Art	Past Tense, Active Voice by Cynnie Gaasch

Joanna Raczynzka, media arts curator for Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, organized “Now Again the Past,” an exhibition at least partially inspired by its surroundings. The Carnegie Art Center is a former library, reopened in the past decade as an exhibition space that gives special attention to new media, including video and computer-generated visual art.

Raczynska is originally from Poland, and many of the artists she selected for this exhibit are European, dealing with the “Old World” reforming into a new Europe. The works are political, almost across the board, though some are more subtle than others. They all have ties to methods of reenactment, retelling or reworking histories.

“Berlin Remake” by Annie Siegel retells a history of the city that once was removed from Western Europe. Siegel takes film footage of East Berlin created by East German Film Studio during the segregation of Germany and recasts it beside footage of the contemporary city, the old and the new presented in synchronized video projection. Siegel took a cast and crew to multiple sites, acting as tourists, traversing a once-bleak city which today is colorful and active. Bombed-out and abandoned neighborhoods are now populated and inhabited by new builds, families and young people.

Pia Lindman’s history is broader. Lindman herself is Finnish and lives in New York City. “Lakonikon” shows the artist moving through poses in a gray, prison-like uniform, in front of a gray wall and floor. She is aided as she tries to achieve each position perfectly—positions she borrows from images of people in mourning, drawn from the front page of the New York Times. The removal of individuality onto semi-transparent vellum, which is presented in this exhibit in the form of a book, and next onto a blank video setting, does its best to remove the actual emotion from positions as extreme as someone huddled on the ground. She successfully creates a blank meaningless dictionary, out of context, into which the viewer may place his or her own meaning.

On the other side of the gallery, Felix Gmelin’s “Farbtest, Die Rote Fahne II” (Color Test, The Red Flag No. 2), though not a dramatic piece (in terms of theater), is nonetheless nearly an opposite of Lindman’s. Here we have two screens, one shot in 1968 in Berlin and the other shot in 2002 in Stockholm. The artist’s father is one of the performers in the first short film, in which a young man runs through the streets of West Berlin with a red flag to join other youth activists on the balcony of a government building. In Stockholm in 2002, the players are male and female, and the conclusion isn’t as momentous; they don’t find any young activists. This is a sad statement about the political activity of young people around the world in the 21st century. Regardless, the young people in both films charge through the streets with purpose, the large flag flapping in the wind they create. They are not erasing emotion but living it.

Kota Ezawa is German and currently lives in the United States, having completed school in California. His video animation, “Lennon Sontag Beuys,” takes well selected pieces of lectures given by each of the title’s three iconic cultural figures and presents them in direct, four-color animation. The press interviews John Lennon at his bed-in for peace in Amsterdam in 1969. He speaks of “nonviolent passive resistance.” The media scholar and critic Susan Sontag delivers a lecture in 2001 about photography, arguing that as a documentary medium it has created a genre based largely in “suffering and pain” and lacking much of a “moral charge.” Joseph Beuys’ 1974 lecture describes “art coming out of history” and “establishing a conscience.” Ezawa provides us with authority and inspiration, not lecturing himself but asking the viewer to take these words away with them.

Bruce Chefsky’s film, “These Beautiful Ghosts,” recreates the film “Apteka” by Polish artists Stefan and Franciszka Themerson, which was lost and presumed destroyed during the Second World War. Anita Di Bianco’s film “Betty Talks I + II” portrays the actor as activist.

Zach Puff puts footage of presidents Carter, Reagan and Johnson on six television monitors on the floor of the gallery. Their voices come out of microphones and teleprompters surround the installation, titled “Parallel Rhetoric: Coming and Going,” which illustrates the three men’s different approaches to politics.

“Muster,” by Allison Smith of Manassas, Virginia, has the artist sewing flags and devoting them to her beliefs. She artfully remakes the history of war with titles for each flag, such as “Fighting for the Land,” “Control of Masculine Indoctrination” and Fighting for Trench, Art.”

Caroline Koebel, a professor of Media Studies at SUNY at Buffalo, reworks a photograph taken by Viennese activist Peter Weibel in 1968. Weibel was in the original photograph portraying a dog on all fours, led on leash by the artist VALIE EXPORT. Koebel casts media icon Tony Conrad as Weibel, who is led on his knees across an intersection in Buffalo that has seen many accidents. The soundtrack is a sound piece created by Conrad. As the piece concludes, a dog walker comes out and crosses the street, adding a note of comic relief. By choosing a dangerous intersection, Koebel is creating her own activist statement, not just retelling a past action.

Raczynska, the curator, seems to be telling us that as we move forward we are losing valuable histories. She is also telling us to move forward nonetheless, and suggests that we can make more of our actions, our commitments and beliefs. It is essentially a cry for political activism.

