EAI at Frieze
On the occasion of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI)’s 50th anniversary, Frieze has invited the organization to program a series of videos from its collection of over 4,000 titles. This selection offers a dynamic overview of the strategies and concerns of an intergenerational array of artists whose work experiments with communications technology, ranging from television to social media. Videos from the EAI collection will appear throughout the fair, on large-scale monitors at its entrance and in lobbies on two floors. EAI's participation is part of a program spotlighting New York non-profits organizations that have celebrated significant anniversaries in the past year, alongside peers Artists Space, A.I.R., and Printed Matter Inc. Read more about EAI’s participation here, and about the fair and ticketing here.
Image: Peggy Ahwesh, The Falling Sky, 2017. Two computer-generated figures point to an abnormality in the sky above the Manhattan skyline.
Works featured at Frieze include:
Program #1 (4th floor, CRT monitor):
In this selection, artists use an assortment of televisual technologies from portapak cameras to early digital editing to explore the dynamics of viewership. Direct-camera performances by Anthony Ramos and Joan Jonas experiment with audience expectation and the mirroring capabilities of closed-circuit television, and videos by Kristin Lucas and Ulysses Jenkins appropriate the glut and “flow” of adverts and interstitials. Ellen Cantor and Cecelia Condit offer feminist interventions into the genre of horror, Robert Beck juxtaposes footage of an ACT-UP demonstration with guerilla video slogans, and Jaime Davidovich compiles a “greatest hits” trailer for the artist’s weekly public-access television show—a potent mix of interventions into the corporate and hegemonic structure of media.
Anthony Ramos, Balloon Nose Blow-Up, 1972, 11:18 min
Kristin Lucas, Cable Xcess, 1996, 4:48 min
Jaime Davidovich, The Live! Show Promo, 1982, 5:32 min
Joan Jonas, Duet, 1972, 4:23 min
Ulysses Jenkins, Inconsequential Doggereal, 1981, 15:13 min
Robert Beck, The Feeling of Power, 1990, 9 min
Cecelia Condit, Possibly in Michigan, 1983, 11:40 min
Ellen Cantor, Evokation of My Demon Sister, 2002, 4:38 min
Program #2 (6th floor, HD monitor):
Videos in this selection span from 2007 to 2021, considering themes of identity, consumerism, and information culture through an array of digital tools. Tony Cokes reflects on the role of the artist in East Village gentrification and Ulysses Jenkins surveys the history of jazz, mixing archival footage with motion-capture animation. Artists Maggie Lee, Shana Moulton, and Trevor Shimizu upend the aspirational messaging of commercial media in a series of playful works that exploit the impersonal luster of consumer products. Peggy Ahwesh lifts clips from online animated news outlets, assembling them into an uncanny valley amalgamation that reveals “our collective prurient interests, fears and obsessions.”
Ulysses Jenkins, Notions of Freedom, 2007, 15:47 min
Trevor Shimizu, Lonely Loser Trilogy (Skate Videos), 2013, 14 min
Shana Moulton, Restless Leg Saga, 2012, 7:14 min
Peggy Ahwesh, The Falling Sky, 2017, 9:30 min
Tony Cokes, B4 and After the Studio, Part 1, 2019, 11:02 min
Maggie Lee, WINGS1 + WINGS2, 2013, 1:59 min
Maggie Lee, Department Store, 2021, 7:50 min
Mezzanine monitors:
Peggy Ahwesh, The Falling Sky, 2017, 9:30 min
Trevor Shimizu, Lonely Loser Trilogy (Skate Videos), 2013, 14 min
Image: Ben Tatti, Electronic Imagery, Colorized in Real Time, 1972. Installation view of a video installation, The Kitchen in the Mercer Arts Center, 240 Mercer Street. Photograph by Ben Tatti.
Additionally, EAI is marking the publication of its forthcoming catalog Broadcasting: EAI at ICA with a series of events around the fair. This book, available for pre-order now, features an oral history with Lori Zippay, EAI’s Director Emerita, that charts the growth of EAI against the backdrop of a changing New York art world, alongside critical essays by the curators and contributions by artists Antoine Catala, Tony Cokes, Ulysses Jenkins, and Sondra Perry.
On Thursday, May 19th at 10 am, join EAI and The Kitchen in a conversation discussing the organization’s shared histories rooted in an alternative arts ecology, moderated by Alex Klein, Dorothy and Stephen R. Weber (CHE’60) Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia. Copies will be available for purchase. RSVP here.
Additionally, limited copies of the book will be available for the purchase at the Printed Matter bookstore, accompanied by a signing on Sunday, May 22nd at 2 pm by artist Trevor Shimizu.
2021-2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), one of the world’s leading resources for video and media art. As we celebrate this milestone, EAI will present a rotating series of video features from across our collection and publish a series of oral histories with key figures. To keep up to date on our anniversary activities, please sign up for our e-mail mailing list.