CLEAN CUT

EAI
535 West 22nd Street, Fifth Floor, New York City
Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 6:30 pm

The re-edit and the remix have become increasingly important strategies for artists working with appropriated moving images. In the era of YouTube and affordable, user-friendly video editing software, a minimalist approach to reworking appropriated material has emerged. What is the most economical way to make something new from something old?

Eschewing collage, the artists in this program choose to make works by refashioning a single piece of found video or film, such as a Hollywood action movie, a '70s sitcom, or a low-resolution video clip. Though recalling Internet fan edits and exercises encountered in film school editing classes, these remixes and re-edits by artists are driven by conceptual or formal investigations. Employing an economy of means, these artists create new forms of cultural critique and media intervention.