[spectre] Cinematheque April 2005

[cinema2005]

Cinematheque 
<http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org> 
launched on 6 April 
the latest extension of VideoChannel - 
a joint venture between Cinematheque and 
[R][R][F]2005--->XP 
global networking project 
<http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org> 
---> 
Agricola de Cologne curates Tel-Aviv/Israel based artists: 
by name Elyasaf Kowner, Dana Levy and 
the collaborative Lital Dotan & Eyal Perry 
 
VideoChannel can be accessed in different ways: 
a) via <http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org> 
b) via <http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org> 
(VideoChannel = Memory Channel 5) 
c) directly via <http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org/vchannel.htm> 
 
As a part of [R][R][F]2005--->XP, 
VideoChannel is thematically focussed on two subjects: 
"memory and identity" and "violence" 
 
1.
ELYASAF KOWNER 
Elyasaf Kowner lives and works in Tel Aviv. 
He has presented his works in Tel Aviv Museum (Israel); Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon (Israel); World Wide Video Festival, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Museo Comunale d'Arte Contemporanea, Roma (Italy); New Media Art Festival, Bangkok (Thailand); Annual Detroit International Video Festival, Detroit (USA); Centro de Arte Moderna, Lisbon (Portugal); Art in General, New York (USA); Argos, Brussels (Belgium); La Fabrica, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Centre d’Architecture Entrepôt, Bordeaux (France). 
 
“Around the fire”, 11’, 2003 
The Bereshit music festival takes place in the Sea of Galilee on the eve of the Jewish New Year. The work of Elyasaf Kowner, filmed during the last Bereshit festival, shows how young generations of Israelis attempt to find their own path to reconstruct their cultural history. People seek fusion of rituals, myths, practices, by borrowing from various cultures and cults (tribal rites, shamanism, Buddhism, paganism, among others) and re-giving to human being and nature a central place. This path of syncretism, at the crossroads of multiculturalism, quest for spirituality, opening to different worlds and societies, can be seen as one possible collective, civil, alternative to the references imposed by the dominant political discourse – an escape from reality. 
 
2.
DANA LEVY
lives and works in Tel Aviv.
She has presented her works in Herzliah Museum (Israel); Israel Museum, Jerusalem (Israel); OK Center for Contemporary Art, Linz (Austria); Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida (US); Stuttgart Film Festival (Germany); Mediaterra Micro Museum (Greece); Centro Multimedia, Mexico City (Mexico); Outer Limits Video Festival, NYC (US); New Media Festival, Bangkok (Thailand). 
 
“Time with Franz” 
Dana Levy met Franz during her stay in Austria. He invited her to his countryside home, inherited from his family. There, she discovered boxes of old family photos, Nazi swastikas. Being third generation of the Holocaust, she felt threat, anger, and fear. The movie reflects the way the artist tries to overcome her mixed emotions. The past slowly gives way to the present moment, and to the developing friendship with Franz, despite history. The music is by Die Linzer Philharmonic, conducted by artist Hannes Langeder. The orchestra players are all non professional. The result is an eerie out of tune classical music.top 
 
3. 
LITAL DOTAN & EYAL PERRY 
 
Artists' statement 
"We are two artists, working together since the year 2000. Most of the aspects in our work derive from our mutual constant dialogue between a man and a woman.
Our subjects of interest evolve from being a 3rd generation to the holocaust, the reality of terror, memories, traumas and the cultural field of Gender. Our works reflect our attempt to correspond with the question of personal freedom in our society. 
We work mainly in the mediums of video, installation, performance and still photography.
All aspects of our work are created together, conceptually and visually The final step in this process is taking a different role: Eyal – the male artist becomes the viewer, the voyeur and Lital, the female artist, becomes the performer. Her presence is of a performer who consciously chooses to be observed by the man, as a social statement, as a response to the condition of women in our western society. All of our works are based on a study and reflection of male and female subjective points of view.
In the year 2004, we worked on the project: “Garden Of Floating Events”. This project includes a series of works: installation, video performances, photographs and video arts. This project dealt with the existence in a reality of terror, fear and trauma. Some of the works were done under the impact of the hospital’s emergency room where Lital worked during the years of the last “Intifada”. The emergency room, where the wounded of terror attacks were brought, became under extreme circumstances a place where suffering, tortured bodies, were exposed to the gaze of staff, families and mass media. That experience was transferred into our work, as a reflection on voyeurism in our culture and the state of mind of being an object to be looked at, that many women share. 
The project: “The Burned Forest”, like all our work is based on a constant dialogue between us, emphasizing the cultural differences of the sexes. The theme of the “Burned Forest” is a bridge over time, from our present struggle for normality and freedom, to the burned forests of Europe 60 years ago, during the holocaust of 2nd world war, where our relevant autobiography and Odyssey as artists begins. 
The exhibition ‘Ash’ (2005) reflected two main approaches to ‘Remembrance’ that were developed through the ‘Burned Forest’ project: One is derived from Lital’s autobiography: Her grandma survived the holocaust but brought complexity, memories and trauma to Lital’s life. The other is born out of void: Eyal’s Polish family branch vanished in the war without a trace, leaving only a “vacuum” to relate too In addition to today’s problematic existential issues we deal with remembrance and personal point of view on the marks that are still a vibrant aspect of our lives." 
 
The works:
1. Vicious Circle (2005)
A woman is crawling slowly in a stone circle built in a dry river canyon. In an act of self inflicting pain, face down, she is trapped in an endless circular movement. 
 
2. Embracement
The woman artist bandages herself, tightening thorns to her body. The scene is photographed by the male artist from two perspectives that represent an objective and a subjective point of view. 
 
3. Rivka’le
A woman float in the Dead Sea, the bright light makes her body disappear. Arms, legs and head form a dismantled structure. Photographed from a point of view of a woman singing a lullaby to her daughter. 
 
4. Chala Bread Dress
A dress made of chala-bread slices is eaten up by the woman artist who’s wearing it. 
Photographed by the man artist from upper point of view, in a way that emphasizes the male gaze on the agonizing, exposed woman. 
 
5. Was It As Good 4 U? 
Close-up on face expressions of a woman during intercourse. This video is a part of our occupation with Gender and like the motive of float, it is dealing with the “body remembrance” of trauma and pain. 
 
******************** 
This new curatorial contribution to VideoChannel 
was launched on 6 April on occasion of 
[R][R][F]2005--->XP participation in
Images Festival Toronto/Canada 6-17 April 
www.imagesfestival.com <http://www.imagesfestival.com> (online section) 
and the exhibition 
"Hilchot Shechenim, Chapter 3" - at 
Israeli Digital Art Lab 16 April-16 July 
www.digitalartlab.org.il <http://www.digitalartlab.org.il> 
 
********************** 
Cinematheque 
<http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org> 
and [R][R][F]2005--->XP 
global networking project 
<http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org> 
are corporate parts of 
[NewMediaArtprojectNetwork]:||cologne 
www.nmartproject.net <http://www.nmartproject.net> 
the experiemental platform for Art and New Media 
from Cologne/Germany 
 
contact: info at nmartproject.net <mailto:info at nmartproject.net>