Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

Team inaugurated its sixth season in Chelsea with a group exhibition entitled Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, running from the 4th through the 29th of September 2001. On view are videoworks by nine emerging artists who hail from seven different countries. Each of these artists has had a few solo gallery shows, and are now being included in large scale international museum group exhibitions.

They are: Janet Biggs (US), Rebecca Bournigault (France), Slater Bradley (US), Olaf Breuning (Switzerland), Brice Dellsperger (France), Anne-Katrine Dolven (Norway), Maria Friberg (Sweden), Risk Hazekamp (Netherlands), and Maria Marshall (UK). With the exception of Janet Biggs, each artist is represented by one single-channel video work. The majority of the videos will be projected and no attempt will be made to mask off the sound from piece to piece. The cacophony of sound thus created, is an integral element of the exhibition, which encourages a reading of these works against and with each other; within and outside of their running times.

The position of video work is still being contested in some circles and it appears that a back-lash is imminent. An exhibition such as this both encourages this rejection and acts as a deterrent. This show functions as a barometer of the zeitgeist, by focusing on a fragment of contemporary art practice that is demanding the lion's share of critical and curatorial pursuits. Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear is a gathering together of a generation of video makers who continue to do battle with the definition of the art's boundaries.

Some of the most challenging issues about white cube culture, marginalization vs. mainstreaming; authenticity and intellectual property; realism and performance; are foregrounded in discussions of film and video work. These issues should remain at the forefront as they are still in flux. In the works on view there are numerous approaches to the construction of projection works creating a very diverse landscape of influence. From low to high tech, private to epic, high resolution to low the effects of surveillance aesthetic is as present here as that of the populist MTV. Creepy, melancholic and noisome the installation of these works creates a charged space in which the quiet, dreary violence of the everyday becomes palpable.

Pressetext

Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

mit Janet Biggs, Rebecca Bournigault, Slater Bradley, Olaf Breuning, Brice Dellsperger, A K Dolven, Maria Friberg, Risk Hazekamp, Maria Marshall