0:00

we are here at a lucini as curators but

0:03

also we have this funny we have a few of

0:07

our videos in a few different programs

0:09

we curated a program called reduced

0:13

polish which is all New York City

0:14

artists and film them some filmmakers to

0:18

and and we’re presenting that tonight

0:21

but on the first night Kiki nickel Ella

0:24

from Brazil I had one of our pieces in

0:27

her presentation of a video art piece we

0:30

had made and then though also there’s

0:33

the exquisite corpse video project which

0:35

we are participants in him which with a

0:38

screen at V tape on Wednesday I believe

0:40

that’s right we also pursued to

0:43

participated in the Ellis in a festival

0:45

last year and we were lucky enough to

0:48

come back this year having really just

0:51

had a wonderful time last year and just

0:53

really happy to be back here yeah our

0:57

video projects I think have come a long

0:59

way we started making videos together

1:01

about about five years ago but our work

1:04

together in terms of collaborating

1:06

really goes back to our adolescence when

1:09

we really were doing a lot of

1:11

photography together and just kind of

1:13

exploring with kind of

1:16

just the camera using starting with

1:19

still photographs and very personal work

1:23

that I’ve touched on a lot of different

1:26

issues insecurity feeling alienated and

1:29

alone we come from like suburban

1:34

American culture lots of not a bit not

1:38

the most interesting place to grow up

1:41

like in the suburbs in America and so

1:44

maybe we were different and didn’t feel

1:49

like I didn’t fit in so much so we we

1:51

started using art as a way to kind of do

1:54

her own thing and find a little bit of a

1:56

voice that we couldn’t find in the

1:59

typical things that were happening

2:00

around us so we started to do

2:03

photographs that were very dark and

2:06

talking about the sort of stuff flying

2:09

around up in our heads and then that we

2:12

got the video and that that we try to

2:16

take we were doing photographs and put

2:17

it some of those same things in the

2:20

video and that takes us to where we are

2:22

now I think originally our work was a

2:26

lot about about us in terms of our form

2:31

or what not just depicting ourselves and

2:33

then throughout time I think we’ve grown

2:36

a lot more comfortable with just finding

2:38

other people who we share similar kind

2:41

of values with and just a similar sort

2:44

of

2:47

sense of a similar sense of just kind of

2:53

feeling somewhat lost within an

2:57

environment and needing some way to

3:00

communicate like this kind of world

3:03

that’s happening inside that just like

3:06

you know so on this video that we have

3:09

in this program tonight that we actually

3:12

curated is a good example of another

3:14

person who I actually came across in

3:17

college he’s a good friend of mine from

3:19

college who is uh a lot of someone a lot

3:23

of people would probably think it was a

3:24

pretty troubled person but he’s

3:27

incredibly functional and I think it’s a

3:30

really poignant portrayal of kind of

3:33

what we’re driving at in terms of

3:39

I think that our stuff the stuff we were

3:43

doing before like last year when I osuni

3:46

was more performance based video art and

3:48

now we’re working in a our stuff now

3:51

it’s more removing in a direction that’s

3:53

kind of a combination of video art and

3:56

documentary and we for a long time

3:59

looked at ourselves and our problems in

4:00

our you know the shadows around us and

4:04

now we’re looking at other people too

4:06

and and it’s it’s something there’s a

4:12

lot of its it’s good to be it to be

4:17

expanding to now like to see that

4:19

there’s you know other people who see

4:21

things like us and to try to show them

4:24

but it’s very important to us to show

4:26

people the way they are I think that

4:28

sometimes artists find somebody who’s

4:30

up or nuts and they want to make

4:33

a video about them or art piece and they

4:36

can put their own they can put their own

4:39

kind of they see that they shape the

4:44

person in a way that suits them but to

4:46

us is very important for us to store the

4:47

person the way they really are not to

4:49

not to shape people to how we want them

4:54

to see scene but to to represent the

4:58

person as they’re you know the way their

5:00

brain actually is rather than the way we

5:02

think it will we would not just not to

5:05

stylize it we’re really not into like

5:07

over stylizing thing which is one thing

5:09

that thing’s a big problem or right now

5:11

in general and other you know film and

5:15

stuff too that you know stylization is I

5:17

think it takes away the power of things

5:19

so we we’ve made a decision to as we

5:22

continue to grow to not get to keep

5:25

things very simple you know to not get

5:28

to not to try to make style something

5:31

that um to keep that distance so that

5:35

being stay kind of pure and raw and what

5:38

they really are and

