WHAT IS THE VIDEO ART RESIDENCY?

VIDEO ART RESIDENCY

Summer Series 2014

JULY 19 - AUGUST 9 (closed August 15)

The VIDEO ART RESIDENCY is our summer series and we are super stoked about it!  Every Saturday over the summer we will show a different artist with a new or newly modified video art work.  Suné Woods is doing a multi projection of the "Conversation" in room 1 and a sound installation in room 2.  Questionbridge is doing a single channel installation in room 1 and a recording suite is set up in the loft upstairs to record new questions and answers for the on going project.  Numa Perrier is debuting a new work "Flordia Water" in room 1 and a hologram installation in room 2, we will also live stream an artist talk the opening night.  No)one. Art House is also debuting a new work in room 1 along with a live performance that interacts with the film on the opening night.

• Week 1 - Suné Woods
• Week 2 - Questionbridge
• Week 3 - Numa Perrier
• Week 4 - No)one. Art House

WEEK 1: Suné Woods - July 19

WEEK 1: Suné Woods - room 1) a multi projection video piece, "Conversation" room 2) "G-bombs & Thangs"  

Conversation (room one) is a two-channel video installation with a staged dialogue between a father and daughter.  The project began as a series of conversations with women both approaching and well into their thirties who described relationships with their fathers as complicated.  I worked with two Los Angeles based actors, Simone Vicari Moore and Kim Estes to explore themes of intimacy, vulnerability, family, and absence.  Language and how it is emoted, guarded, and translated through the body are critical points of inquiry for me. 

G-Bombs & Thangs (room two) is a sound installation which and was conceived in tandem with Conversationand the themes it aims to address.   Comedians, particularly black comedians historically have played a crucial role in providing insight into the underbelly of American society.  It was important for me to work with Tiffany Haddish who offers her astute improvisational translation of daughter/father relationships.

WEEK 2: QUESTIONBRIDGE - July 26th

WEEK 2: Question Bridge: Black Males - opened July 26th, the interview recording session happened July 27th from 12 - 4pm  

Photos of some of the men that participated in QB in LeimertQuestion Bridge: Black Males is a project that explores critically challenging issues within the African American male community by instigating a trans-media conversation among black men across the geographic, economic, generational, educational, and social strata of American society.  Question Bridge provides a safe setting for necessary, honest expression and healing dialogue on themes that divide, unite, and puzzle black males today in the United States.  

Question Bridge originated in 1996, when artist Chris Johnson was looking for a way to use new media art to generate a meaningful conversation around class and generational divisions within San Diego's African American community.  Mediated through the lens of a video camera, ten members of the black community were provided a format to openly express their deeply felt beliefs and values through candid question and answer exchanges. None of the questions or answers were prompted.  Over the course of four years, Johnson, along with Hank Willis Thomas, Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair, have traveled the nation collecting questions and answers from over 150 Black men in eight cities (New York, Chicago, Oakland, San Francisco, Birmingham, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Philadelphia) that comprise a video catalog of 1,500 exchanges.  By focusing on exchanges within this extended community, surprising insights and new possibilities for witnessing our common humanity emerge. 

You can see the recorded questions and answers that took place in our upstairs loft on the QB site - HEAR WHAT LEIMERT HAD TO SAY You can also visit their website to create your own profile and start submitting videos of your own, additionally the website will also let you know how to download the app QB to your phone or tablet.

WEEK 3: NUMA PERRIER - August 2

WEEK 3: Numa Perrier - room 1) "Florida Water" room 2) "Florida Water" installation - opens August 2nd.  We will also have an artist talk with Numa Perrier at the opening. It will begin at 6:30pm and will be followed by the "Florida Water" debut.  

Set in the backdrop of Port Au Prince, Haiti, Florida Water is the reconstruction of fragmented memories of my Haitian mother who I always knew of but never met until I was 17 years old.  The video installation is a moving collage of ritual, and the accompanying photo/ sculptural installation takes my fascination and admiration of my mothers world -- and suspends it in time within a tangible tapestry. 

WEEK 4: No)one. Art House - August 9

WEEK 4: No)one. Art House - Voyeur

The LA based art collective No)one. Art House is an organization geared toward producing and curating approachable and stimulating art.  We seek to remove the barriers of codified aesthetics in specific art disciplines to inform and allow viewers to eclipse preconceived expectations of what art can be.  No)one. Art House consists of genre bending painters, photographers, fashion designers, choreographers and musicians, among others.  

"Voyeur" is a collaborative film project with an interactive performance installation happening one night only.  "Voyeur" explores intimacy, seeing without being seen, and the fragility that isolation can evoke.  Through the cinematic lens the film centers on the body and its relations.  Conjoining film and the live body brings awareness to how we perceive the viewer and the viewed.