Hasta La Ideas

The bizarre new short from director Frank Sisti Jr. and Kid America Club explores the transformation of adulthood

Looking at emerging film work these days, some may argue that the accessibility of tools seems to make would-be filmmakers think they don’t actually have to be creative. That’s far from the case with “Stuff” a new short by director Frank Sisti Jr., proving inspired (and resourceful) filmmaking is alive and well.

From Mathew Cerletty, the artist behind the portrait of the film’s supporting character, to cult actor Kevin Corrigan of “Superbad” fame, Sisti leveraged some heavyweight talent to help bring his kooky vision to life. A natural extension of the mayhem and bizarro comedy typical of Frankie’s Apartment, and Kid America Club, the film showcases some strong acting and truly enjoyable moments.

The central character Felix (played by Corrigan), has led a relatively reclusive life. His isolation began as a child upon meeting Stuff, his colorful and monstrous imaginary friend. Now 35, Felix maintains a mundane existence, caring for his curmudgeonly drunkard of a father, hanging out with Stuff working on grandiose projects and silently obsessing over the attractive cashier at the neighborhood bakery (played by Cara Buono). Based in the New York City borough of Queens, the film does an excellent job of bringing the character of the area out through the actors, Sisti and crew establishing the perfect setting for a story of adult transformation.

Stuff provides a superb entrance into short film. Witty, driven and relatable, the film features some excellent visuals which, when combined with the grade-A performances, produce a piece that carries the thoughtful narrative with charm.

Four dynamic contemporary American artists

Now in its 76th year, the bi-annual compendium has gathered a new group of 51 contemporary artists to take over the museum through 27 May. While the focus on performance has become a central one in 2012, we found a group of four artists across different mediums—from sculpture, painting, film and living installation—each dynamic in their own right. Here, just a small selection of highlights from our walk through the Whitney Biennial.

K8 Hardy

The multi-faceted multi-media artist behind the lesbian zine FashionFashion and the “feminist queer artists’ collective” LTTR presents a set of characteristically contemplative wall-mounted sculptures. The conversation around gender identity can grow noisy, but Hardy manages to cut through the chatter with a genuine, thoughtful perspective addressing fashion advertising. Besides her installations, which combine flashy and everyday products, and accessories like hair extensions oddly plucked out of context, Hardy will stage a runway show 20 May.

Dawn Kasper

Turn a corner on the third floor and Dawn Kasper’s lilting voice—along with the whirring of a spinning tennis racket on a motorized stand—carries through the hushed gallery. In the spirit of Marina Abramovic‘s seemingly hot-again performance stylings, the LA-based artist brings her Nomadic Studio Practice Experiment to the Whitney for the duration of the Biennial. Living, working and interacting with museum-goers for three months turns her creative process into a real-time, interactive installation.

George Kuchar

The venerable underground filmmaker passed away in September 2011, and the Biennial pays tribute with a series of screenings of his lauded Weather Diaries. In characteristic revelatory fashion, Kuchar’s Hi-8 films document the mundanity and anticipation of his yearly trips to the El Reno motel in “tornado-alley” Oklahoma.

Nicole Eisenman

Nicole Eisenman’s installation dominates almost an entire room. The artist’s powerful and introspective portraits are deeply striking, instantly drawing the viewer in for a closer look. The work, which at times appears crude, instead offers deep insight into the human experience through shifting lines, wild expressive characters and a feeling of general chaos combined with melancholy detachment.

Last spring, when the Smithsonian‘s American Art Museum both announced their The Art of Video Games exhibition and asked for crowd sourced submissions for what to include, it brought down their servers for a while as they were inundated with traffic. That was clearly an early sign that this might be a slightly popular show. Now, almost a year later, it’s nearly time to see just how swarmed the museum will be. The exhibition opens on Friday, March 16th, kicking off with a three day festival (pdf) celebrating the launch. Games will be available to play, 8-bit musicians will be on hand to perform, films like Tron and The King of Kong will be screened (the cast of the latter will even be on hand for a meet and greet on Sunday), and a number of panels with industry legends will be sprinkled throughout (the ones with Hideo Kojima and Nolan Bushnell are apparently already sold out). For those outside of DC, or who haven’t been able to get tickets quickly enough, the museum will also be webcasting the events throughout the weekend. We’re no psychics, but we have a sense that this might be a fairly popular show, all the way out through when it wraps up in September. Here’s a description of what the exhibition will look like:

Visitors to the exhibition are greeted by excerpts from selected games projected 12 feet high, accompanied by a chipmusic soundtrack by 8 Bit Weapon and ComputeHer, including “The Art of Video Games Anthem” recorded by 8 Bit Weapon specifically for the exhibition. These multimedia elements convey the excitement and complexity of the featured video games. An interior gallery includes a series of short videos showing the range of emotional responses players have while interacting with games. Excerpts from interviews with 20 influential figures in the gaming world also are presented in the galleries.

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(Photos: Brian Forrest for Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles)

The life and work of Mike Kelley are celebrated in two tribute exhibitions. Born in Detroit and based in Los Angeles, the artist—and musician, critic, curator, and art historian—was found dead in his California home in late January. He was 58. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles wasted no time in mounting “A Tribute to Mike Kelley,” on view through April 2. The show presents 23 of Kelley’s works alongside those of artists such as Douglas Huebler, William Leavitt, and Marnie Weber (works donated to MOCA by Kelley).

“Mike Kelley had an immense impact on the art and artists of Los Angeles,” said Paul Schimmel, MOCA’s chief curator, in a statement issued by the museum earlier this month. “He was an intellectual force of nature, a real catalyst for a whole generation of artists.” Meanwhile, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University has prepared “Mike Kelley: Homage,” which opens tomorrow at the university’s Kresge Art Center. The special exhibition features three of Kelley’s video works, including his multimedia magnum opus “Day is Done” (2005-2006). Kelley’s work is also included in the Whitney Biennial, which kicks off tomorrow (and you still have a few hours to explain why you should be allowed to dance in it).

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London designer Dominic Wilcox has expanded his series of sculptures featuring tiny characters balanced on watch hands with three new scenes tackling protest and surveillance.

In Love and Protest (above) a protestor and soldier embrace in a kiss, raised above the watch face and endlessly turning on the bent second hand.

The UC Davis Protest (above) depicts depicts a circle of protestors subjected to pepper spray by a central rotating police lieutenant, while Captured (below) shows CCTV cameras watching over three figures taking photos and videos.

The three new pieces are on show alongside four others from the series at Phillips de Pury in London.

The first pieces in the series were commissioned by Dezeen last year, including a looter running off with a TV while a riot policeman stands and watches, and a young girl trying to stop a butcher killing a floating pig – see them all here.

Watch Dominic Wilcox talking about the project in our interview with him on Dezeen Screen. The captions below are from Wilcox.

Above: UC Davis Protest, 2011. I find it disturbing when people in positions of power abuse it and lose any sense of humanity. I was shocked to see the footage of the pepper spraying of people sitting in a peaceful protest at UC Davis. I felt a need to capture this incident in time.

Above: Love and Protest, 2011. In these times of peaceful protest in the face of armed repression, a protester and soldier kiss.

Above: Comfortably Oblivious, 2011. Here two people fail to give up their seat to an elderly woman with walking stick and bags walking round and round.

Above: The Beautiful Game, 2011. A footballer holds aloft a trophy in the form of a pound symbol (£) as three prospective WAGs fight for his attention.

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