MIA presents N/A (NOT APPLICABLE)

MIA SCREENING, N/A (NOT APPLICABLE)
MIA screens video art of a new generation

The October 26th screening of MIA at the Armory, NOT APPLICABLE features projects by twelve artists whose work represents a cross section of a new generation. No two projects in this screening are alike, and yet the themes and aesthetic choices reflect and reiterate a new aesthetic which is still in the process of emerging.

Peter T. Christenson's Relational Plane Rich Flight 209 is a "thematically networked narrative," a consciousness stream fostered through the merging and repurposing of appropriated video footage and found audio segments. Clips were selected based on their similar depictions and presentations of symbolic and economic capital in popular culture and ultimately assembled to create a fluid storyline. Ralph Dorey's Pot Healers explores questions of détournement, assimilation and the plane immanence as discussed by two characters engaged in gluing things together. Joe Casey Doyle molts strands of purple ribbon in I AM MY OWN CHEERLEADER, transforming himself and revealing a purple letterman’s sweater hand-knit from curling ribbon. Clint Enns' (e̺͙̟̠̜̰ͅb̠͚͙͓͎b͇̲s̞͍̤͔ͅ ̺a̬̞ͅn̝̦ͅd̳̩͙̯ ͕͔̙f͚̹͉͚̬ͅl̖o̼w̦s͎͓͇) is a meditative video exploring a transition from truth to loving kindness.

CD Howe's Neural Network was created using EEG recordings of the artist's brain activity in a variety of states. This data was assigned numeric color values and projected onto a standing wave of water which corresponded to the dominant recorded brain wave. Chris Ritson's Tragic Chemistry is concerned with growth and copying. Crystals preserve their formal arrangement as they grow, snap and branch further through new facets. This hereditary copying is the essence of living systems, and often life is defined as that which persists via copying. The Isle of Lox series from collaborators Leyla Rodriguez & Cristian Straub is represented in two chapters, the first marking the beginning of the travel mysteries and the second celebrating a ritual of blending in to the pink situation. s.ara's Tape Loading Error is an animation exploring the visual culture of video games and the spread of popular gif files. Magritte's surrealist paintings give a working platform for modular elements and texture layers that emulate lo-fi quality and bug/glitch images of early computers.

Toby Tatum's The Subterraneans is a series of visions relayed through a heightened consciousness. The views frame the shadowy recesses that offer access to the underworld and draw us closer to the presences that lurk beyond the threshold. I See You from Coalfather Industries (Kara Jansson and Craig Newsom) navigates the uncomfortable conversation between voyeur and exhibitionist that we experience online. The collective web does nothing to ameliorate our loneliness, and functions as little more than a sterile echo chamber where we know more and tell more, but care less. A commentary on the contemporary experience, Jansson and Newsom juxtapose the mundane aspects of everyday life, removing them from their original context to highlight their absurdity.

The MIA series began in June of 2012, founded by video artist Alanna Simone to promote the work of artists who use the moving image. Every 4th Friday the MIA series screens video art, experimental films, performance art, essay films and animation from local and international artists at the Armory Center for the Arts, 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91103. Each program is organized around a theme and lasts a little over an hour. A donation of $5 is suggested.