In the spirit of our experimental video series we thought that we would designate a night of experimental comedy videos. The artists in this show use experimental video technique and writing to produce pieces with a comedic edge. Post screening there will be a live performance by "Kill Comedy" a stand up comedy duo that aspires to perform live comedy but also to "kill" the standard stand up approach. Video Screening & performance by Kill Comedy Saturday August 16th 2008 9pm $7 suggested donation.
Heaven Gallery has screened some funny/weird videos in the past; including work by Animal Charm, TV Sheriff, Eric Fensler, Jim Finn and former Heaven curator Doug Lussenhop. This is the first night where we will devote a whole evening to the comedy genre.
2006 Whitney Biennial artist Ryan Trecartin manipulates aspects of video in the extreme and with emotion to tell bizarre and passionate human stories. Among other things, the video speeds up and the character's voices are warped. The New York Times labels his work as "some outer, experimental edge of video." And "Just plain weird". In "Yo a Romantic Comedy 2002", Trecartin's frequent collaborator Lizzie Fitch states, "I want an accident. I want a child." While dancing, doing the splits, she repeatedly in a little girl voice, shrieks her request. Her presumed boyfriend sits at a drum kit and with spastic bursts of drumming and experimental dance moves he responds in the negative. The segment ends with the abrupt arrival of some sort of "Goth Gang" and Lizzie drives off with them in a pick-up truck.
There is the simple but brilliant concept of Eric Fensler's re-edited and new voice-overs of his GI Joe PSA's (and interestingly, those GI Joe videos brought some of the most attention to the gallery). The former Chicago art collective Animal Charm edits scenes from a 1970s variety show performance of "Fever" with images of a baby deer in a prairie in the classic "Light Foot Fever". Animal Charm composed an electronic soundtrack and the images in the piece are cut to rhythms of the beat. There will be some sketch comedy videos included as well. The Los Angeles based comedy duo The Pretty Things present "Erika & Tamara: Back to the 90s", a skit comprising of two supposed "artistic" young women who compare their 1990s rave experiences with and without the use of drugs. The sketch comedy concept is interesting to witness in the hands of Pittsburgh/Providence based art collective Paper Rad. In "Alfe's World" the blobular cartoon characters that Paper Rad are known for are put into a sitcom-like setting where 3 frustrated roommates fight about washing dishes and discuss if there is or is not a nuclear war outside of their apartment.
Fresh from a four-day tour of St. Louis, MO., Kill Comedy is an anonymous standup duo in white sweat suits with "no jokes". They present "a scientific study of the straight man/funny man dilemma". "What is comedy?" they ask. Kill Comedy perform after the video screening.
Video Show Will Include Work By: Ryan Trecartin Paper Rad Animal Charm Eric Fensler TV Sheriff Jim Finn Mike Finch Leslie & The Lys Bobby Ciraldo Andrew Swant Andrew Rosas Dean Rank Elisa Harkins The Pretty Things Rodney Ascher ZZalgern0n Ryan Kortman Laura Klein Ben Driggs Catie Olsen Keith Kolecki Marc Riordan Rich Szczepanski Mike Miles AD&D and Slow Kid Marc Riordan Ryan Brennan Lyn Elliot Paul Brittain
Video show curated by Clara Alcott & Keith Kolecki
Links & Information about artists Ryan Trecartin http://www.elizabethdeegallery.com/artists/view/ryan-trecartin http://www.youtube.com/user/WianTreetin
www.paperrad.org www.animalcharm.com
TV Sheriff www.davyforce.com
www.jimfinn.org www.prettythingsss.com
Sample of a video that is part of the show: Kitty Concerto by Ryan Brennan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaREyRxYLFg
The Video Program is about 90 minutes with an intermission. Kill Comedy will perform for a half an hour. The videos will screen indoors in Heaven's main gallery and on the back screening roof. Kill Comedy will also perform on the porch.
For more information contact (773) 983-6905 | Email: clara@heavengallery.com| Heaven Gallery 1550 N. Milwaukee 2nd Fl. Chicago, IL 60622
