Learning to Watch

March 4, 2004 - April 18, 2004

Sala Rekalde

Solo Exhibition (catalog): Learning to Watch/Aprender a mirar was an exhibition in the sala rekalde that brought together seven works produced by the American artists Jennifer (1968) and Kevin McCoy (1967) over the course of the last four years. The work of these artists in installations, video and photography explores the various modes of imagining perception in a world filled with images. This exhibition looks in particular at our cinematographic memory, at how the images in film are constructed and at how we, the viewers, approach them, consume them and incorporate them into our own databases, thereby turning them into a common reference for the audience. Curated by Cecilia Anderson.


Works Shown

Learning from Las Vegas

2003, Installation with suitcase

This work uses as its raw material footage from 21 different films in which the city of Las Vegas is used as a setting. Each individual shot is organised according to descriptive categories and taken as a lesson learnt from or about the city of Las Vegas and its inhabitants. For example, ‘learning from fountains’ includes all shots of exuberantly erupting fountains. The idiscs are embedded in an elaborately wall papered suitcase.

Soft Rains #1: Beach Adventure

2003, Installation with video projection

Soft Rains consists of multiple platforms. Each platform represents a familiar cinematic archetype or genre rendered in miniature (60s Arthouse, 70s horror etc). The miniature ‘heroine’ of the work, clad in a distinctive red dress, is pictured in each of the sets. The live feed from each video camera is connected to a computer-based video sequencer, which switches from one camera to another to create an edited sequence appearing as a large scale projection. The beach adventure platform is insprired by the Sean Connery James Bond films.

Soft Rains #2: Cabaret

2003, Installation with video projection

Soft Rains consists of multiple platforms. Each platform represents a familiar cinematic archetype or genre rendered in miniature (60s Arthouse, 70s horror etc). The miniature ‘heroine’ of the work, clad in a distinctive red dress, is pictured in each of the sets. The live feed from each video camera is connected to a computer-based video sequencer, which switches from one camera to another to create an edited sequence appearing as a large scale projection. The cabaret platform is inspired by the work of Douglas Sirk, specifically the film Imitation of Life.

Soft Rains #3: Dinner Party

2003, Installation with video projection

Soft Rains consists of multiple platforms. Each platform represents a familiar cinematic archetype or genre rendered in miniature (60s Arthouse, 70s horror etc). The miniature ‘heroine’ of the work, clad in a distinctive red dress, is pictured in each of the sets. The live feed from each video camera is connected to a computer-based video sequencer, which switches from one camera to another to create an edited sequence appearing as a large scale projection. The dinner party platform is inspried by Bunuel's film Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie.

Soft Rains #4: The Loft

2003, Installation with video projection

Soft Rains consists of multiple platforms. Each platform represents a familiar cinematic archetype or genre rendered in miniature (60s Arthouse, 70s horror etc). The miniature ‘heroine’ of the work, clad in a distinctive red dress, is pictured in each of the sets. The live feed from each video camera is connected to a computer-based video sequencer, which switches from one camera to another to create an edited sequence appearing as a large scale projection. The Loft platform is based on scenes from the film An Unmarried Woman.

Soft Rains #5: The Spa

2003, Installation with video projection

Soft Rains consists of multiple platforms. Each platform represents a familiar cinematic archetype or genre rendered in miniature (60s Arthouse, 70s horror etc). The miniature ‘heroine’ of the work, clad in a distinctive red dress, is pictured in each of the sets. The live feed from each video camera is connected to a computer-based video sequencer, which switches from one camera to another to create an edited sequence appearing as a large scale projection. This platform is based on Fellini's 8 1/2.

Soft Rains #6: Suburban Horror

2003, Installation with video projection

Soft Rains consists of multiple platforms. Each platform represents a familiar cinematic archetype or genre rendered in miniature (60s Arthouse, 70s horror etc). The miniature ‘heroine’ of the work, clad in a distinctive red dress, is pictured in each of the sets. The live feed from each video camera is connected to a computer-based video sequencer, which switches from one camera to another to create an edited sequence appearing as a large scale projection. Suburban Horror uses images inspired by David Lynch's film Blue Velvet and by John Carpenter's Friday the 13th.

The Kiss

2002, installation with custom software

In this installation, a red suitcase contains hardware and software that algorithmically reenact a scene from Lawrence Kasdan's 1981 film Body Heat. The McCoys film actors playing the parts of William Hurt and Kathleen Turner in a pivotal erotic moment of the film. The scene is then broken into short clips and digitized so that the actors images become manipulable as individual frames. Custom computer software selects these clips according to ever-changing patterns, creating a continuous live remix, projected at cinematic scale.

Horror Chase

2002, installation with custom software

This work is based on the climatic chase sequence from Evil Dead II. The artists re-enact the scene on a specially designed stage set. Each shot in the sequence is individually digitized. Custom computer software selects these clips at random, playing them back in a seamless but continuously variable way, changing the speed and direction of play. The images are projected at cinematic scale and the computer hardware is installed in a black briefcase, which forms part of the installation.

Every Anvil

2002, Installation with electronic sculpture and discs

The source material for this work is a collection of one hundred episodes of the Looney Tunes television program. Each episode is broken down into a series of individual shots which were then grouped together into categories. The categories include each instance of violence or physical extremity (such as every fall, every explosion, and every anvil). The suitcase sculpture contains 120 categories of data.

Every Shot, Every Episode

2001, installation with electronic sculpture

The source material for this work is a collection of 10,000 shots from Starsky & Hutch. Each episode is broken down into a series of individual shots. The artists have assigned key words to each shot: every plaid, every sexy outfit, every yellow Volkswagen, etc. There are 278 categories in total. Each category is archived on an individual video CD which is labelled in clear, bold lettering and installed in the gallery on a shelf. Video CDs are chosen by the gallery visitor and played via the built-in video screen.