 
Pictures from "A.B.C.", a.k.a. Another Bad
Creation, a group night of video and performance curated by Cory Arcangel, at Deitch Projects, NY (last night, November 19, 2003). Featuring works created and/or found
by Cory and Jamie Arcangel, BEIGE, Paper Rad, Seth Price, CELLmedia, Carly Ptak, LoVid and the shinths tour. From the press release: "Taking its title from the early 90's teen pop band produced by Michael Bivins (of Biv10 entertainment), this night explores a style of video and performance best described as 'post
cable access.' [V]ideo and live performance mash together in an almost imperceptible mix of quick cuts and poorly tracked VHS footage. Think accidental high-school videos, Salvation Army found tapes, awesome karaoke, anything originally recorded on a BETA tape, broken Nintendo games, blue screen ring tone hip-hop videos, and dance videos made with
tin foil and spray paint. Th[e] night explores the side of homemade single channel video which is cheap, quick, and often embarrassing. Colliding to provide us with a clear picture of the ill fated 'home video revolution,' the foundations of A.B.C. are the celebration of the camcorder, the banality of everyday life, and a complete disregard for the
medium."
Top to bottom: Carly Ptak, live video/sound/performance (a kind of transcendental meditation incantation with a spooky electro-bass pulse and the artist's face superimposed over leaves, rocks, river, and sky--rather disconcerting after a night of High Irony); LoVid, live video/sound/performance (playing their new video synth--sorry I didn't get more imagery in the shot); "Shinth," DIY performance with handmade electronic instrument built by Peter B. The Shinth tour was in the basement of Deitch's Wooster Street space; the video program ran upstairs for a continuous 90 minutes of big-screen projection. The flow of recorded videos and "pay no attention to those performers behind the curtain" live video was fairly seamless: I didn't realize till afterward that the Paper Rad performance (psychedelic nonZense literally phoned in through a stuffed talking bear telephone) was done live.
A couple more pics are here (click on thumbnails for enlarged view). More on Carly Ptak here.
Sounds like this Deitch night was less about pleasure than the NY Underground Film Festival "Audio Visual" Live Showcase, October 8, 2003 at North Six. The latter was pretty well unadulterated fun, if you were already used to the idea of experimentation. Tom, how would you compare the two events?
The event was as much a blast as the one you linked to, and also PSYCH-OUT 2K3. The paragraph I quoted above (written by Cory, I assume) captures the flavor better than my tragicomic description(s). The problem with these BEIGE/Paper Rad shows is they create an extra burden for anyone who attempts to write about them: It's one thing to say something's funny as hell and another to describe it in a way that nails the humor. That's hard work! It was easier right off the bat to talk about some of the interesting sociocultural issues raised by the Carly Ptak pieces, but that's not to take away from the amazing collection of goofy found footage, HTML Tour documentation, Paper Rad videos, clips off late night cable, children's show imagery, DIY videos with neighborhood kids, and live performances, all run together in a continuous mashed up flow. There are a couple of standout videos I'll describe in more detail, depending on how busy it is...um, later tonight.
More on "A.B.C.":
We got to see the rest of Jamie Arcangel's dance video, a longer version of the one shown at "Audio Visual." I believe this was filmed about 10 years ago so it falls into the "artists presenting home movies as found video" category. It starts with some energetic Vanilla Ice/In Living Color moves performed by the cheesily-smiling Jamie (including a deft two-part hand gesture that might be interpreted as "Pow, I Shot You/Call Me"), then the camera gets fascinated with a downward-angle view of her shoes jumping on the spraypainted cardboard. The routine gets more and more spastic, the closeups multiply and she never loses that plastered-on smile, which looks increasingly desperate. The character was evidently based on Blossom, but I missed that show so I didn't get the reference. 
oh maN! people who have never seen Blossom should respect that they are priviledged, and not go swanning around with cavalier abandon posting pictures that give the rest of us acid reflex. ow ow ow ow ow.
