Core Artist's Video Feature
In conjunction with the Core Artist exhibition, “The Space for Maybe”, multimedia artists Melissa Shaak, Lior Neiger & Georgina Lewis present their work in video.
“Outside What’s Inside” by Melissa Shaak
Above: still from “Outside What’s Inside” 2021
Tell us about the artwork:
“This single-channel video is set in a forest bright with the sun’s rays. A woman, carrying a suitcase, approaches from a distance. Close up, the flare of a match may augur well, or ill. Amidst towering trees, the woman lifts up, hides behind, and balances on the suitcase. She eventually tries pressing the latches. The suitcase contents come tumbling out. The work is a simply told story of what can happen when daring to open up the baggage we’ve been carrying to the sunlight, fresh air, and beauty of the forest.”
“Globe 2.0” by Lior Neiger
Above still from “Globe 2.0”, 2022
Tell us about the artwork:
“Divided in two, each side of the screen features a globe turning quickly and slowing to a halt. Each time it stops, a random encounter is created between two geographical areas. Tension is thus generated between the representation of reality in each of the two screen parts and the new place created by the juxtaposition of the two, attesting to the potential of border changes, migration of nations, the movement of continents, etc. The work touches upon questions of immigration, occupation, colonialism, globalization, terrorism, arbitrariness, and play (it contains an element of a casino game). The straight dividing line created by the split-screen alludes, at times parallels, to straight borders marked in the course of history throughout the world (such as borders between states in the United States and between countries in Africa). The work elicits questions concerning knowledge and orientation (or the lack thereof), confronting us with the realization that between every two spots in the world there is always some kind of connection (whether economic, political, geographical, historical or cultural). If we do not know what that link is, it is only because we, as viewers, lack knowledge about it. Much attention was devoted to the formal and color accord of the geographical combinations, but the idea of the "unexpected" encounter is nevertheless convincing.”
“drawing is a way of breathing” by Georgina Lewis
Above: still from “drawing is a way of breathing”, 2021
Tell us about the artwork. What makes it unique?
“ I shot “drawing is a way of breathing” in spring/summer of 2020 during the first months of the pandemic. In late March of that year I began drawing to generate sound and as a way of meditating but my focus soon shifted to the resulting visual artifacts. The repetitive act of circle drawing functions as a means of regulating breath but also references Covid: virus shapes, blood cells, aerosol droplets, etc. The video’s clips are of the moment, made with an iPhone and less concerned with production values than with immediacy and honesty. The objects and materials are things I had on hand at the time, including the coloured beads and the gold pirate coins. During the pandemic I returned to video after a long hiatus, making small low-tech pieces, including a collaboration with musician Howard Martin that screened at the New Media Art and Sound Summit in Austin Texas.”