oto is out for the summer
OTO is on vacation. We will be back in September. In the meantime, please visit our archive of past shows.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
photos from the Feraliminal Lycanthroparty
some photos from Kai’s OTO, The Feraliminal Lycanthroparty, now up on OTO’s Flickr set
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Feraliminal Lycanthroparty
On June 13th from 7 to 10pm, OTO is pleased to present a new sound environment by Kai Vierstra
The Feraliminal Lycanthroparty is a celebration of one of the most diabolically wacky inventions science has ever seen (or at least whispered about). It’s the feraliminal lycanthropizer and it’s a low frequency thanato-auric wave generator, and it’s at OTO for one night only. Expect some serious relaxation of muscles and mores with vibrations and party favors. It’s gonna be an awesome night. The feraliminal lycanthroparty is brought to you by the Brooklyn based artist, Kai Vierstra, who bases this and most all his other work on the continuation of what little he knows and can guess about his father’s wave research with MIT/Lincoln Laboratory’s group 38 “Air Defense Systems”.
For more information on the feraliminal lycanthropizer, please visit-
http://www.physicsroom.org.nz/log/archive/8/feraliminal/
and for more of Kai’s work - http://kaivierstra.com
Saturday, May 30, 2009
photos from the loop lecture
some photos from last nights OTO - The Wheel of The Devil (aka the loop lecture) now up on
OTO’s Flickr set
Update
Ed began the night by screening Bruce Conner’s Report (1963-1967) and Marilyn Times Five (1968-1973) as people entered into the space. He then spoke a bit on the history of the film loop from the 'Daedalum' (aka 'the wheel of the devil) or as it was later renamed 'Zoetrope' (aka 'wheel of life') to early porn loops. He then turned to the structural/ materialist approach to loops in which film is treated physically as a object (using tape to create a loop), editing looping sections into a film, and the act of reprinting sections of a film over and over to create a linear work that loops.
He then showed, as examples, two 16mm works - George Landow ‘s "Film in Which There Appear..." 1965 and Malcolm Le Grice’s Berlin Horse from 1970 (single screen) with a looping Brain Eno soundtrack (think music box) and ended with a section of Jack Goldstein loops including “the Jump” 1979 shown from DVD.
Next, Tim began to present the 17 digital works. He introduced each work with the artist name, the title of the work and the original format (and a note if it was translated from the original format for the screening). The rule was set up that each loop would run until a majority of the audience raised their hand to move to the next loop. Counter to what one might expect, each loop played for some time until people even began to consider looking at the next.
Once Tim ran through the 17 works, he returned to the top of the list and began again. Some people left, some people stayed and the length of duration people looked at the work stayed about the same or in the case of a few works became even longer.
Two thoughts from doing this project
1. Work in translation is never the same. Goldstein’s loops on DVD from a digital projector are not the same as the film loops showing at the Met right now. I am thankful that translations occur as it allows more people to see the work and hopefully seek out source material.
2. Although we tend to think of loops both film and digital (and sound as well) as infinite, the act of perception always has a start and stop.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Wheel of The Devil (aka the loop lecture)
stills from “The Horror! The Horror! (.info)” by Jon Rafman
The Wheel of The Devil (aka the loop lecture)
curated by MTAA with Ed Halter
presented by T.Whid of MTAA
The infinite loop is the perfect form for expressing the reality of contemporary existence. From the endless boom-bust cycle of capitalism to the repeating right/left swings of American politics to the misbehaving computer code frustrating our days, we are the society of the loop. We’re doomed to repeat history ad infinitum (not to mention ad nauseum) with no progress nor resolve needed. These observations are nothing new; how could they be? We’ve always been Sisyphus.
while (history) {
history = true;
}
Come celebrate the horrific beauty of the infinite loop at “The Wheel of The Devil,” a one-night-only screening of historic and contemporary loops at Over The Opening. Each loop screened until the audience votes to move to the next.
Artists include (in no particular order):
JODI - Rick Silva - Brody Condon - Jon Rafman - Deidre LaCarte - Michael Sarff - MTAA - Hayley A. Silverman - Mathwrath - Chris Coy - Michael Bell-Smith - jimpunk - and more… JODI - Rick Silva - Brody Condon - Jon Rafman - Deidre LaCarte - Michael Sarff - MTAA - Hayley A. Silverman - Mathwrath - Chris Coy - Michael Bell-Smith - jimpunk - and more… JODI - Rick Silva - Brody Condon - Jon Rafman - Deidre LaCarte - Michael Sarff - MTAA - Hayley A. Silverman - Mathwrath - Chris Coy - Michael Bell-Smith – jimpunk - and more…
* where:*
Over The Opening (OTO)
60 N. 6th St. 2nd Flr (btw Wythe & Kent)
Brooklyn, NY, 11211
* when:*
Friday May 29th, 2009 7-10PM (one night only)
Doors open at 7PM, the lecture starts looping at 8PM sharp!
free and open to the public
Michael Sarff (M.River) and Tim Whidden (T.Whid) formed the Brooklyn-based
artist collaboration MTAA in 1996. MTAA has presented artworks and
performances at The New Museum of Contemporary Art, P.S.1 Contemporary Art
Center, The Whitney Museum of American Art, Postmasters Gallery, Artists
Space, and Light Industry all in New York City; The Walker Art Center in
Minneapolis; The Beall Center for Art and Technology in Irvine, CA; San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA and at The Getty Center in
Los Angeles, CA. International exhibitions include the Seoul Net & Film
Festival in Korea and Videozone2 - The 2nd International Video Art Biennial
in Israel. The collaboration has earned grants and awards from the Creative
Capital Foundation, Rhizome.org, Eyebeam and New Radio & Performing Arts,
Inc.