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Pictures from "A.B.C.", a.k.a. Another Bad Creation, a group night of video and performance curated by Cory Arcangel, at Deitch Projects, NY (last night, November 19, 2003). Featuring works created and/or found by Cory and Jamie Arcangel, BEIGE, Paper Rad, Seth Price, CELLmedia, Carly Ptak, LoVid and the shinths tour.
From the press release: "Taking its title from the early 90's teen pop band produced by Michael Bivins (of Biv10 entertainment), this night explores a style of video and performance best described as 'post cable access.' [V]ideo and live performance mash together in an almost imperceptible mix of quick cuts and poorly tracked VHS footage. Think accidental high-school videos, Salvation Army found tapes, awesome karaoke, anything originally recorded on a BETA tape, broken Nintendo games, blue screen ring tone hip-hop videos, and dance videos made with tin foil and spray paint. Th[e] night explores the side of homemade single channel video which is cheap, quick, and often embarrassing. Colliding to provide us with a clear picture of the ill fated 'home video revolution,' the foundations of A.B.C. are the celebration of the camcorder, the banality of everyday life, and a complete disregard for the medium."
Top to bottom: Carly Ptak, live video/sound/performance (a kind of transcendental meditation incantation with a spooky electro-bass pulse and the artist's face superimposed over leaves, rocks, river, and sky--rather disconcerting after a night of High Irony); LoVid, live video/sound/performance (playing their new video synth--sorry I didn't get more imagery in the shot); "Shinth," DIY performance with handmade electronic instrument built by Peter B. The Shinth tour was in the basement of Deitch's Wooster Street space; the video program ran upstairs for a continuous 90 minutes of big-screen projection. The flow of recorded videos and "pay no attention to those performers behind the curtain" live video was fairly seamless: I didn't realize till afterward that the Paper Rad performance (psychedelic nonZense literally phoned in through a stuffed talking bear telephone) was done live.
A couple more pics are here (click on thumbnails for enlarged view). More on Carly Ptak here.
- tom moody 11-20-2003 9:01 am
Sounds like this Deitch night was less about pleasure than the NY Underground Film Festival "Audio Visual" Live Showcase, October 8, 2003 at North Six. The latter was pretty well unadulterated fun, if you were already used to the idea of experimentation. Tom, how would you compare the two events?
- sally mckay 11-21-2003 9:17 pm
The event was as much a blast as the one you linked to, and also PSYCH-OUT 2K3. The paragraph I quoted above (written by Cory, I assume) captures the flavor better than my tragicomic description(s). The problem with these BEIGE/Paper Rad shows is they create an extra burden for anyone who attempts to write about them: It's one thing to say something's funny as hell and another to describe it in a way that nails the humor. That's hard work! It was easier right off the bat to talk about some of the interesting sociocultural issues raised by the Carly Ptak pieces, but that's not to take away from the amazing collection of goofy found footage, HTML Tour documentation, Paper Rad videos, clips off late night cable, children's show imagery, DIY videos with neighborhood kids, and live performances, all run together in a continuous mashed up flow. There are a couple of standout videos I'll describe in more detail, depending on how busy it is...um, later tonight.
- tom moody 11-22-2003 1:08 am
More on "A.B.C.":
We got to see the rest of Jamie Arcangel's dance video, a longer version of the one shown at "Audio Visual." I believe this was filmed about 10 years ago so it falls into the "artists presenting home movies as found video" category. It starts with some energetic Vanilla Ice/In Living Color moves performed by the cheesily-smiling Jamie (including a deft two-part hand gesture that might be interpreted as "Pow, I Shot You/Call Me"), then the camera gets fascinated with a downward-angle view of her shoes jumping on the spraypainted cardboard. The routine gets more and more spastic, the closeups multiply and she never loses that plastered-on smile, which looks increasingly desperate. The character was evidently based on Blossom, but I missed that show so I didn't get the reference.
- tom moody 11-22-2003 5:22 am
oh maN! people who have never seen Blossom should respect that they are priviledged, and not go swanning around with cavalier abandon posting pictures that give the rest of us acid reflex. ow ow ow ow ow.
- sally mckay 11-22-2003 8:30 am