Afterimage | The Journal of Media Arts and Cultural Criticism

Announcing Afterimage 39.4

Luke Strosnider — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:54:20 +0000

Reports
Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal | Brave Festival | New Horizons International Film Festival

Essay
Reconsidering Charles Pierce

Features
The Work of Abraham Ravett and Jayce Salloum | A Conversation with Paul Antick | The Film and Video Art of Omer Fast and Kerry Tribe

Book Reviews, DVD Reviews, Media Noted, and more!

[ Afterimage Vol. 39, No.4 ]

Report | The 55th BFI London Film Festival

Luke Strosnider — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:39:33 +0000

“Given the regularity of the London Film Festival, it is tempting to read each year’s offerings as cultural and political barometers. This year, the tumultuous times have provided us with some interesting films, whether meditating on the human cost of the Iraq war, documenting and contextualizing the Arab Spring, reflecting on the cynicism of the United States political process, or proposing an alternative set of political and social ideals.”

[ Films for Now: The 55th BFI London Film Festival by Sharon Lin Tay ]

News From the Field | Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction: Hirst, Emin from $12.00

Luke Strosnider — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:03:32 +0000

With the recent launch of s[edition], the high-end art market is now accessible to the masses, but not without challenging the very notion of art collecting.

The initiative is the brainchild of Haunch of Venison co-founder Harry Blain and former Saatchi Online CEO Robert Norton, and it creates a platform for the electronic trade of high-resolution images and videos by some of today’s most in-demand artists. For the price of a DVD, you can own an image by Damien Hirst; for the price of a tank of gas, a Tracey Emin neon; and for the price of a pair of jeans, a Bill Viola video.

The cooperation of these artists is certainly altruistic, and it also requires a tremendous concession of control in the display of their work. Is the “aura” of the artwork lost when used as a desktop background or screensaver? How exactly will the owners of these images enjoy them?

One thing is certain: collectors of these images can enjoy art with less responsibility for maintenance. Digital works are an anomaly in the art market, being immune to the tangible threats facing traditional art. A collector can neglect an electronic image for months, years, or even decades and find it perfectly preserved—provided one’s hard drive is still operating.

Since the number of editions for each series is in the thousands, rarity is out of the question for collectors. In such an uncompetitive market, the buyers are most likely to be fans, not speculators—but what exactly will they own?

One can easily dispute the difference between a painting and a photograph of a painting. But a screenshot of a digital image and a digital image? s[edition] provides authenticity documents that will be imperative for any re-sale of these works in absence of a digital provenance thumbprint.

Criticism of the company may be more a matter of reluctance to accept a trend toward media that embrace new technology. One imagines the reaction of music lovers to the phonograph or theater aficionados to the motion picture.

For video art, this innovation is most promising, and particularly so for works originally conceived for this format like Shepard Fairey’s Dìa de los Muertos (2008), rather than documentary ones like Damien Hirst’s For the Love of God (2007).

See for yourself here.

Claire Tinguely-Rubin is a Sotheby’s Institute graduate in Art Business and a specialist in Italian contemporary art.

Announcing Afterimage Vol. 39, No. 3

Luke Strosnider — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:56:49 +0000

Reports
2011 Venice Biennale | PHotoEspaña 2011

Features
The Work of Kate Gilmore | Vernon Fisher, Image/Text, and the Postmodern Narrative Under Erasure | Patrick Cariou vs. Richard Prince

Exhibition Reviews
Thomas Struth in London | Marco Brambilla in Santa Monica
Memes at MASS MoCa | Ryan Trecartin in New York City
“Our Origins” in Chicago | Goshka Macuga in Minneapolis | “Sex and Death in Cold War Vieques” in Puerto Rico | Ragnar Kjartansson in Pittsburgh

Book Reviews, DVD Reviews, Media Noted, and more!

[ Afterimage Vol. 39, No.3 ]

Portfolio | Todd Ayoung

Luke Strosnider — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:39:47 +0000

Kill the Chickens to Scare the Monkeys

Chickens in overcrowded factory cages forms the background of the image, and flies stuck to a paper fly trap occupy the center. In its current assemble, the image reads as a monstrous, incomprehensible insect with wings spread open. [MORE ...]