“Now Again the Past” remains at the Carnegie Art Center in North Tonawanda (www.carnegieartcenter.org) through March 18. Films that make use of reenactment are being screened at Hallwalls (www.hallwalls.org) on Delaware Avenue throughout the exhibition. “Inextinguishable Fire,” made in 1969 by Harun Farocki, and “What Farocki Taught,” made in 1997 by Jill Godmillow, will be shown this Saturday (March 4) at 8pm. “Culloden,” made in 1964 by Pater Watkins, will be shown on April 1.

Questions or Comments for Artvoice? Send e-mail to editorial@artvoice.com • Article last modified 3/6/2006 Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v5n9: Elmwood Village Hotel (3/2/06) > Past Tense, Active Voice This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Events Calendar • Classifieds

Who Goes Where When Hillary Goes to State? posted November 19, 12:04 pm on Artvoice Daily City Hall News has flow_chart that tracks who might replace who, from Hillary’s Senate seat on down (click to expand or follow the link—it’s an awkward shape):

It’s Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadium posted November 14, 5:05 pm on Artvoice Daily These new signs properly label the structure. We’ve been reading recent stories in the Buffalo News about sportswriter Tom Borrelli’s terrible fall last week at the old All High Stadium. He’s currently battling life-threatening injuries... (more)

CWM Fined for Violations posted November 14, 2:41 pm on Artvoice Daily This week Chemical Waste Management was fined $175,000 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for violating its permits and the state’s hazardous waste laws. I don’t have much to say about that, except it doesn’t seem to me like too much money... (more)

Musical Chairs posted November 14, 12:51 pm on Artvoice Daily The AP reports that Hillary Clinton met with Barack Obama in Chicago yesterday, adding fuel to speculation that she might be Obama’s choice for secretary of state. If that happens, it has long been rumored that Brian Higgins would be appointed to her Senate seat... (more)

Paint the Town posted November 14, 11:06 am on Artvoice Daily Late last night, at the tail end of one of the few weeks in the past year in which we did not publish anything snarky about anybody, someone threw two gallons of paint on our front doors. Seems a waste; we hadn’t even earned it. Nonetheless, we were cleaning up all morning... (more)

Old Editions Book Shop posted November 13, 1:58 pm on Artvoice Daily AV videographer Matt Quinn tours Old Editions, an often overlooked treasure at the corner of Oak and Huron Streets downtown: show enclosure (video/x-flv; 21.29 MB)

This Is Not Today’s News posted November 12, 9:37 am on Artvoice Daily But it would be nice if it were. Via the Data Stream, by way of Jon Winet.

This Just In… posted November 11, 3:28 pm on Artvoice Daily Always in the vanguard, researchers of the University at Buffalo’s Center of Human Capital have reached a bold conclusion, according to a statement disseminated this afternoon: Although no official determination has been made about whether New York State or the U... (more)

Silver Lining: Edwards Remains a Good Guy posted November 11, 11:17 am on Artvoice Daily Marshawn Lynch Amid the anguished finger-pointing, plaintive wailing and resigned head-shaking sweeping the region following the Buffalo Bills’ third straight defeat, Season Ticket would like to apportion a minute sliver of credit. Quarterback Trent Edwards, by most quantitative and qualitative standards, failed miserably at New England on Sunday (not coincidentally, this was also his third consecutive regressive outing)... (more)

Mazzariello’s Ristorante & Martini Bar posted November 7, 4:30 pm on Chew on This   Photo taken by Rose Mattrey From Antipasti to Primi to Secondi, Mazzariello’s (114 Bloomfield Ave, Lancaster, 206.0561) has conquered the map of Italian cooking. Your palate will be exposed to an array of spices, herbs, and ingredients indigenous to Northern & Southern Italy... (more)

Post Election Bits & Bytes posted November 7, 12:02 am on Tech Voice Election ‘08 is now in the history books - so I figured it’s time to take a look backward, and a look forward at some relevant headlines. Hacking Democracy First, we’ll take a look at one of the best kept secrets of the campaign season, from both sides, care of a Newsweek article published just today... (more)

BNMC Open Meeting Tonight posted November 6, 1:19 pm on Artvoice Daily Tonight at 6pm in the auditorium of the downtown library, everyone is invited to attend a public hearing on the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus—North End Projects. Among the projects planned are a 300,000 square foot Medical Office Building to be owned and operated by Ciminelli Development Company, Inc... (more)

That Pigeon Won’t Fly posted November 6, 10:05 am on Artvoice Daily Steve Pigeon Here’s another example, this one two years old, of the way Steve Pigeon’s political committees are alleged to steer money to candidates illegally. On September 15, 2006, the Pigeon-controlled PAC Citizens for Fiscal Integrity paid “RUR Strategy Group” $9,000 in consulting fees, according to CFI’s campaign finance disclosure forms... (more)

SeaBar’s Social Calendar posted November 5, 12:44 pm on Chew on This SeaBar will host live jazz and sushi nights starting Friday, November 21st at 8 p.m. (5235 Main Street, Wmsvl, 204.5283). A Cave Springs Riesling Tasting Event will take place at SeaBar’s suburban location on Wednesday, November 9th at 7 p.m... (more)

Twilight posted November 19, 1:09 pm on channel Movie Trailers Movie trailer for Twilight, in theaters November 21. Read M. Faust's review of the film here.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas posted November 19, 1:06 pm on channel Movie Trailers Movie trailer for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, in theaters now. Click here to read George Sax's review of the film.

