Some MFiConfess Videos from This Weekend

The first weekend for the MF iConfessional was a success. Admittedly, I was unsure of the outcome or if visitors would even participate in the experiment. But to my surprise, there are 14 uploaded videos -- a nice mix of reactions, thoughts, comments. Pretty good considering the confessional was "Out of Order" for most of Sunday.

Since the MF is closed on Mondays, we troubleshot some technical (audio mismatches) and operational (booth aesthetics, wandering forest background) issues this morning. These issues should be resolved moving forward.

Some of my personal favorites so far:

  

  

  

See all visitor submitted videos at http://www.youtube.com/MFiConfess

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Posted by JEFFREY
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MF iCONFESS

MORE INFO: Brooklyn Museum Utilizes YouTube Quick Capture for Community Voices

See what MF visitors are saying at www.youtube.com/MFiConfess

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Posted by JEFFREY
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Tyler Green's Top-Ten of 2008

THIS JUST IN: Sarah Oppenheimer's 610-3356 makes Tyler Green's top-ten list for 2008.

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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT :: Jacob Ciocci & Jessica Ciocci

JACOB CIOCCI & JESSICA CIOCCI (of Paper Rad)
Dark Side of Light, 2008 (PREDRIVE: After Technology)
Mixed media

Dark Side of Light was originally conceived as an analog version (sans video and technology) of a media-saturated Web site, such as Paper Rad's own internet home, but the conceptual frame of the piece changed as Jessica and Jacob Ciocci (sister and brother team) collaborated on-site at the Mattress Factory. Often, passersby would be selling second-hand wares (i.e. televisions & radios) and objects could be found nearby, abandoned on the street. A selection of these purchased and found items is incorporated into the installation.



As Jessica recounts: “first day of arriving/found speaker on street and mickey mouse sleeping bag on ground which is [now] laying prone to speaker in the [installation] space/both [found] within one block of Mattress Factory.” Likewise, on the day before the opening, “a man walked by with a shopping cart trying to sell a TV” — there were no takers, except Jessica. She was already working with used televisions — stacking them, along with speakers into a mini Babylonian pile of partial working screens and inconsistent amplification. Jacob followed suit, but gleaned most of his objects from his own thrift store collection, i. e. old VHS tapes, kept in their boxes and simply stacked in a corner, a slightly ripped, old Magic Eye poster, a tin of loose pocket change.



Paper Rad videos abound (six total) flashing more detritus, appropriated from popular TV shows (especially children’s programs), cartoons, advertisements, and live performances. In the larger Aquos screen work (the only new monitor that doesn’t have its frame smashed), Jessica’s hand, dipped in day-glo green paint floats by as the recurring, “Hand of God” — this video image is mirrored in a giant floor sculpture on the other side of the room. As Jacob recounts, “I actually wanted to name the whole installation Entertainment Center, because I felt like what Jessica was making was a weird dystopian entertainment center — with the same kind of imagery that I use in my paintings and video, “light entertainment,” or “fluff”—the disposable media aimed at kids, but that ends up in thrift stores because it was never used or watched.”



   

The text above was written by guest-curator Melissa Ragona. PREDRIVE: After Technology runs through April 5, 2009.

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IAOS Review: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mattress Factory exhibition spreads art through Inner and Outer Space
Thursday, December 18, 2008
By Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


David Ellis, shown creating the imagery for one of his trademark "animated motion paintings," is exhibiting in the Mattress Factory's "Inner and Outer Space" and will speak at 7 tonight at the North Side museum.


Individual installations by nine international artists who probe "Inner and Outer Space" add up to one of the Mattress Factory's best exhibitions to date. The North Side venue is no stranger to artists who transgress routine expectations, aesthetic and metaphysical, to create encompassing experiences that position visitors to imagine the world anew.

For this show, says guest curator Dara Meyers-Kingsley, "the 'inner and outer space theme' -- the conceptual underpinning for the exhibition -- not only relates to the form and content of the work but also an approach to artistic practice." The works spill through floors, out windows, into the parking area, onto a Jumbotron and arrive via e-mail. One was completed with the help of local artisans.

Case in point is exhibiting artist David Ellis, who will give an Artist Talk at 7 tonight at the museum ($5, members free). His trademark "animated motion paintings" are captivating, both for their vibrant graphic imagery and their intriguing process.

To create "OKAY," included in the exhibition, he set up a Quonset-hut-like structure in the museum lobby within which he painted from morning until night during his 15-day residency. Ellis paints over previous works, layering imagery that is recorded every few seconds by a camera suspended overhead. He edits these digital images into mesmerizing projected works that change with flipbook speed.

His "FLY" is playing through month's end on the Jumbotron at CAPA, where the New York artist has been conducting workshops this week. In it he does a full-body glide across a floor, wet and illuminated with paint, looking somewhat like he's engulfed in flame. | CONTINUE READING |

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Images from CAPA Workshop - Day 1

Below are some images from last night's educational workshop, which paired students from CAPA High School with Inner and Outer Space artist David Ellis. David continues to work with the students through Wednesday evening and gives a public artist talk on Thursday.

Photos by Justin Merriman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.









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Posted by ANNA
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Tweet Your Questions for Saturday's Curator Talk.

The Curator Talk coming up this Saturday promises to be an engaging discussion about curatorial practice and related thematic threads running through both Inner and Outer Space and the Carnegie International: Life on Mars. It's really great that Douglas Fogle and Heather Pesanti will be able to join Dara Meyers-Kingsley for this special event as we approach the close of both shows. It has been a great year for art here in Pittsburgh, and this event is a great way to cap it off.

A Q&A/discussion session will follow the talk.

For those of you who are unable to attend, or live outside a commutable radius, we are accepting questions in advance via Twitter. I'll do my best to make sure all questions are answered and then post the transcript (organized by Twitter username) here on the MF weblog early next week.

If you'd like to ask Douglas, Dara or Heather a question, send us a message on Twitter (@MattressFactory) before 2.00PM this Saturday. If Twitter's not your thing, you can always send me an email and I'll make sure your question is included with those received on Twitter.

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