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Sunday, May 30, 2010

Artist Gilbert Shelton Speaks at Flatstock Poster Show



Thursday, May 6, 2010

New Works by Luke Savisky at Austin Museum of Art

New Works by Luke Savisky
Austin Museum of Art
Exhibit runs thru May 8, 2010

I attended visual artist Luke Savisky's talk at Austin Museum of Art on Thursday April 29. He has been creating video installations for over 15 years now, after studying with pioneering video artist Bill Lundberg at the University of Texas. This exhibit is relevant to the subject of exploitation cinema in that it celebrates and reflects upon the passage of the film era with all its inherent flutters and flaws, just as exploitation cinema celebrates and reflects upon the flaws of human nature.
Savisky said this exhibit marks a new phase of his work. Previously, Luke has used only traditional film projectors (35 mm and 16mm) in his installations. These projectors, despite creating a beautiful retro tableau of authentically flickering images, were quite bulky, needed constant supervision and were expensive to use. Savisky uses three digital projectors in this installation, which are lighter to transport, easier to set up and are more cost-efficient. He said that the main reason for using old school film projectors was for his own tactile pleasure (threading film, constant hands-on manipulation, etc.). When he realized these tactile sensations were not readily discernable to the audience during an installation, Savisky began to let his purist tendencies dissipate somewhat and succumbed to the digital age. In fact, his current installation is a comment on the passing of the film age into the digital age. Three digital projectors are used along with six 16mm film projectors to combine minimalist non-images (light and shadows), creating a doorway into the collective consciousness of the viewers' perceptions of images and flashing lights.
This tranquil and hypnotic exhibition is also an experiment in changing the spatial dimensions of a room with light. 3D projections within the installation convey passage through space, giving the illusion of passing through walls, like ghost images on film stock. The installation also explores the notion of film as a rectangular container versus film as light in space, two contradictory attributes of projected images. This is explored through juxtaposition of projections of light and shadows and projections of a rotating empty cage spinning in the center of the room, with which the viewer can interact.
These images are coupled with the meditative, minimalist ebbing and flowing drones of the seminal (originally) Austin experimental band Stars of the Lid, with whom Luke has been working for over 15 years, providing projections for their live performances as they have provided music for his installations. Their music and Luke's sometimes unsettling, sometimes minimal imagery, is a perfect match, calmly coaxing the viewer into other realms of consciousness.
Make sure to catch Luke's exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art before it ends May 8th. Savisky's talk is podcast in its entirety on the Austin Museum of Art website (www.amoa.org).
--------------------by Anne Heller