5:40

that’s important to us we think that’s

5:42

the presentation that we’re showing

5:44

tonight we we specifically try to fire

5:46

artists who are doing that too and

5:47

thankfully we’ve we’ve been living in

5:49

New York a long time we have a we are

5:53

part of a community of artists who are

5:55

very who we think are very talented and

5:57

who we have similar ideals with and we

6:00

were able to pick some really strong

6:03

work and some very talented people and

6:05

good people you know good good

6:07

individuals and that’s so that’s what we

6:13

did yeah I think it’s interesting

6:15

because it similarly in the way that

6:18

we’ve kind of taken the focus and kind

6:23

of and kind of focused outward a little

6:27

bit more i think it’s it’s it’s made it

6:30

much more of a social activity actually

6:33

the artistic process and kind of

6:35

involving other people and it’s it’s

6:38

kind of a big part of the for me the

6:41

kind of catharsis of making marcus just

6:44

finding other people who identify with

6:45

what you’re doing and kind of sharing

6:48

creatively in in terms of creating this

6:51

program i think that really is is kind

6:54

of it’s just important in terms of how

6:57

this this came about is that throughout

7:00

the process of making work you find

7:02

people who you know who understand your

7:06

work or with whom it resonates and then

7:09

it goes to the next step where you

7:11

actually begin to to work together to a

7:14

certain degree so that’s really the

7:15

whole community and social aspect of it

7:17

is really really integral to Josh and I

7:21

think both that yet we kind of nurture

7:25

that relationship and those relations

7:27

yeah in a lucinei was a very very

7:31

important event for us last year because

7:34

i think we had been a little not so

7:37

optimistic about our own community in

7:40

New York you know in New York is very

7:42

big city with a lot of people trying

7:43

to to make some progress and it can be

7:46

very like feel like you’re on your own

7:49

there and we came here and we saw what a

7:51

strong community of artists came here

7:53

and the people coming from other scenes

7:55

with the people here in Toronto and what

7:57

and now how much it seemed like they

7:59

were supporting each other and I think

8:01

we went back home and then for some

8:03

reason we became aware that we actually

8:05

did have a lot of people who we felt

8:08

that way about who we you know who we’re

8:10

not just about themselves but about

8:12

working together with people with

8:14

similar feelings about art and you know

8:18

what the most important things are you

8:20

know not just benefit yourself but

8:22

working with people you know being

8:24

collaborative and trying to make good

8:27

things happen it’s supporting each other

8:28

and so we came so we that from LLC that

8:32

sort of started some frosted where we

8:34

actually really became much more aware

8:38

of our community and and we were lucky

8:41

enough to have or I asked us to carry

8:42

this program and we these are the people

8:45

we’re using for this program and it’s a

8:47

I’m very proud of all the people and I

8:49

think it’s really talented people we

8:52

have we have a mix there’s some people

8:54

who are from film background those are

8:56

people who are from performance art

8:58

background some people who are doing

9:00

sort of narrative video art and

9:04

everything in between the program starts

9:07

with a short film by Jonathan couette

9:09

who is a filmmaker who his movie

9:13

tarnation was a very very famous very

9:16

amazing film about his schizophrenic mom

9:19

and his life which is very challenging

9:22

and he made a 42 second short film which

9:26

is kind of a dark abstract film which is

9:28

I think it’s amazing and it’s how we

9:30

begin the program and then we have the

9:33

beginning section is a lot of videos

9:35

that are either kind of performance or

9:38

very very um not linear very more

9:43

abstract in there in the way they um

9:46

the narrative is very abstract in the

9:49

beginning yeah we have a Noah Dodson

9:53

who’s a Danish filmmaker limit or artist

9:57

living in New York and his piece is a

10:00

very sexual and very dark and talking

10:04

about it’s sort of like a revealing like

10:06

childhood issues with sex and it’s good

10:11

and then we have um we have let’s think

10:14

we have will you wanna say something

10:18

about the fact that a lot of these

10:19

people are students of of Allen frames

10:22

let’s say that after okay let’s get the

10:25

Charter thing about some of the videos I

10:26

thing on there’s 11 dahvie Wanda V who’s

10:30

a Colombian artist living in New York

10:33

who is very whose works totally stop

10:36

motion animation it does some very

10:38

interesting things a sort of nightmarish

10:41

and sexual and in his videos in there in

10:45

the beginning Flula liliana velas also a

10:50

Colombian artist living in New York

10:52

who’s up here with us today is her video

10:55