Ed Halter is a critic and curator living in New York City. His writing has
appeared in Artforum, Arthur, The Believer, Cinema Scope, Kunstforum,
Millennium Film Journal, Moving Image Source, Rhizome, the Village Voice and
elsewhere. From 1995 to 2005, he programmed and oversaw the New York
Underground Film Festival, and has organized screenings and exhibitions for
the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cinematexas, Eyebeam, the Flaherty Film
Seminar, the Museum of Modern Art, and San Francisco Cinematheque. He
currently teaches in the Film and Electronic Arts department at Bard
College, and has lectured at Harvard, NYU, Yale, and other schools as well
as at Art in General, Aurora Picture Show, the Foundation for Art and
Creative Technology, the Images Festival, the Impakt Festival, and Pacific
Film Archive. His book From Sun Tzu to Xbox: War and Video Games was
published by Thunder’s Mouth Press in 2006. With Andrea Grover, he is
currently editing the collection A Microcinema Primer: A Brief History of
Small Cinemas. He is a founder and director of Light Industry, a venue for
film and electronic art in Brooklyn, New York.
Over The Opening (OTO) - Once a month, the artist duo MTAA convert their
Brooklyn studio into a venue for the presentation of time-based art. The
ongoing project, begun in October 2007, has presented work ranging from
group tamale production to a LAN party involving a computerized version of
Guy Debord’s 1978 “Game of War.”
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Artist Meeting’s SOAP BOX OPERA WORKSHOP
On April 18, 2009 from 7pm-10pm, OTO is pleased to presents SOAP BOX OPERA WORKSHOP by Artists Meeting www.artistsmeeting.org
SOAP BOX OPERA WORKSHOP is a project developed by the collective
Artists Meeting. Honing in on the dramaturgy of theory, the group
has adapted excerpts from a variety of scholarly and art-theory-
based texts from different eras and genres to a “Soap Opera”
filmic format whereby plots are reduced to one liners, drama is
played out in an exaggerated manner and scenes rely on emotional
turmoil and ambiguity to capture the distracted viewer.
In the SOAP BOX OPERA WORKSHOP, professional actors and Artists
Meeting members have thus adapted the texts as scripts for scenes
of domestic and personal conflict and intrigue. The filming of
these performances follows the parameters of the “affect image,”
as described in Gilles Deleuze’s Cinema 1 and 2: Hence, the
capture is restricted to only close-up shots of the performers,
with no staging or sets, letting the detailed micro movements of
the face, reflecting both external circumstances as well as inner
reactions, carry the meaning of the episodes and scenes.
The project draws from the decadence of Rimbaud, the deconstruction
and criticism of Derrida and Foucault, and the controversy of Ted
Kaczynski and Andy Warhol in order to combine the intellectual
tract writing with soap opera-style acting. Taking inspiration from
“All My Children” to “General Hospital”, “Dark Shadows” and an
array of South American soap opera acting styles, combined with the
presence of literary criticism and theoretical text, Artists’
Meeting creates a new genre: the Interpretive Soap Opera.
During the exhibition at OTO a surprise element will contribute to
the distracting nature of the soap opera and will interfere with
the audience’s reception of these transformed but otherwise
scholarly texts.
Project Curators: James Andrews, Raphaele Shirley, Olga Lysenko
Excerpts of Arthur Rimbaud, Jacques Derrida,Henri Foucault and Andy
Warhol directed by Raphaele Shirley
Excerpts of Guy Debord and Ted Kaczynski directed by Lee Wells
Featuring performances by Caraid O’Brien, Edita Zulic, Aaron
Beall, Randolph Curtis Rand, George Spaeth, G.H. Hovagimyan, Lee Wells
Special Thanks to: Gia Forakis, Lanna Joffrey, G.H. Hovagimyan
Artists Meeting is a New York City based art collective. Brought
together by chance, circumstance, and a common purpose, Artists
Meeting members gather in person and via technology. Free of
commercial influence, participants draw on each other’s expertise
to refine concepts, further experimentation and engage each other
in collaboration. Since it’s official start in 2006, they have had
public art projects in Conflux 2008 and the Dumbo Arts Festival
2007, and at Post Master’s gallery in 2008 and 2009 .
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Secret School 04: Gold
On March 7, 2009 from 7-10PM, OTO welcomes back Secret School
Secret School is pleased to collaborate with a team of economists led by Daniel J. Martin to create a functioning and participatory economy based on the gold standard. They will examine the global and political forces that drive the continued mining and hoarding of gold, and the ecological and humanitarian crises that result. Secret School and Martin will present a text that reframes, in a contemporary context, Adam Smith’s argument for the use of the gold as a medium of exchange.
Secret School explores the importance of the hidden and invisible in the social identity of a community through a series of time-based events and collaborations. Ranging from the political to the personal, epic to the quotidian, unknown to unknowable, how do secrets function in the transfer and preservation of power? At a time in which oversaturation of readily available information already exceeds our capacity for adequate synthesis, how can the poetics of secrets cut through the logic of facts? When does the form of a secret supersede its content, and under what circumstances must information remain a secret? Secret School spans an indefinite number of sessions and range of spaces and extends from the aesthetic practice of building systems of social exchange.
For more information, visit secretschool.wordpress.com or email s3Cr37.5ch00l@gmail.com
Friday, February 13, 2009
Photos from Secret School Session 01
Photos from Secret School Session 01 - Hong-An Truong now up at OTO’s Flickr Set
OTO will be off in Feb and back in March. More details soon.