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WORLD WIDE VIDEO FESTIVAL PRESS RELEASE |
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11 May 2004
10 - 20 June 2004
The World Wide Video Festival, the annual international festival for media art, will be launched Thursday 10 June Post CS in Amsterdam, the capital’s latest hot spot, situated near Central Station. During eleven days World Wide will present works by eighty artists from thirty countries in the former TPG building. The offering includes the exhibition Double Vision on the unique role of Double / Triple projections in media art: works ranging from Andy Warhol to contemporary artists such as Pierre Huyghe (France), Aernout Mik (Netherlands), Harun Farocki (Germany) and Sebastián Díaz Morales (Argentina). There are solo exhibitions by Marcelo Tas (Brazil), Kurt D’Haeseleer (Belgium) and Edgar Pêra (Portugal). There is also a special about the extraordinary French production company Anna Sanders Films. The World Wide Media Lounge offers a broad international selection from the latest videos and DVD’s, while the Auditorium on the top floor features daily varying talk shows, screenings and performances. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays there are live events where artists and musicians combine image and sound live, exploring the cutting edge of visual arts, pop culture and new media. This is shown in cineconcerts (Edgar Pêra), VJ performances (310K, Éder Santos) and DVD presentations (NoTV). Many of the participating artists will be present at the festival. At the end of this press release you will find, under the heading Meet-the-Artist, a provisional list of artists who will be available for interviews. Below are short descriptions of the various programme sections. The programme brochure contains more detailed information (including a schedule and locations).
Double/Triple projection – two or three projected images next to or above each other – plays a unique role in the history of media art. We have seen different images and texts that have been placed side by side, over one another and together on news and music channels like CNN and MTV. Artists, however, are primarily concerned with the question of how two or more projected images relate to one another and to the spectator. Space also plays an important role in this. But what precisely is this extra dimension - the added value of two or three projections rather than just one? The Double Vision exhibition examines these formal, aesthetic and conceptual aspects of the multiple image. The title Double Vision also refers to the unique character of the exhibition: during the evenings there will be different works on display, which means visitors can see two exhibitions in one day. The Double Vision exhibition comprises eleven installations which have two or more screens. Included are works by: Tracey Rose (South Africa), Sebastián Díaz Morales (Argentina/Netherlands), Wang GongXin (China), Ange Leccia (France), Harun Farocki (Germany), Franck Scurti (France), Aernout Mik (Netherlands), Martijn Veldhoen (Netherlands), Pierre Huyghe (France) and Kurt d’Haeseleer (Belgium). In the Auditorium there will be double projections by Andy Warhol, Chris Welsby & William Raban and Malcolm LeGrice. See also pages 4, 10 and 21 of the programme brochure
Kurt d'Haeseleer (1974) is a young, talented Belgian artist, who for the past few years, has been associated with the Brussels collective De Filmfabriek, where he regularly does the videography for multimedia theatre and dance projects. His finished work, based on state of the art digital montage and production techniques, by far exceeds the technology he applies. The power of his work is in the wonderful, organic and associative images he creates from seemingly everyday shots. Like a digital alchemist, he gives life to the bare pixel material and sets off a flow of images. World Wide demonstrates the range of d'Haeseleer’s work with a videotape, two installations and a performance. See also page 6 of the programme brochure
Edgar Pêra (1960) is one of the most important and original representatives of the current generation of Portuguese experimental filmmakers. His work, however, has hardly been shown outside Portugal. Pêra’s recent and varied work consists of documentaries, and short and long film and video productions. World Wide presents a retrospective of his work with six films, including the world première of the film Guittarra com pessoas la dentro and a live performance. Pêra's work has both political and philosophical dimensions. Pêra treats his subjects with considerable humour, which sometimes even borders on slapstick. Serious and farcical scenes often alternate. His imagery refers to old silent films and Russian and German pre-war cinema. Pêra’s films are personal, critical, imbued with irony and satire, but are primarily poetical and expressive. See also page 7 of the programme brochure
