 |
Curated by Bill Kelley Jr.
|
|
The
psychological and cultural intermarriage of violence and sex
is ancient, just now leading some of us to the shocking revelation
that we can willingly wage war on helpless countries while violently
protesting a nipple on TV. American entertainment and aggression,
in all its manifestations, is the progeny of this all-too-well
acquainted couple. The conspicuous overlap of censored media-disasters
- a war not televised, a breast that was - represents an oddly
similar and repressively balanced epistemological tight wire everyone
seems to be blindly walking on. Puratinism, history, power, whatever
the motivation, and the ceremony continues…
How can you resist? implies, appropriately enough, both
the action necessary to mediate such offerings and enough sensitivity
to know better. I propose that this balancing act of realization
and desire is banal and routine unless tempered with a critical
eye. In that vein, it's also fitting that this proposal comes
from the world of new media. Apart from its inherent formal seduction,
film and new technologies are an interventionist's playground,
rooted deep in Benjaminian history.
But is this union one of political convenience? I don't think
so, there's far too much repetition in history for any one
clear answer. Yet, it is perhaps outside of the realm of practical
and material theories that we might find a way to untie this marital
knot.
During the 19th century, artists like Gericault and Friedrich expressed
such notions of a sublime beauty that engulfs - and possibly destroys
- as an antidote to Western Rationalism; dangerous and sweeping
views that depict the awe of "nature" with women as
its most robust embodiment.
Foucault might have been right in saying that during the 19th century,
the Old World developed a discourse of class-based self-scrutiny
through sex. That may be true, but the view of sexual knowledge
as a link to the sublime awe of yearning, apprehension, fear and
repression are far older than that. The scrutiny of this particular
self begins with the "discovery" of the New World centuries
earlier. To finally situate yourself on a global map required the "knowledge" of
a sensual Other. This knowledge composed of equal parts corporeal
curiosity and colonial possession has been raised as the post-colonial
standard bearer of sexual politics. So there's a link for
you. Ok…whatever.
It's a complicated mess. Contemporary art and American media's
contribution to our views on sex, ethics and aggression run pretty
deep, and if no one is minding, is there any point in trying to
figure it out?
This selection of works is neither a product of, nor a slave to,
any worn historical path. It's simply a dialogue between
you and I. This dialogue is a construction of meaning that extracts
an open space - you're all invited - where the crisscross
of beauty, terror, aggression, sensuality, and the sublime, both
ethereal and concrete, intermingle. And yes, of course, the work
speaks for itself.
Buscando by Brook
Alfaro (4:45)
I'm Safe by John
Richey (0:30)
Thunder Perfect Mind by Micaela
O'Herlihy (14:00)
Brief Interviews by Jim
Skuldt (3:00)
Immersion by Tobias
Tovera (6:00)
Teeth in the Wrong Places by Caitlin
Berrigan (7:00)
Lucille by Enid
Baxter Blader (2:30)
Epiphany: Freeway Crash by John
Richey (1:37)
Interview by Jacqueline
Salloum (4:30 excerpt from 24:00) |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