isn’t it and it’s also sort of a dark

10:57

look at a sexuality and very personal

11:02

but funny too which is important to us

11:05

that people have a sense of humor about

11:07

their dark dark things happening inside

11:11

of them mm-hmm there’s a video by Maria

11:13

pecheneg who’s a who’s a really great

11:17

Austrian performance artist and video

11:20

artists who we met in New York and again

11:23

I think our work and our work just kind

11:26

of flute resonated and we fostered a

11:30

really great relationship and she just I

11:31

think she deals with her own body and

11:36

her identity within the context of our

11:38

childhood and

11:39

kind of using kind of grotesque aspects

11:43

of her own form and kind of challenging

11:45

the audience and she’s doing some really

11:47

interesting stuff new york that were

11:49

really yeah she were very proud of her

11:50

she’s doing very good and her work is

11:52

really growing and she’s a her

11:55

performances are becoming pretty pretty

11:57

impressive and she’s a very very

11:59

talented artist and wells do we have we

12:03

have josh sanchez who’s a filmmaker who

12:10

lives in New York who’s doing these

12:11

short vignettes about people’s memories

12:14

that are very great he films them on a

12:17

super 8 camera and then transfers them

12:20

to video using a projector and it’s very

12:23

raw very simple we have Jake cell videos

12:27

a friend of ours who comes from a

12:30

photography background but is now doing

12:33

he basically doesn’t kind of cut up

12:35

videos where he takes interviews with

12:37

his mother and father who had a very

12:39

bitter divorce and all this experience

12:41

most of them whom he is did not really

12:44

have good endings to the relationships

12:47

with and he’ll interview them about the

12:49

relationship and he’ll cut it up in a

12:51

way that it’s very abrupt and it has a

12:54

very sort of it’s kind of hard to

12:56

swallow but in a way that has a very

12:58

strong effect and we have Alan the film

13:02

I’m sorry the screening ends with Alan

13:05

frames um short film which is about the

13:08

death of his father and he’s he’s a gay

13:11

man from the south from Georgia and you

13:15

know he goes back home when his father

13:17

dies and it’s about it’s not only about

13:20

a delusion with his father but also

13:21

about his relationship with the place he

13:24

grew up which he’s not exactly totally

13:27

comfortable with and the film was really

13:29

beautiful and you can sort of feel this

13:31

tension throughout the whole film

13:33

between him and his environment and its

13:36

really very there’s it’s very simple but

13:40

there’s something very there’s a lot of

13:41

things going on and it’s really powerful

13:44

and he is very important because Alan

13:45

frame was my most important art

13:48

influence and many of the people in the

13:50

screening he also is somebody who had a

13:53

huge influence on either we taught them

13:54

or he’s mentored them and he’s kind of a

13:57

center of the community of people that

13:58

are involved in the screening and so I

14:01

chose to uh we chose to end it with his

14:03

film we did everybody I think that I

14:08

think that’s think that’s everyone I

14:11

think that we are film is in it too we

14:16

are some strawberries and celery design

14:18

new film with our friend Evan who’s

14:21

bipolar manic-depressive and it’s about

14:23

a fantasy of his which and and it’s a

14:27

good example of the style that we’re

14:29

working in now which is a video art and

14:32

documentary and trying to make it so you

14:35

literally can kind of feel like you

14:37

don’t know which one it is at any given

14:38

moment it the information is all real

14:41

but the way is is put together feels

14:45

like very the structure normal not a

14:50

normal structure for a documentary video

14:55

it’s very there’s a lot there’s a lot of

14:57

moments that are very loose they’re not

14:59

formal there hit awkward awkward looks

15:03

awkward laughs and that you know but to

15:07

try to paint a picture of this guy for

15:10

who really is not just trying to make it

15:13

too formal we don’t win top form of

15:15

people and we don’t want to do anything

15:16

that’s too formal

15:19

just kind of provide a window not just

15:23

to him but actually to understanding his

15:25

condition I think something subjectively

15:28

people look at other people out of time

15:30

and they don’t actually try to

15:33

understand the way that their minds

15:35

operate and how they might actually be

15:38

alienated but to actually kind of give

15:40

them this you know videos and extra

15:43

interesting medium and that you can

15:44

really illustrate with great detail the

15:48

way a person’s mind works and because of

15:51

if you can mirror somehow the way that

15:54

it’s put together visually in the

15:55

editing of it you can actually give the

15:57

audience a really interesting or you

15:59

went to how that person is actually

16:01

