MediaScope
March 15 and 23; April 5, 2004
Dedicated to experimentation
with cinematic form and content, MediaScope presents emerging and
recognized artists who discuss their work
with the audience. The program explores filmmaking and videomaking,
as
well as Web-based, installation, and digital art practices. Organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator; Jytte Jensen, Curator;
Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator; Barbara London, Associate Curator;
and Joshua Siegel, Assistant Curator, Department of Film and Media.
In this installment of Walid Raad’s ongoing exploration of
contemporary and historical events in Lebanon, the artist presents
a video work in progress, My Neck Is Thinner than a Hair: A History
of Car Bombs in the Lebanese Wars, Volume 1, January 21, 1986. The
work is based on an archive of journalistic photographs of car bombings
in Lebanon, which the artist places in a broader context. Program
90 min.
Drawing on the tradition of social caricature, Ahwesh and Abate’s
2004 film Certain Women, adapted from the 1957 novel by Erskine Caldwell,
exaggerates the clichés of femininity and parodies men in
power. A cautionary tale of small-town ignorance and cruel gossip,
the film charts the trials and tribulations of four women in their
struggle for independence, with little redemption but plenty of over-the-top
despair, social critique, and the drama of human wickedness. Shot
in a variety of low-end video formats, including spy-cam, VHS, and
DV. Program approx. 75 min.
Carrie Mae Weems, a leading American visual artist celebrated for
photographic work and installations, has recently become engaged
in film- and videomaking. Weems aims to make art that is “seductive,
formally challenging, and culturally meaningful,” inviting
viewers to consider issues of race, gender, and class. The artist
will present vignettes from two works in progress: Coming Up
for Air and Meaning and Landscape: A Video in 2 Parts—both from
her Louisiana Project. Program approx. 75 min.
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