leeds.talk.04

2008, 18:49 min, b&w, sound, HD video

leeds.talk.04 is an animated video text, presenting a series of pointed anecdotes about the vexed relationship between art criticism and art making in Britain and the U.S. during the 1960s and 70s. the video is based on an article titled "Leeds Talk" by Los Angeles art historian Andrew Perchuk. Its characters include noted figures like Clement Greenberg, Michael Fried, Charles Harrison, Rosalind Krauss, Artforum, October, and features important cameos by Morris Louis, Lynda Benglis, and the late sculptor David Smith (among others). Perchuk's text is edited and sequenced as a montage of single white words on a black background (in a twisted echo of Michael Snow's So Is This, perhaps). The intense techno house soundtrack functions as a strong rhythmic counterpoint to the simple, durational graphic animation.