Cory Arcangel "Adult Contemporary"
Team Gallery
This event has ended.
Adult Contemporary seems a particularly appropriate title for this latest exhibition of new work by the now 30 year-old darling of new media art, for Arcangel can be seen here as either having a) finally grown up, or b) having fully sold-out. In actuality, however, both and neither are true as Arcangel continues to explore the possibilities that exist at the intersection of theory, humor, and technological breakdown. Adult Contemporary is made up of six autonomous works — a projection from a VHS tape; a 16mm film; a large fabricated c-print; a self-playing videogame; two computers corresponding; and a suite of monoprints.
Contemporary artists are faced with an ever-widening palette of tools to use for creative work. Each of these various mediums requires a growing base of expertise to combat its eccentricities and pitfalls. In this sense, a growing sector of artists is always faced with failure — not only in terms of their “message” but also in terms of their choice of material and their manipulations thereof. Arcangel lives in this world, a place whose citizens are always running from obsolescence.
Arcangel states: “Imagine me buying some video equipment off of eBay, turning it on, pressing some random buttons, and then calling whatever comes out my 'work.' This mind-set is the spirit of Adult Contemporary. In contrast to some of my older work, which exercised a somewhat subversive use of modern digital tools, the pieces in this show are inspired by the idea of using technology exactly as it was designed, although in a manner best described as 'non-expert.' What if the possibility of using a system poorly in an uneducated manner were celebrated? What if I, as an artist, attached my name to the aesthetics of different eras of technology without really bothering to do my homework or even reading the manual (so to speak)?”
Media
Schedule
from November 14, 2008 to December 20, 2008
Opening Reception on 2008-11-14 from 18:00 to 20:00