thinking like not when they’re

16:03

performing but when they’re alone by

16:05

themselves in the times that were there

16:07

not being watched so it’s sewn that’s

16:12

kind of what we’re working yeah and even

16:13

to be a little further we realized at a

16:16

certain point in doing making these

16:18

types of videos that uh you know it

16:22

traditionally when you see videos about

16:24

people where it’s explaining somebody’s

16:26

life for their problems you know it’s

16:28

words you learn things from the words

16:30

but at one point I think maybe it may

16:32

have to do the fact that I come from a

16:34

background of photography for most of my

16:36

life I was a photographer making the

16:38

part you know our photographs they

16:39

realize that it can be sometimes

16:41

sometimes people’s body language the

16:44

when they they look away from you those

16:46

moments can be more informative or more

16:49

educational or show you more about that

16:52

person and then all the things they are

16:54

telling you with their mouths so we we

16:57

really try to look at people and even

16:59

the way we film things in trying to

17:02

maybe cap look at the moments when it’s

17:04

not the interview the things in between

17:06

were you seeing the person with a mask

17:09

off a little bit or not not so concerned

17:11

with to show the the body language the

17:16

energy the uncomfortableness that tells

17:20

what’s really happening

17:22

and so to be able to try to most take

17:25

like make something that would be like a

17:27

documentary but even at some point take

17:30

away the words altogether and that would

17:32

be only the those moments of awkwardness

17:35

Cylons looking away so that’s something

17:39

that we’re definitely that’s kind of

17:41

what we’re doing now and it’s as we move

17:43

forward we’re really looking at that

17:45

being the focus is those those kinds of

17:48

moments in showing things about people

17:51

in their conditions in their brains and

17:54

everything inside of them and I think

17:55

that’s something that this the whole

17:57

program does really well in that it

17:59

deals a lot with subtext and it deals a

18:02

lot not with the kind of the glamour

18:04

that’s attached with art and with people

18:07

portraying themselves but the actual the

18:10

thing that lies between those kind of

18:12

those moments that actually show like

18:15

what people are really made of what they

18:17

may not actually want people to see and

18:20

that’s kind of the stuff that gets us

18:23

excited I think yes and to bring it full

18:26

circle that our program here is called

18:28

reduce polish and really you know it’s

18:31

not that we don’t like people who make

18:33

you know glossy stylized pretty work but

18:38

we think that sometimes it can be used

18:41

as a distract to distract you from you

18:44

know I don’t know that that taking those

18:47

things away it can show you something a

18:49

lot more pure and a lot more kind of

18:51

that’s got a lot more potency to it and

18:54

so in the work we do the people we try

18:57

to curate and work collaboratively

18:59

collaboratively with they’re trying to

19:03

pull away that stuff on the outside that

19:06

sometimes it can be used to this not to

19:10

deceive but to I don’t know we’re

19:14

looking in the underneath the skin and

19:17

so we yes we do spalla Sh that’s our

19:23

concept for a lot of things but for this

19:25

screening was to achieve that through

19:27

the selection of work that we put

19:29

together we’ve been doing that for a

19:32

couple years that’s actually how i met

19:34

and it’s an interesting project i

19:38

mean in the end I think of it it’s a

19:40

really good exercise you know what

19:42

happens is you there’s a string of

19:44

videos and there’s a lot of different

19:45

artists mostly mostly who are networking

19:47

through the internet and make a video

19:50

they give you the last 10 seconds of

19:51

their video and you make a one minute or

19:54

two minute video from that one piece and

19:56

one artist transitions to the next to

19:59

the next to the next it’s been good and

20:03

it’s made us it’s it’s challenged us to

20:07

try some different things to do some

20:09

very simple things and even in a way to

20:12

be sort of a little bit confrontational

20:14

be honest with you sometimes you’ll

20:17

receive a video from the artist that you

20:19

are going to work transition out of and

20:22

you’ll think you know my style is so

20:26

different than the style that you want

20:28

to create attention and that can be a

20:30

very good thing it can be good to to

20:33

feel like you want to push back not not

20:36

just to make a contrast with the style I

20:39

mean but just to create like a tension

20:42

that is good and I think the project is

20:45

successful as long if people are

20:46

actually thinking about what’s happening

20:48

and not just you know making a video and

20:51

sending out as long as they’re

20:53

challenging themselves and trying to

20:56

