I was out of town for the first weekend of Dallas Medianale, then busy with Artopia for the next event. There are a lot of excuses for not showing up to things. But this week I've been resigned to catch up with this inaugural experimental video art event. And boy has it been rewarding.
Monday night Roger Beebe stopped in at CentralTrak as part of his national tour. His multi-projector picture show casts up to 8 videos onto a wall at once, along with sound creating a whirlwind of information and noise that seems to replicate the brains experience of modern multitasking. His newest work, SOUND Film, overlays informational videos about the science of hearing while jamming up our ear drums with numerous jabbering voices on the subject. To continue telling you how awesome the night was would just be mean, because it was a one-night only event. But you don't have to keep missing out.
Currently on display at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary is a video art exhibition, Call and Response. It's an array of videos, old and new from the likes of Bruce Nauman to Francis Alÿs. Some of the videos are quite funny, like Joe Sola's Studio Visit, others are compelling in structure like Tara Merenda Nelson's "End of an Empire," a compilation of 16 mm film, super 8 mm film, 35 mm slide and video each used to film a different part of the street view of the now empty Kodak Tower in Rochester, NY. For a rundown of what you can see and why it's there, you can read this kickass article from Caroline North in which she walks through the gallery with the co-curator Charles Dee Mitchell. The exhibit is free through Feb. 28 at the MAC.
So here's the deal. If we want cool stuff to keep happening in Dallas, we need organizations like Video Fest to keep programming them, which means people like you and me have to show up to these things.
Besides the ongoing exhibit, there are only two more events of the Dallas Medianale. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 13, Michael A. Morris curated seated film screenings. And there will be a closing program plus a party at 6:30 p.m. February 28, curated by Carolyn Sortor. Both screenings will take place in the MAC's black box theater. More information at videofest.org.
No excuses.
