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| MICHAEL SMITH + JOSHUA WHITE Artists' Talk and Screening EAI presents a special evening with Michael Smith and Joshua White. Smith and White will screen works that they have produced together and speak about their long collaboration. |
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Tuesday, June 17, 2008 6:30 pm Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) 535 West 22nd Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10011 www.eai.org Admission free |
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Over the last 11 years, Michael Smith and Joshua White have collaborated on numerous videos and installations that incorporate Smith's deadpan and wide-eyed alter-ego, "Mike." Gullible and ever-hopeful, Smith's eponymous character is an Everyman living in a media-saturated world that he does not really understand. The retrospective Mike's World: Michael Smith & Joshua White (and other collaborators) opened at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas in 2007, and is currently on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia until August 3, 2008. Mike has been central to Smith's unique art practice since the 1970's. Brought to life in a series of tragicomic videos and performances, Mike is a sweet but bland character who moves through sitcom-influenced sets and situations, while avoiding the traditional narrative arc. Mike goes nowhere. He embodies the mediocrity and stasis of a mass-produced American life. Smith and White's collaborative works incorporate White's experience directing commercial television (including episodes of Seinfeld and The Max Headroom Show). White occupies a unique place in pop culture, being one of the main artists behind the influential and groundbreaking psychedelic light shows of the 1960's. As the creator of the legendary Joshua Light Show, he designed shows for Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, among others. Since their collaboration began in 1997, Smith and White have worked together on a series of increasingly elaborate and sophisticated installations and videos. They have created scenarios featuring Mike as an artist, struggling businessman, or entrepreneur. Often the videos are incorporated into the installations and function as artifacts from Mike's world, or as videos produced by Mike, which sometimes take the forms of infomercials. In their immersive installations, the viewer is transported into Mike's hyper-ordinary world. ___________________________________ Michael Smith received a B.A. from Colorado College in 1973, and studied in the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program. He has received numerous awards and grants, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. Smith's video works, performances and installations have been exhibited internationally at a range of venues, including Christine Burgin Gallery, New York; Leo Castelli Gallery, New York; Caroline's Comedy Club; Henson International Puppet Festival; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Hales Gallery, London; Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan and EDB Projects in Amsterdam. Smith is currently an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Austin, Texas and New York. ___________________________________ Joshua White is an artist, director and producer based in New York City. He made his mark as the creator and director of the legendary Joshua Light Show at Bill Graham's Fillmore East in the late 1960s. White went on to design psychedelic light shows for Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, and Yayoi Kusama, among others. Later, he directed episodes of television programs such as Seinfeld, The Max Headroom Show, and Inside the Actors' Studio. White's film, Liquid Loops was recently included in the exhibition Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era at Tate Liverpool and the Whitney Museum of American Art. White studied Theater at Carnegie Tech (Now Carnegie Mellon University) and Film at the University of Southern California. ___________________________________ This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Michael Smith and Joshua White are 2007 Artist Fellowship recipients of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). This presentation is co-sponsored by Artists & Audiences Exchange, a NYFA public program. ___________________________________ Also at EAI: MICHAEL SMITH: BABY IKKI BIRTHDAY PARTY Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 6:30 pm Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) 535 West 22nd Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011 For the first time in more than a decade, Michael Smith will stage a birthday party for his legendary character, Baby Ikki, in New York City at EAI. During the performance, the perpetually 18-month-old Baby Ikki, played by Michael Smith, will celebrate his 33rd birthday. ___________________________________ About EAI Founded in 1971, Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) is one of the world's leading nonprofit resources for video art and interactive media. EAI's core program is the international distribution of a major collection of new and historical media works by artists. EAI's activities include a preservation program, viewing access, educational services, online resources, and public programs such as exhibitions and lectures. The Online Catalogue provides a comprehensive resource on the 175 artists and 3,000 works in the EAI collection, including extensive research materials. www.eai.org Please visit EAI's new project, The Online Resource Guide for Exhibiting, Collecting & Preserving Media Art, a comprehensive source for information on single-channel video, computer-based art, and media installation: http://resourceguide.eai.org Electronic Arts Intermix 535 West 22nd Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10011 (212) 337-0680 tel (212) 337-0679 fax info@eai.org ___________________________________  |