Times II
Curated by Stephan Hillerbrand
Friday, October 8, 7PM
Location: Barnevelder Movement Complex, 2201 Preston
$7 Non-Members, Aurora Members Free
Aurora is proud to showcase the second screening of work by University of Houston School of Art students and alumni this fall in a screening titled Times II. Curated by School of Art faculty member, Stephan Hillerbrand, the program will examine the expanded definition of what we see as time-based work. This includes single channel videos and a live cinema performance from alumni and current undergraduate and graduate School of Art students.
The following films will be shown at this screening:
My Life is a Fucking Mess, Amanda Monette
This piece has been created by extracting user submitted "secrets" to online forums, in this piece 7 speakers voice these confessions, possibly for the first and last time. The secrets are chosen and combined at the discretion of the artist. This piece hopes to remind its viewers that even our secrets aren't our own, others are on this journey with us.
Stephan Spent the Weekend Watching Star Wars, Tala Vahabzadeh and Grant MacManus
Tehran. 1989. "This stupid kid is smoking my cigarettes sneakily. These are Marlboro. They are expensive, do you understand?! If you can't control her, I will. " Said Uncle Djavad furiously. And I ran under my grandma's chador to hide...
Breathless, Alex Nguyen
In this re-enactment of the climax of Godard's "Breathless". I assume the role of Michel, the protagonist, as he dies from several gunshot wounds. I perform the three interpretations of the iconic dialogue between Michel and Patricia, who is his love interest, as well as the cause of his demise. Due to complex subtleties in the translation from French to English, it is difficult to know what context dégueulasse is used in. Thus, it is unclear to the viewer, the feelings that Michel has for Patricia in his final moments.
Zeppelin Phase, Chuck Ivy
In the tradition of Steve Reich's tape loop and "phase" compositions, Zeppelin Phase reexamines the Hindenburg disaster using repetition and incremental change to cause semantic satiation--the phenomenon by which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning to a listener, who begins to process speech as meaningless sounds.
Hands, Michael Brims
Two hands interacting. The viewer is invited to wonder if they are interacting with each other or with another person, maybe even the viewer. He / She is also invited to ponder about what they might be saying.
Trailer for 42 Cuts, Nick Bontrager
Trailer for 42 Cuts provides documentation of a mechanical sculpture created solely for the purpose which it's name suggests. Born from an obsession over a single scene from Kihachi Okamoto's 1966 film The Sword of Doom, Bontrager has extracted a single visual element from one of the most climactic moments of the film. In extracting this single element, snowfall, the original timing of the film has been retained throughout 42 cuts. Each cut is represented through analogue means in the form of a small rotating wooden sculpture.
Sound Vote, Eddy Roberts
Sound Vote is a short digital film/music video created as a response to the increasing installation and use of electronic voting machines. The intent was to create a sonic environment to underscore the ominous nature of these devices and the secrecy surrounding the way they function. The film suggests a connection between the makers of the voting machine with the military industrial complex: Perpetual war is good business and "assured victory" is achievable.
My Visual Clutter is Not Your Visual Culture, Ray Ogar
A video comprised of 1000s of collaged pieces. The pieces are scanned into the computer and then digitally manipulated and reassembled to portray a group of "culture spies" infiltrating a mashup world. One witnesses a technological disorder. S/he sprouts multitasking eyes. The music is also a mashup of 100+ sounds and beat snippets.
Rhythm Experiment, Ted Closson
A brief narrative told through selected imagery, rhythmic shifts and changes of tempo. The work documents a period of unemployment where stressors increased and decreased based on mail I received.
Untitled, Emily Peacock
In Untitled I shot myself in a situation that is often painful or pleasurable, but I only show my face throughout the process. I speed up the video and repeated the painful or pleasurable winces to reinforce the acuteness of the situation.
Untitled, Melissa Tran
A play of the color red, the presence and absence of light, and repetition, paired with sound creates a feeling of intensity and anxious energy. The pacing and escalation of the piece contribute to the discovery of unknown inner degrees of feeling.
Daily Life, Max Trautner
As texting and emailing becomes seen as a more reliable, and sometimes quicker, form of communication, the modern call and response is becoming a delayed and contemplated process. Daily Life is a quick glimpse of our fading spontaneity. What will we be missing when we call and respond from behind a screen?
An Exploration of Objectification, Max Trautner
"A new study from University of Connecticut researchers Stephenie Chaudoir and Diane Quinn suggests that simply being a bystander to sexism is enough to inspire women to report higher identification with women as a group, and heightened feelings of negativity toward men." -Amanda Hess, Washington City Paper, March 18, 2010
Nine Swimming Pools and an Interruption, Nancy Douthey
Untitled, Osman Galindo
Ritual Cleanse, Brittney Connelly
A girl in a bathtub performs a ritual cleanse through a birthing of varied objects.
Cached Curses, Eileen Maxson
An ear worm exorcism, psychic bubbling of worry, trash, cash and (so last century) curses.
99 Red Ballons, Rowan Bigham and Richard Nix
Prologue, Mallory Horn and Kathy Hallmark
Prologue is a dance performance that uses video. This is Kathy and Mallory's first video project and one of many choreography projects.
Stephan Hillerbrand is a video artist and collaborates with Aurora's curator, Mary Magsamen. He is an Assistant Professor in the Digital Media Program at the University of Houston. Hillerbrand is a Fulbright Fellow, MacDowell Colony Fellow and recipient of grants from Art Matters, National Endowment on the Arts, Ohio Arts Council and Houston Arts Alliance.