In the Land of the Elevator Girls : Xe Anniversaire

AUUaOVISUEL SI
ONE DE FF ~
FESTIVAL
INTERNATIONAL
DE VIDEOS
ET DE FILMS
DU l RU 9 DECEMBRE 1992.: :
PALAIS DE. TOKYO - 13 AVENUE DU PRESIDENT WILSON - 75116 PARIS
Telephone : 47 23 6 48 ei 47 23 07 36
I deo
ut the
,A, Festival
By Ifolly Willis
mhhasis on :3rt from tlic Pacific Rim
ittmity to (Iuctilion our relationship to
irk. 'lie gucstiorts asked by all
:ut . wuncly where do we position
and by what St :uzdar(k (to we judge
are especially important when die
- otherness carries the project of
by or anthropology along with it.
, re, inequities implicit in the
hierarchies of first, second, and third
ons necessarily surface in regard to
nent, requiring an awareness that the
)nditions of an artist's work may
a very different artistic agenda . The
video programs in the Los Angeles
e a testament to both the difficulties
testions, as well as the excitement of
Lncc.
is an excellent tool for documentary
it is inexpensive, accessible, and
~. The ability to manipulate,
and deconstruct images in editing
video the favored medium for many
h the documentary and artistic
video are represented in the festival,
ring a wide diversity of political
td agendas .
; : lnstruclions to the Double, at
the
h Museum of Art, is a collection of
;apes selected by Australian video
Callas . Each tape illustrates an
using of cultural boundaries and his
tic response to the other side . Callas
e curator's introduction in the show
l artists frequently make "the other"
or themselves, a double or
;er. As enigmatic and unknowable,
to also be seen as one's own
Wdeo still from 'Neo Geo: An American Purchase" 6y Peter Callas .
incorporate the tape into an installation, The
Fujiyama Pyramid Project, which will consist
of eleven monitors built into a huge pyramid,
with green and red lights, paint, and a fan
blowing pieces of material to resemble a fire .
The plans are quite intricate and the installation
is sure to be dazzling .
The Land of the Elevalor Girls (1989) by
. . Steina is a humorous account of the opening
and closing of a multitude of elevator doors in
Japan where the elevators are generally
accompanied by women employed to greet
passengers . The elevators in this tape open on
surreal landscapes, and the conjunction of
propriety and the ridiculous is very funny.
Another humorous tape is Bruce and
investigation of the relationship of the artist to
the "outer" and the manner in which this
relationship is expressed . Another very
interesting group of tapes is being exhibited at
LACE in a show titled ...Will be Televised:
Video Documents rorm Asia coordinated by
Shu Lea Cheang . The premise of this
the other and the manner in which this
relationship is expressed
the currency of cultural symbols .
half of the tape uses music from
album, The Big Gundown : John
the Music of Ennio Morricone, a
illeI that reinforces Ca IIas'
head, rummaging through a pile of women's
underwear and watching erotic tapes.
Edin Velez's tape, Meaning of the Interval
(1987), illustrates the notion of space btawmn
intervals, an important concept in Japan. The
in and subvcrsinn . I saw the tape on
ut for the sh- ..u Calla- : 01rns to
and ironic in that it is an interval that would
normally be edited out.
The show is an excellent conceptual
investigation of the relationship of the artist to
articularly interesting formulation .
s own tape, Neo Geo: An American
989), uses icon computer imagery
complex, moving pattern to
the ride, as if meditating, the shot is elegant,
The show is an excellent conceptual
Norman Yonemoto's Kappa, which combines
an informative discussion of the mythical
Japanese creature with a fictional tale that
suggests a link between Oedipal desire,
repression, and the Kappa in we stem culture.
The Kappa is a Shinto god of fresh water who
is characterized by a dish-like indentation in his
skull to carry water in, a need far blood, and a
lust for young women . In the fictional part of
the tape, Mike Kelley scampers around the
s, the mysterious and unbound,
premise, then, brings into question
f the relationship of the self to the
the passage through space in actual time,
without cuts, in a shot of two men sitting on the
subway and the reflection of lights and other
trains in the window behind their heads. The
two passengers remain absolutely still through
landscape with a green face and a dish on his
best example of the term in the tape is a
subway ride between two lxtints . Velez shows
exhibition is that the United States receives
through network news a very limited and
politically determined view of social and
political events in Asia . These tapes were
made by individuals in Korea, the Phillipines,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, and were
selected on the basis of their coverage of the
events preceeding major political and social
struggles and continuing after world interest
has moved on to other major events . These
tapes will be shown at LACE . September 1
through September 23 .
Other video programs in the Los Angeles
Festival include Native Images : Film and
Video from the First Peoples at the American
Film Institute, September 1, and Siempre
Pr re, pectives in Video at the
Presenter I
AR on S-
STEINA
Nee en lslande
rn
STEINA
Japon /
1,940, elle a
IregaernM to
C(in$erVatGire de
P,4usique de Prague
de 1959 A 1963 A
pa rtir de 7970, efle
f"urlrvre +'ouvre avec un ruler all
reritrr tle I ' ( r-r-an, S1eino I'uliIise IurRr
.imulcr I'nuverwre de, pnrtes if" un
aseerr,r11r (if - Prartd rnagasin iron[
participe. aux USA .
au ddvelopperrienr do
The nark ripens pith a rripr frr.m rl.
cenrrr ref the screen . yirirru urer Aft.
simulaic the opening dour, " ri 4 ,%
eferator in rr rhopartmerrt rr-" +
.'urrulrr une ma .eollcrfc- Irl rrlllure
I'art elecrronique .