Marcelo Tas (1959) is an actor, artist, editor and writer, but above all a Brazilian media personality. He thanks his fame to the alter egos from his television programmes, like the strange and clumsy Professor Planeta who explains football to viewers on the sports channel ESPN. As the somewhat neurotic reporter Ernesto Varela he goes in search of the unusual sides of everyday things. Varela's naiveté is disarming, his interview technique disruptive. His work sometimes reveals disconcerting social wrongs, like in Varela em Serra Pelada (1984), an investigative report on a Brazilian mine with 40,000 workers to find out what motivates them to keep on working. The festival presents a selection of his work, and on Saturday 19 June Tas takes on the role of reporter Ernesto Varela to cover the Czech-Dutch football match in the Auditorium. See also page 7 of the programme brochure
To develop a new language of imagery is the aim of the French film production company Anna Sanders Films, started in 1997. An initiative of, among others, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Pierre Huyghe, Charles de Meaux and Philippe Parreno. Although the artists use material from the film world, the questions raised have to do with the visual arts. Anna Sanders films are often made as a reaction to places and events. The viewer is carried along, as it were, on the journey of the filmmakers. To Pamir, Central Asia, Hong Kong, Iceland. Simple storylines that could direct the viewer's attention towards a specific direction are avoided, creating space for the imagination. Now, seven years on, it is clear that these French artists have been successful. In 2002 Huyghe won the Hugo Boss Prize and Gonzalez-Foerster won the Duchamp Prize in the same year. Attention: These are the only presentations that take place at the Film Museum! See also page 9 of the programme brochure
World Wide Main consists of a dozen programmes showing recent international single screen productions. Most of these productions were made in 2003, a few date from 2001. World Wide Main can be seen in the Auditorium in a daily changing programme of theatrical screenings. The artists are often present at these screenings.
A selection of the World Wide Main programme, net-art and DVD’s can also be seen during the festival in the World Wide Media Lounge with its twenty monitors and computer screens. The visitors, while relaxing in comfortable bean bags, can make their own choice of videotapes, cd-roms and net-art from a menu. Visitors either watch, play or zap their way through the various productions, or follow the thematic routes mapped out by the festival. The lounge is situated at both the 8th and 11th floor. See also page 13 of the programme brochure
The programme section Live Events/RGB consists of performances by artists’ collectives and temporary collaborative projects of artists and musicians. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 22.00 there will be performances by DJ’s and VJ’s including Kurt d'Haeseleer, Edgar Pêra, Éder Santos, 310K, NoTV and Rechenzentrum. See also page 13 of the programme brochure
Many of the participating artists will personally attend the World Wide Video Festival and will present themselves to the audience in the Meet-the-Artist programme in the Auditorium. Every day there are lectures, interviews and introductions. Provisional list of artist expected to attend: Please contact us if you wish to speak with any or some of the artist or arrange an interview. A number of artists will also be available in the period directly preceding the festival.
In order to make media art more accessible to a wider audience World Wide organizes a special introductory lecture: Pixels & Frames. This introduction treats the history of the art form from its inception in the 1960s and further explains the festival programme. On 11, 12, 17, 18 and 20 June, at 11.15 am in the Auditorium. Special group visits can also be arranged. Art historians will guide such groups through the exhibition and explain the various works in detail. For bookings and programme information please visit our website www.wwvf.nl or call us at (+31)20?4207729 See also page 14 of the programme brochure
The festival catalogue will be published on cd-rom, available for 10 euro at the reception desk of Word Wide in Post CS. It can also be ordered via the website: www.wwvf.nl.
Location: Post CS, at the Oosterdokskade 3 – 5 near Amsterdam’s Central Station, is the main festival location. In this high-rise building, designed by architect Piet Elling in 1960, the WWVF will occupy the 8th floor (exhibition and Media Lounge), the 11th floor (performances, screenings, live events). Also in Post CS: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2nd and 3rd floors), Post Amsterdam (the successor of Pakhuis Amsterdam)(9th and 10th floor), and cafe-restaurant 11 (11th floor). How to get there: Opening hours: Entrance fees: Ticket sales:
Press information
T: + 31 (0)20 420 77 29 Visual material (at www.wwvf.nl/pers) may be used in publications about the festival on the condition that both the title of the work and the artist’s name are included.
We greatly appreciate it if you send us a copy of your publication.
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