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Curated by Stephanie Martz Executive Curator: Patrick Lichty While viewing the submissions for this year’s Mobile Exposure Festival in contrast to last year’s submissions I was struck by the large number of videos that referenced not just the beginnings of film, but also the rise of photography. This historical reference appeared to be a way for today’s moving image artists to orient their video practices within the new mobile camera devices so readily available now. This is apparent in Anthony Wong’s humorous piece, “Cell Phone” which plays off of the once feared belief (when photography was introduced to the public) that when one’s image is photographed, one’s soul is somehow locked within the print. Wong takes this idea further and shows a cell phone camera not just capturing a soul but the actual body. In addition to Wong’s short, “Freerun” by Henry Reichhold and “Mobile Edison Remake no ◦5” by Catherine Ramus both use clips from early cinema footage and then connect them to our present day. Yet both of the filmmakers’ approaches are different. Reinhold’s video connects the drudgery of early twentieth century factory life to an ability to escape through the whimsical space allowed through technology, reminding me of a recent visit to New York City where iPods are a must for subway commuters. Ramus pairs Edison’s footage of two men boxing to a contemporary newspaper clipping showing a meager looking sperm encountering a domineering egg with the title “Woman and Man Boxing”. New technology does not always mean going back through history to make advancements in video. Sometimes technological improvements allow for new developments to occur within a genre. Cell phones and other small devices equipped with video cameras have made the camera easily accessible to the documentary filmmaker. Vahid Farzaneh, Silvio Kohs and Justin Lincoln are three such filmmakers who employ their cell phone cameras to document their everyday lives. Over the past several years artists have not only begun employing mobile devices to make new video art, but have utilized the new technology as the source of inspiration for the art piece. Michael Takeo Magruder’s video, “Re-collection” pixilates an image of a landscape with a dark form coming closer to the viewer only to disappear once it is recognizable. Anthony Rousseau uses a webcam’s sputtering images to enhance the fluttering movements of a child boxing, an effect that could not have been achieved through the use of a regular camera. Filmmakers have also found traditional cinematic genres such as the narrative genre an area ripe to the development of new approaches with the use of mobile devices. Patryk Rebisz’s narrative short, “Between You and Me” employs traditional narrative format with real life stop-motion animation to reveal how a digital camera can bring two strangers together. Lisa Vinebaum also employs a narrative dialogue but with imagery from a cell phone video camera of airplanes flying to address the other side of terrorism, a suicide bomber’s thoughts. Leo Earle’s two shorts, “Please Release Me” and “On Hold” take the focus away from the owner of the cell phone and even from what the phone’s camera can capture to place the focus on the cell phone itself, thus, anthropomorphizing the cell phone into a person with feelings of desire and frustration. Within all of the shorts selected for this year’s Mobile Exposure Festival is the common thread of filmmakers and artists exploring and pushing the boundaries of what defines cinematic genres and video art. -Stephanie Martz
Reviews and Other Info:
Even though the use of mobile phones for still photography is Gaining more widespread acceptance, more and more cell phones, PDA's and handheld devices are being equipped with video capabilities. What then, are the potentials of the handheld device as a cinematic tool for expression, activism, and experimentation? To paraphrase Antin, what are the distinctive qualities of Mobile Video, and how do narratives from this technological set differ from its predecessors? Does the intimacy and mobility of the video-enabled cell phone create a change in perspective? Does it represent a culture of universal surveillance where there is a universal intimacy but a complete lack of private space? How does the mobile perspective shift our perception in the way the mediated image of the cellular/network individual is represented? Does its low-resolution somehow challenge the aesthetics, 'truthfulness', or technofetishism of the increasingly filmic nature of video? These are some of the questions that Mobile Exposure hopes to address. -Patrick Lichty About Patrick Lichty Lichty is an artist, scholar, and curator in New Media and technological arts, and is noted for his expertise in arts using mobile technologies. He is Editor-in-Chief of Intelligent Agent Magazine. CONCEPT Mobile Exposure presents works that address mobile culture or uses mobile/handheld devices. Our criteria for slection was very broad; reflecting on the mobile and locative through the medium or the concept. THE CALL FOR WORKS The Mobile Exposure handheld video program is an exploration of the potentials of mobile video and culture. Practitioners were invited to submit all lengths of work, although the focus finally settled on short works (less than 15 minutes in length). We were looking for works made using cell phones, obsolete video cameras, wristcams, childrens’ NON-(vhs/dv/hi-8) video cameras, PDAs, and even small cameras that allow mpg. VENUES: Mobile Exposure will be a traveling theatrical festival. There currently are no reviews available
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