music but you cannot really see all the
differences behind the people as you hear the music. However, if you see it and
hear it and get a chance to think about it, and then can play it again to think
some more, that is why video art is important. You can reflect.
Sueo
Mitsuma: Also another thing is it has a very cheap transportation cost, and
museums which have no budget can make a video arts show very easily.
Pari &
Dispari (Habitacion 136). Gallery owner Andrea Sassi chose a video box.
Included in the frames of the video box are video snapshots of adults and
child, adult and friend and adults that are lovers making love. The project
called "Butterfly" invites us to examine the intimacy of various
kinds of depictions of love, in a non-judgmental environment.
NY ARTS:
How long did the final video box take to create?
Andrea
Sassi: There were thirteen people working together for one year for this
"Butterfly" project. The first box had seven butterflies and now we
have thirty butterflies including homosexuality, with friends, with dogs, with
lesbians…
NY ARTS:
Did you create this collective by applying for grants?
Andrea
Sassi: We did not get paid anything; it was free, the artist can stay in the
collective and work. There is a camera, and other equipment.
NY ARTS:
Why were you attracted to this project?
Andrea
Sassi: The idea that you can collect the human body in another form, and the
idea of universal love. In this moment in the world universal love is very
important.
NY ARTS:
Are you also an artist, as well as a gallery owner?
Andrea
Sassi: Yes, I create video art, installation and painting sometimes. The
support is not important for the art. Art is my life, it is my passion. All day
I work in an office so that I have money to sustain the gallery.
NY ARTS:
Where have you traveled as a gallery owner in search of art?
Andrea
Sassi: Europe, South America, Germany, United States in New York, and
Amsterdam. I would like to travel to the whole world.
NY ARTS:
Where is art respected the most in the countries that you’ve visited?
Andrea
Sassi: In Amsterdam, politically art is supported. In Italy, it is very hard
for young artists because we have an historical tradition and the weight of
public opinion is strong for older artists. When you have fourteen years, you
are an artist before that you are nothing. So many Italian artists leave for
New York, but it is expensive. London and Europe are however the better places
for young artists because they are not as expensive. Berlin is very good for
young artists because it is very cheap: the materials are cheap, you can live
cheap but there is very little money to sell the art because there is a lot of
poverty. Another wonderful place for art that I love is Mexico. Mexican artists
do not believe that it is important to have support. (The materials and expense
are not important). You can use anything to make art.
Caren
Golden Fine Art (Habitacion Room 104). Artist Jonathan Calm’s pieces
incorporate graphics, cultural references and a use of music that requires
multiple screenings to appreciate the depth of the political and personal
statements that are made within his work. Jonathan Calm ‘s most amazing piece,
"Marcy ‘s Park at Four" portrays a middle-aged female substance
abuser trapped in a jungle gym. The isolation of an inner-city project is
unique because despite its realism, it is not a judgmental video.
NY ARTS:
Jonathan Calm, the names of your projects are?
Jonathan
Calm: A Place to Live, Trigger, and Marcy ‘s Park at Four.
NY ARTS:
What motivated these projects to be created in video as opposed to another art
form?
Jonathan
Calm: These were in a way some of my first completed videos because before I
was doing sculpture and installations. Doing video for me was a way to
encompass a lot of the different mediums that I was still working in and also
it was a more powerful way to tell a story. A story that a sculpture, an
installation or even a still painting can’t quite grasp, can’t quite tell; and
also the element of time, the ability to expand on a topic.
NY ARTS:
You are telling us about a specific neighborhood in the piece "Marcy ‘s
Park…". If you could tell me why you chose this park, what you wanted to
say with this piece; I think it’s one of your strongest pieces.
Jonathan
Calm: I think this park doesn’t specifically have to be about this neighborhood
but because I lived in that neighborhood, and through observation of one or two
blocks where I lived is where most of the images for this piece came from. In
essence as far as I’m concerned, the lead character is my neighbor and we have
something in common because we live in the same neighborhood. We see the same
things going on in that neighborhood except we’re also in two different places…
NY ARTS:
Economically…???
Jonathan
Calm: Economically but also I think what ‘s really interesting about her and
what drew me to her is that a lot of the images of this work are images of
memories that I had growing up as a kid in Bed Stuy, or as a kid in East New
York twenty years ago. It was fascinating for me to remember what it was like
in the late 70 ‘s and early 80 ‘s during the crack epidemic and then I got out
of that scenario…so it’s interesting to see twenty years later the continuation
of this thing. People always say "Oh its over, we ‘re progressing",
all of these sort of things, but its still there in the exact same form twenty
years later. For me some of the visuals are things I remember from when I was
younger, and some things that are happening now, and I think how I use the music
also references that because the music is from that early hip-hop moment fused
with more contemporary modern electronic sort of sounds, by merging those two,
that twenty year gap is bridged.
NY ARTS:
Do you prefer now to refer to yourself as an artist, a videographer, or a
filmmaker?
Jonathan
Calm: I don ‘t know any more, before I could say okay I’m a sculptor, or I
could say I’m an installation artist, and it’s funny because everyone refers to
me through shows as more of a documentary filmmaker now. That ‘s very
interesting and I don’t know what quite to do with that. I honestly think it’s
not necessary to label it, but I personally would like to understand what I do.
I ‘m working on some drawings now, and I ‘m working on some sculptures, and for
me its really about incorporating all those things, that I love to do, and how
I like to think, in one exposition.
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