EAI Summer Screening: Warp Drives


	WARP DRIVES Videos by Peggy Ahwesh, Joan Jonas, George Kuchar, Tony Oursler, and Ryan Trecartin
			Tuesday, June 25, 2013 6:30 pm Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) 535 West 22nd Street, 5th floor New York, NY 10011 www.eai.org Admission Free
	Please join EAI for Warp Drives, a special summer screening of videos driven by science fiction's far-out forms of matter and energy. In videos that range from dark stories of doomsday and destruction to speculative meditations on technological evolution and alienation, artists Peggy Ahwesh, Joan Jonas, George Kuchar, Tony Oursler, and Ryan Trecartin confront us with visions of individuals disconnected from the present or inhabiting alien psychological states. The artists transport us to parallel universes eerily similar to our own, but governed by radically different conceptions of reality. Rendered with his signature hand-painted sets and wildly constructed props, Tony Oursler's Spinout (1983, 16:02 min) is a tale of a world spinning out of control to nowhere. Starring a cast of inanimate objects, Oursler's expressionistic theater embraces space travel, astrology, the universe, catastrophe and madness. In Heaven's Gate (2000-01, 3:53 min), Peggy Ahwesh re-presents text from the website of the infamous UFO cult of the same name to build a minimalist portrait of the end-of-the-world paranoia that runs through the American social body. George Kuchar's The Tower of the Astro-Cyclops (1994, 17:37 min), is a playful look at the UFO phenomenon—a video portrait of Jacques Vallée, an author, computer scientist, and amateur astronomer who has devoted much of his life to researching UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters. Inspired by the science fiction story Universe by Robert Heinlein, Joan Jonas' rarely-screened video Double Lunar Dogs (1984, 24:04 min) is an Orwellian vision of post-apocalyptic survival aboard a drifting spaceship whose timeless travellers have forgotten the purpose of their mission. To recapture memory, and create a continuum between their unknown origin and uncertain destination, the characters in this disjunctive, philosophical narrative play metaphorical games with words and archetypal objects. In What's The Love Making Babies For (2003, 20 min), one of Ryan Trecartin's earliest videos, the artist speculates in vivid animation about reproduction, sexuality, and contemporary moralities. Evoking lo-fi, promotional, cult-worship videos, Trecartin and his fantastically costumed collaborators manufacture an alien yet familiar reality, hyper-saturated with media. For more information about the artists and works included in this screening, please visit: www.eai.org __________________________________ Friends of EAI Membership 2013 Become a 2013 Friends of EAI Member at one of four different levels and enjoy a range of wonderful benefits, including complimentary tickets to EAI's on-site public programs and special access to the artists and works in the EAI collection. Membership helps to support our programs and services, including our online resources, educational outreach, and vital preservation activities. By becoming a Friend of EAI, you support the future of media art and artists. Memberships begin at $40 ($25 for students). For more information, and to become a member, please visit: https://www.eai.org/eai/members.htm __________________________________ About EAI Founded in 1971, Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is one of the world's leading nonprofit resources for video art. A pioneering advocate for media art and artists, EAI fosters the creation, exhibition, distribution, and preservation of video art and digital art. EAI's core program is the distribution and preservation of a major collection of over 3,500 new and historical media works by artists. EAI's activities include viewing access, educational services, extensive online resources, and public programs such as artists' talks, exhibitions and panels. The Online Catalogue is a comprehensive resource on the artists and works in the EAI collection, and also features extensive materials on exhibiting, collecting and preserving media art: www.eai.org __________________________________ Electronic Arts Intermix 535 West 22nd Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10011 t (212) 337-0680 f (212) 337-0679 info@eai.org EAI on Facebook EAI on Twitter ___________________________________ This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.