Coorganisatrice de la
grande exposition
"The Kitchen"J NP ly
York, elle rpntinua,
depuis lors . ~
ddvelopper des
outils et une
eVhritique de la
allended
jriponaicr de enn .ommalion ; la riIle
ri "a5( rrl .c" ur . SI1 " irr .r rfrs 4 " rrt nolrr n
I;uirfr r hnctile drln " urlr Irrunle " na(6 "
'Al r' ¬p'tlrr(
" in "rrulrrble " "
w- rtifTrlr`it)f" ul.
(1'1111
maw-,F a+
Scenario : Sterna, Woody Vasulka " Son : Steina, Woody Vasulka
Montage : Steina, Woody Vasulka a Musique : Stoma, Woody Vasulka
Interpretation : Steina, Woody Vasulka " Production : Steina " Distribution : CASB
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TIIIS
SKI!
Evelyne RENAULT
USA/France " 1989 a 26' 30 "" a NTSC a Couleur " Sans parole
A [rrrr, la peaw Prau respiranlrpratt dr" clwl- maliTrr dr .
1'11
IraaaiI mw it d("ltkrcrrnen1, " (rr I',tIiFrnaliun du runs.. itrliulc" '- .ur rir " llor. . au
On the grorritd . the akin . 13realhing
cki+t . lrrish skin, the %rtrf ref dreams. A
surd) mr (lie displaremenr, the rdienariorr rtf the in Iin?We boils' : rmr .side,
drthln~ . . . Ilr " .Isirrlliun dr " la ntfrneirr . . . Dun, Ir rl,1 .vr1 iex "uuvenirs
r~rnrrgr " ul . 1111 \, rr-n(it rfr . iiu,gr, . . .
"in this skin' (1989).
"Ma m2ison --1 sentirnentaire
119911. "Wake up,
dead world
(irlsrallviw) video)
119,911
inside, . . Hrralhinl; ref tfre memory
.
710 , rrr'allrrtierrr .c rrvjerg(- in the deserd,
the rhh anrflrtn ref images., .
Son : Evelyne Rertmill " Montage : Evelyne Aenautt
Production : Evelyne Renault
Distribution : Heure Exquise Distribution
F- ,1FG CIV#I,ISFliEfi MIC 01
V08t ;Fti1? :1 I1 f'IV1I,l'l,E
T111?
Kirsten HAMMANN
De narianafird
om morgensn ".
(1992)
an rfiir"
former upuard (nr is it dorr'mrrad
ride through the - inserrltuhl :
rrslx "('1 .s of rrrlirallystruclured fapa+r.
lupon
Evelyne RENAULT
danaise, n#e on
1955, elle est poore
et artiste video .
Elle a rdah5C trots
. "Rummers
videos
Rest "(+990.
-Subtide" 11991), et
"Jag civiliserer rnig
h}'
Japanese ron.sumer crr1rrrre ; r1.r
eferrrror girl. Steina becwrnrr rite
inimical - grade r nrr a hrgrriltnAr
m duiailnle, 7lrmellvment vet. If, lT,urt
luu r "sl-re vet. It bas 71 1 leavers Ir ";
man+pufal+on de
!'image dlecironigrre .
Nee on 1962, carte
vrddaste a pass#
trots arts au,r USA
comma boursiore
Fu!6right (1986-89).
pipldmee de I'Ecule
Narionale Superreure
des Arts IWcoralils
de Paris. rile a
dgalemeor Girt?
laurdate de 1a bourse
lavorsier
Videos : "Regard
liqu ide " I x 9851.
USA " 1989 " 4'15" " NTSC a Couleur " Sans parole
AYSFLF
I11
110 It NIN(,' )
Kirsten HAMMAN
-7
Danemark e 1992 " 3' a PAL a Noir et blanc a V . danaise, s .-t . anglais
1 Civ- ilire llv,elf In The. Vnrning
v.l rr" ali .Fr le plug ermrlui " r "ment rltt
ntnrxlr" . ct r,t ("nlir" r( "nrrnl regale . EIlc
x
- I Cirdi;e Jlr.srff In The 1lurning
is mncl corrrleovsjl pn)dtrr'ed rtrtd Iiel~r
IpgaL If dcnix trilh the rrratrrr,~,c rr_f
inue aver I- ides de propretrt rle la
lurk el
(if!
Iwaee arrd ardi" r-
I'urdre.
Scenario : Kirsten Hamman a Son : Jens Bangsholdl " Montaga : Toihen Sklodt Jensen
Interpretation : Kirsten Hamman " Production . The Danish Filmirnslitute Workshop
Distribution : The Danish Filminstitu ¬ e Workshop
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