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Ectoplasmic ResponsePost an Event »

Swarm Gallery

January 30 - March 15, 2010

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560 Second Street Oakland, CA 94607
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Ectoplasmic Response Barry Anderson Barry Anderson, Ectoplasmic Response (2009), Video installation at Light Work Gallery, Syracuse, New York
Project space Exhibit Opening | Saturday, January 30, 6-8PM The majority of the recent single-channel video animations are created in part from appropriated American advertising images of the 1950s to 1970s, an era which historically represents a massive change in the cultural landscape of the country. This period is not referenced out of a simple sense of nostalgia but rather for an historical counterpoint to our present era. Due to evolving economic, social, and ethnic factors in the middle of the 20th century, our cultural homogeny began a period of erosion. Now, however, global telecommunications and corporate culture are causing a different sort of homogeny to evolve, one based on entertainment and consumerism. Anderson's continuing interest in truly "motion pictures" relates more to the history of painting and collage than that of video and cinema. This is heightened by the use of motifs commonly related to trance and psychadelia such as hyper color, limitless space, and looping rhythm. Here, these motifs are not intended to create a state of euphoria or release from reality, but rather to focus intently on the present moment. They are also used to further question typical expectations of the video medium both in popular culture (news reporting, narrative entertainment, etc.) and in the contemporary art world (conceptual performance, experimental narrative, etc.)