Past Event
Screening some of the most creative and groundbreaking artist-filmmakers from the US; including Laida Lertxundi, Luciano Piazza and Ben Russell plus live poetry readings by Steven J Fowler and Chris McCabe. Curated by Jamie Wyld for Videoclub.
Stateland: recent artists’ film and video from the USA + live poetry readings
Stateland is a collection of recent work by some of the most creative and ground-breaking artist film-makers currently living and working both inside and outside of America.
Deploying 16mm and digital collage; uncanny storytelling and subtle abstraction, Stateland puts America under the microscope, revealing the multifaceted landscape that these films are informed and inspired by. In Luciano Piazza’s ‘Windows’, voyeuristic gazes into apartment windows allow us to glimpse the everyday of American lives. Gazelle Samizay’s ‘Ravel’ reveals the impact of growing up in America as an Afghan child, interpreting the complexity of cultural crossovers. In ‘The Dark, Krystle’, Michael Robinson plays with the nature of video and the representation of familiar American TV characters from Dynasty, re-appropriating their stories with new emotional power.
Artists in the programme include: Gabriel Abrantes, Laida Lertxundi, Luciano Piazza, Michael Robinson, Ben Russell, Gazelle Samizay and Daniel Shanken.
Stateland running order:
The Dark, Krystle / Michael Robinson 9′
The Room Called Heaven / Laida Lertxundi 11′
Remedial Efficiency / Daniel Shanken 12′
Windows / Luciano Piazza 16′
Ravel Gazelle / Samizay 8′
River Rites / Ben Russell 11′
Ennui Ennui / Gabriel Abrantes 32′
Stateland has been curated by Jamie Wyld, videoclub., and is supported by Arts Council England.
The programme will be given extra context by readings from the wondrously off-beat and distinctive poetry of US mavericks Alfred Starr Hamilton and Frank O’Hara, read for us this evening by two of the brightest stars in the contemporary British poetry scene – Steven J Fowler and Chris McCabe.