interact with the other people i think

20:58

it is successful sometimes it’s

20:59

successful sometimes it’s not but i

21:01

think it’s good in that it’s an exercise

21:04

where these artists are interacting and

21:07

I think it’s always good for people to

21:08

interacting and it’s always a learning

21:10

experience and I think that we’ve we’ve

21:14

had a really through our part through

21:17

our experiences being a part of it we’ve

21:20

learned a lot and that’s that’s a really

21:24

good thing for we’re glad that we’ve

21:26

been involved in it northern um I think

21:33

you covered everything I mean I think

21:35

again one of the most interesting

21:37

aspects of the exercises the social

21:41

aspect of it it’s just the communication

21:42

with other people you know all over the

21:46

world and and the friction that

21:49

sometimes ensues when people don’t get

21:51

along and it’s that’s actually some of

21:54

the most interesting stuff that happens

21:56

yeah there’s a hole on the internet as

22:00

we arrange the trendy the migration of

22:05

these videos of the people you know

22:06

people making them sending to the next

22:09

person there’s dialogue and there’s a

22:11

lot of people involved in a lot of the

22:14

people there’s a lot of different

22:15

personalities and some of those

22:17

personalities are not good together and

22:19

it’s very interesting and it and there’s

22:21

within the all this communication

22:23

there’s been a lot of interesting things

22:24

that have happened good and bad but it’s

22:27

there’s been a there’s been an evolution

22:32

you know of through for this food is

22:36

intense communication has happened of

22:38

all these different people with

22:39

different personalities having to learn

22:41

to work together and it’s been you know

22:42

it’s been high points and low points and

22:45

very some some drama to let’s all led to

22:49

you know a growth I think that’s good

22:54

the different a bowling bowling one and

22:57

two Molly knows

22:59

their game of the video by the the

23:02

second hot topics what do you think

23:06

that’s right yeah the first one I think

23:08

was just a general kind of pass on your

23:11

video and then make something that

23:13

response whereas the second there were

23:15

like a food however many themes where I

23:21

couldn’t really work out what they are

23:23

exactly but they’re these different

23:25

themes and then yours basically in terms

23:27

of whatever you want whether it be style

23:30

or the subject matter content whatever

23:32

you can actually try to incorporate that

23:35

theme in whatever it is that you’re

23:37

doing and so that that’s one thing

23:41

that’s been different I think instead of

23:42

one minute which was the first round was

23:44

a one-minute video the second round is a

23:46

has been one to two minutes that you can

23:49

you can have a two-minute video and

23:51

that’s good there’s been a lot more

23:53

artists involved on the second round I

23:56

think just it’s it’s it’s kind of

23:58

expanded oh yeah there’s been new

24:00

artists and I think that the one thing

24:03

that I think we this that we see in

24:06

comparing them are one to the second one

24:10

is that the good thing about the first

24:13

one is that it was this a small group of

24:15

people who as they did these they learn

24:19

how to do a good job the no one has got

24:21

some experience people with the project

24:24

and some people who are unexperienced

24:25

and so you see some variation and i

24:28

think that the project it gets better

24:31

when everybody gets like on the same

24:33

page when everybody understands how to

24:35

do it and make it make it good and make

24:37

the things flow and have them be tight

24:41

not not all over the place and so I

24:44

think you’ll see again as some of the

24:47

new people start to learn what will make

24:50

a success versus what might feel a

24:52

little not so strong they’ll get better

24:55

and better and that’s what’s interesting

24:56

is that the people who are involved who

24:58

actually are talking about the videos

25:01

and talking to each other on the

25:02

internet and so that makes it stronger

25:04

that makes it

25:05

go and get tighter and that’s I think

25:08

that’s where the success lies is like is

25:09

that people are really thinking about

25:14

how to do how to do it well and you know

25:17

the great the Great needs there’s been

25:19

people have been doing it for a couple

25:20

of years and apart our selves included

25:24

and I think those people have learned

25:26

learn how to how to make these things

25:28

successful and so you like like anything

25:31

if you have a team and you have some new

25:34

people they have to learn how to play on

25:36

the team and and then things evolve and

25:40

I think that with new ones there’s new

25:43

artists with a lot of possibility for

25:44

success and they’re going to have to

25:46

grow together

25:57

you

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