Animations
Opening: 08.02.2003, 5 - 9 pm
Berlin, February 2003. From 8th February 2003 to 11th May 2003, KW Institute for Contemporary Art is pleased to present Animations, an exhibition showcasing the unique ways in which contemporary visual artists address animation as a medium and subject. Animations focuses on the implications of living in an age where visual experience is informed by new technologies, and where the "reality" of live action film and the imagined worlds of animation have blurred together. With works by more than thirty artists ranging historically from the early 20th century till today, this exhibition addresses the utopian beginnings of the medium, the relationship between analog and digital, between graphic form and 3-D animation, and between commercial and experimental animation.
Works include New York-based artist Karen Yasinsky's animation Fear (2001). Her work uses stop-motion animation to tell ambiguous tales of personal interaction, in which her characters seem to be hobbled by their own construction, moving in an atmosphere of wistful emotion. South African artist William Kentridge will present Shadow Procession (1999), which depicts a haunting procession of black puppet-like figures made from cardboard cutouts. A unique new set of drawings, Untitled (Video Reversals) (2002) explore the shift from animation to still drawings. His film Memo (1993-94) combines live action film with drawing and recalls the beginnings of animation at the turn of the last century. On the other hand, for their project No Ghost, Just a Shell (1999-2002) French artists Pierre Huyghe and Phillippe Parreno present videos that address the contemporary corporate context of much animation today. In 1999, Huyghe and Parreno purchased a ready-to-use anime character from a Japanese cartoon agency and made her available for use by other artists, including Liam Gillick and Pierre Joseph & Mehdi Belhaj-Kacem. The artists "saved" Annlee from imminent disposal by the manga comic industry, and then removed her from "circulation" in December 2002.
This exhibition also includes works by: Haluk Akakçe, Francis Alÿs, Peggy Ahwesh, Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé, Jeremy Blake, Angus Fairhurst, Jan Freuchen, David Galbraith, Liam Gillick, Amelie von Wulffen and Michael Graessner, Claudia Hart, Simon Henwood, Martin Honert, Alex Ku, Liane Lang, Zilla Leutenegger, Kristin Lucas, Christine Mackie, Melissa Marks, Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, Jonathan Monk, Juan Muñoz, Sven Påhlsson, Jenny Perlin, Liliana Porter, Possible Worlds, Natascha Sadr-Haghighian, Teresa Seeman, Lawrence Weiner and Florian Zeyfang.
Animations also presents an array of artist-designed rooms that offer unique spaces where visitors can interact with other works. Storm van Helsing and Jimmy Raskin created a room out of paper which evokes life-size comic strip to showcase an interview on the topic of animation and many works by other artists. The Folly, designed by New York-based artist John Pilson and architect Andrea Mason, offers visitors the opportunity to view works selected from hundreds of international animated films. Artists in this section include: J. Tobias Anderson, Ingrid Bromberg, Sarah Ciraci, Maureen Connor, Melanie Crean, Deborah Davidovits, Rory Hanrahan, Tim Hirzel, Avish Khebrehzadeh, Xana Kudriacev-DeMilner, Omar Lewis & Jason Cooper, Daniel Lefcourt, Cecilia Lundquist, Joe McKay, Rupert Norfolk, Diego Perrone, Root R (Shingo Suzuki, Takaaki Sakurai, Tohru Tozawa), Jonathan Rosen, Kathy Rose Jason Schiedel, Matthew Suib, Scott Teplin and Florian Zeyfang.
Web artist Paul Johnson makes his own working projectors and computers from the most quotidian of elements. For this exhibition he has designed "On the Web", which features a selection of web-based animation, from stand-alone applications to interactive games. Artists include: Natalie Bookchin, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, Mark Daggett, Joshua Davis, Andy Deck, Xeth Feinberg, Alex and Munro Galloway, JODI, John Klima, Golan Levin and Casey Reas, Sebastian Luetgert, Panajotis Mihalatos, Mouchette, Mark Napier, and Eric Zimmerman and Word.com.
Finally, in At The Cinema, KW features historical programs and film-based hits of animations in a room reminiscent of the cinema experience. This program includes works by pioneering animators such as Emile Cohl, Winsor McCay, Oskar Fischinger, and Norman McLaren.
This exhibition is curated by Castello di Rivoli Chief Curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in collaboration with Larissa Harris.
Web animation: Anthony Huberman. Historical and experimental animation consultants:
Giannalberto Bendazzi, John Canemaker, Norman Klein and Karyn Riegel.
The presentation at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York was made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional funding was provided by MetLife Foundation, Etant donnés and the British Council.
The exhibition at KW was made possible by Hauptstadtkulturfonds, Berlin and Philip Morris Kunstförderung.
Special thanks to Deitch Projects, New York and Makom, Berlin.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, which was made possible through the support of Dornbracht Amaturenfabrik, Iserlohn, Germany.
The following programs will be screen in "At the Cinema":
"The ABC of Animation" selected by John Canemaker:
James Stuart Blackton, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, 1906
James Stuart Blackton, The Haunted Hotel, 1907
Emile Cohl, Fantasmagorie, 1908
Winsor McCay, Little Nemo, 1911
Winsor McCay, Gertie the Dinosaur, 1914
Len Lye, Trade Tattoo, 1936
Tex Avery, A Wild Hare, 1940
Chuck Jones, Duck Amock, 1941
Oskar Fischinger, Allegretto, 1943
Len Lye, Free Radicals, 1958
James Whitney, Lapis, mid-1950s
Norman McLaren, Begone Dull Care, 1949
Faith and John Hubley, Moonbird, 1959
Peter Foldes, Hunger, 1974
Caroline Leaf, The Street, 1976
John Lasseter, Tin Toy, 1988
Nick Park, The Wrong Trousers, 1995
A Tribute to Robert Breer: Robert Breer, A Man and His Dog out for Air, 1957; 66, 1966; 70, 1970; 77, 1977.
"Hits of the '90s" selected by Giannalberto Bendazzi:
Piotr Dumala, Kafka, 1991
Caroline Leaf, Two Sisters, 1990
Michaela Pavlatova, Repeat, 1995
Alison Snowden and David Fine, Bob's Birthday, 1993
Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, When the Day Breaks, 1999
Seriy Vol and Garri Bardin, Grey Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, 1990
Alexandra Korejwo, La Traviata, 1995
Alexandra Korejwo, Season, 1995
Daniel Greaves, Manipulation, 1991
Jerzy Kuciz, Tuning the Instruments, 2000
"Edges of Animation" selected by Karyn Riegel and Larissa Harris:
Jeff Scher, Milk of Amnesia, 1992
Janie Geiser, Lost Motion, 1999
Jenn Reeves, The Girl's Nervy, 1995
Emily Hubley, Pigeon Within, 1999
Lewis Klahr, Altair, 1994
Sandra Gibson, Soundings, 2001
Rachel Mayeri, The Anatomic Theater of Peter the Great, 2001
Julie Murray, Domain, 1999. Sound composed by Jed Distler, performed by Margaret Lang Tan
Luca Buvoli, Trailer for: The Non Adventures of Not-a-Superhero, 2001
Devon Damonte, Catacycle, 2001
Emily Breer, Superhero, 1995