"What-If? In the Days When the Tiger Smoked" Exhibition
Dumbo Arts Center
This event has ended.
Burns and Martin's What-If? In the Days When the Tiger Smoked imagines a four-way amorous encounter and union of characters who symbolize transmutation and the ability to cross boundaries, be they biological, mechanical or cultural. The happy foursome are Orlan, an artist whose actual redefinition of her own body via plastic surgery confronts representations of women throughout art history; Stelarc, an artist whose cybernetic mission in life is to render the body obsolete; the Scarlet Witch, a mutant superhero who has unlimited powers over probability, and the Vision, a “synthezoid” superhero whose mechanically fabricated body contains a human soul. Told in a variety of media, including live action video, computer animation, photographs and low-tech interactive sculpture, What-If?…unfolds the entangled story that brought this romantic foursome together spanning the gulf between genders and representations; the body and technology. Featuring mesmerizing choreography, android/spider hybrids, group surgery, and a wedding presided over by a yeti.
Named after the Korean saying for “Once Upon a Time,” What-If? In the Days When the Tiger Smoked is the culmination of an ongoing project which began in Busan, South Korea in 2006 and features a rotating cast of artists performing as the main characters in sites virtual and actual. Print & graphic works derived from collaged photographs and video stills explore another form of storytelling through ambiguous hieroglyphic forms and re-imagined portraiture
A special 312 page catalog, Recallathon: Vilm & Fideo works 1998-2012, detailing fourteen years of Burns and Martin’s speculative video, performance, installation, and curated collaborations, will be available for viewing in the gallery and online for purchase.
Media
Schedule
from June 08, 2012 to July 29, 2012
Opening Reception on 2012-06-07 from 18:00 to 21:00