Avi Takes Artvoice Shopping for the holidays @ Lexington food Co-op posted November 19, 11:52 am on channel Food I met up with Avi of Obviously Avi Catering to learn about classic ways to spruce up some great thanksgiving dishes and some more contemporary ideas for this years holiday season.. Also check out the Co-op this weekend Saturday the 22nd to sample some of the fresh turkeys that u can pick up for your family!

TRAIN DAY! @ the Buffalo Historical Society posted November 17, 3:07 pm on channel Local Interest I met with Peter Burakowski from the Buffalo Histroical Society to check out their fantastic train exhibit.. Now I have to be honest I was kinda embarrassed to tell Peter that I Hadn't been to the museum since I was about six years old... But the place looks great and has a lot going on for the holiday season. Check out this clip then head on down to the Buffalo Historical Society!

Mass Appeal: Elmwood Fashion Event posted November 15, 10:19 pm on channel Events On Friday night the Elmwood Village Association packed the Lafayette Presbyterian Church with a sold out "Mass Appeal: An Elmwood Fashion Event." The atmosphere was electric in the brightly lit church as models strutted down the catwalk to lively deejay beats.

Buffalo Contemporay Dance posted November 15, 6:43 pm on channel Events This weekend we stopped at Alt Theatre, 255 Great Arrow, to check Buffalo Contemporary Dance's 10th Anniversary performance. The little black box theatre in the Great Arrow Industrial Center is exceptionally intimate and provides a that up close experience you won't get at larger venues. Dancers and choreographers Amy Taravella and Leslie Wexler put together a lovely set of dance pieces with a variety of musical styles and an enthusiastic group of dancers...

Old Editions Book Shop posted November 13, 11:42 am on channel Local Interest I had a chance to check out the Old Editions Book Shop & Café at 74 East Huron Street, Buffalo.... WOW i was blown away at how any cool things they had on display there....Not just the thousands of books on everything from local authors to rare leather-bounds, but hundreds of maps, prints and other artwork. If you havent been down to the corner of Oak and Huron to check it out i suggest you do!

Off Stage: Conversations with Anthony Chase posted November 12, 4:50 pm on channel Theater This week, Artvoice and TAB present Part II of the interview with Road Less Traveled founder, Scott Behrand. This is the second installment of "Off Stage", a series of conversations with the Buffalo theatre community and AV Theatre Editor Anthony Chase.

Happy Go Lucky posted November 12, 2:08 pm on channel Movie Trailers Movie trailer for Happy Go Lucky, in theaters now. Read M. Faust's review of the film here.

Quantum of Solace posted November 12, 2:01 pm on channel Movie Trailers Movie trailer for Quantum of Solace, in theaters November 14th. Read George Sax's review of the film here.

Flash Party at Essex St. posted November 9, 10:59 am on channel Events The annual Flash Party-Griffis Sculpture Park fundraiser at the Essex St. art complex was the raucous gathering of music and art it's always been. With live music by the Ifs, plenty of art and free beer what else would you expect?

Lakeview Effect at Nietzsche's posted November 8, 4:54 pm on channel Music When Lakeview Effect crowded into the front bar at Nietzsche's with their keyboards, drums, two guitars, bass and percussion, there wasn't much room left. Nevertheless, people space to jam in and groove to the interesting and often unpredictable tunes. Some even found room to dance.

Flatbed at Allen St. Hardware posted November 8, 2:28 pm on channel Music We'd been trying to film something at the Hardware Cafe for sometime but everything always came out way too dark. Finally, last Friday, Nov. 7, we just brought in some lights and managed to get footage of Flatbed and their homegrown American sound.

Obama's Night posted November 6, 3:13 pm on channel Politics On November 4th, history was in the making; but as we know, history needs to be recorded by someone. ArtvoiceTv.com video crews roamed the election night streets of the city.

Election Day: Douglas County Staging Location One posted November 6, 10:59 am on channel Election 08 Election Day early morning deliberations on techniques for the placement of door hangers at Douglas County Staging Location One. Note that Station Location One doubles as the home to a family with two small children who were sleeping nearby at the time of the taping. This and the five-thirty a.m. time of day accounts for the whispering.