Erratic Anthropologies

Art in General
79 Walker Street
New York NY 10013

Opening Oct 29 6–8pm
Erratic Anthropologies

"Art in General presents three performance installations by Guy Benfield, Shana Moulton, and Rancourt/Yatsuk that mine the visual culture of flawed but influential community structures: the hippie commune and the American suburb. Using narrative strategies the artists act as quasi-anthropologists, investigating domestic objects and architectures to pick apart the promises identified with these cultures — wealth, power, happiness, and transcendence. With a dose of the fantastic, these artists highlight the psychological, economic, and environmental fallout from the failure of idealistic attempts at redefining western social dynamics."

Presented by Art in General for Performa 09

[text and graphic from Art in General website. Graphic: "Rancourt/Yatsuk, Phase IV.**"

** See correction below in the comments section, identifying the image above as one from "Shana Moulton's The Undiscovered Antique." Click here for a graphic for "Phase IV."

In Phase IV artists Rancourt/Yatsuk enact the story of fictitious star realtor Don Donavucci and his desperate attempts to construct the model home for his idyllic community during the height of the housing market crash. Donavucci’s fantastic architectural vision (a mixture of elegant suburban excess and raw construction materials) will house a series of “OPEN HOUSE” days, where Don will be on-site to show his creation and attempt to make the sale. Drawing inspiration from failed suburban housing developments of the past century, Phase IV will investigate issues of sustainability, urbanization, and limitations of natural resources. Phase IV seeks out the dramatic extremes of the housing crash to reveal the grim human ecology that has spread throughout United States and the world." Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Prep Materials

Art in General
79 Walker Street
New York NY 10013

In 1926 Carl Brigham developed the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) that has since been administered to millions of students every year in order for them to begin their college educations. The SAT is only the first of a long list of standardized tests that have been designed according to the Jeffersonian principle of providing equal opportunity in education to all citizens of the United States.

Effective implementation of standardized tests required the appropriate technology to print, distribute, and more importantly, score their answer sheets. In 1934 three companies in particular raced to patent a more efficient turnkey solution, accurately correcting more tests more quickly. In doing so IBM, Educational Test Service (ETS), and the Measurement Research Center (originally part of Iowa University) developed technology that, in the 1970s, would facilitate the invention of the ballot machine as well as our contemporary desktop scanners.

Prep Materials, presented as a series of pictures, a video and a drawing, takes its departure from archival research within these three institutions. Moving beyond the common criticism against standardization and its supposed translation into better education, Carla Herrera-Prats focuses on the fallacy of relying on more “efficient” technologies in order to realize the principles of democracy.

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[graphic, result of google image search for 'standardized tests,' from studenthacks.org Web site.]

Tenth Annual Video Marathon: MEDIUM COOL

Friday 11 January and Saturday 12 January, 12:00-6:00pm

Art in General’s Tenth Annual Video Marathon Medium Cool explores the current state of video art, situated in-between institutionalized ‘Video Art’ and the work emerging from the flow and dynamism of the Internet. Taking the title of Haskell Wexler’s film of 1969, which suggested a critique of Marshall McLuhan’s distinction between ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ media, Medium Cool suggests that video is an idea rather than a technology; as an umbrella term for a particular set of practices, it promises democracy while at the same time threatening to reduce images to information. Through two days of screenings, three events, and a dedicated website, the Marathon looks at a range of video practices, including early experiments within the media itself, while dealing with issues of video distribution and copyright, the making of (art) history and legacy through moving images, and the general impact of technology on contemporary culture.

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[image from Art In General press release. Caption: "William E. Jones, The Fall of Communism as seen in Gay Pornography, 1998, Courtesy of the artist."]