The award winning participatory project, which has been in progress since 2007, invites people around the world to interpret Dziga Vertov’s 1929 film Man With A Movie Camera for the 21st century. A website at http://dziga.perrybard.net contains every shot in Vertov’s film, while the scene index and tags allow people to select the shots they want to interpret. Software developed for this project archives, sequences and streams their uploads as a film.  As each shot can be uploaded more than once, infinite versions of the film are possible. A new film streams daily on the website selecting from the database of submissions.

Inspired by Vertov’s intentions to create “a new language of cinema based on its total separation from the language of theatre and literature,” the global remake asks how that language might transform in the age of the internet. Both writer and director, Vertov imagined an army of cameramen updating world news every four hours. Today we have that army of cameramen and the internet is the world stage. Bard’s generative project engages this public space to crowd source uploads, 3000 to date from 60 countries. The work was named by Google one of the 106 best uses of the internet and won a Guggenheim award as one of the Top 25 for its Youtube Play Biennial.

Back in January 2010, Bard delivered a lecture at SVA on Man With a Movie Camera: The Global Remake, which I discussed in a post I wrote at the time. In her talk, Bard spoke about the wide range of experimental techniques that Vertov used in making his film, and her own interest in using the techniques of crowdsourcing and computer-driven editing to recast his work in a radically contemporary form. The presentation also included a screening of that day’s random edit of Global Remake. (A video of the lecture is available at the VCS Vimeo page. I also recommend visiting the Global Remake website and checking out the film there.)

A projection of Man With a Movie Camera: The Global Remake from Perry Bard's lecture at SVA in January, 2010.

Bard’s use of a computer-controlled editing technology that was in its infancy when she started her project has proved prescient. Since the first screening of Global Remake in 2007, similar projects have popped up in the art world and across the Web. One example that I’ve discussed elsewhere is whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir (2008-present) by artist Eve Sussman; the piece presents an episodic film noir that’s edited live during each screening by a computer algorithm that matches snippets of pre-filmed footage with a cryptic audio narrative. Another version of the same idea from the world of pop culture is Star Wars Uncut, a crowdsourced remake of George Lucas’s 1977 film initiated in 2009 by Vimeo web developer Casey Pugh.

Bard’s project also prefigured the growing presence of DIY remakes of popular big-budget films on the Web. In addition to the fan-made contributions that provided the raw material for Star Wars Uncut, the creation of sweded films (lovably clunky zero-budget remakes of popular movies) has taken off in recent years. These videos often have an irreverent humor and playful creativity that’s also in evidence in many of the submissions uploaded by contributors to Global Remake.

The dialogue between Bard’s tech-savvy recasting of a bit of cinematic history and these other works reflects a fascinating interaction that’s taking place between the fine arts and popular culture in the age of new media. At a time when digital media and instantaneous communication are making the broad sweep of human culture available to us for consumption and remixing with a few keystrokes, new models of interactive and communal creativity are emerging that are likely to have a major effect on the way art is made and viewed. While Bard’s Man With a Movie Camera: The Global Remake is a continuation of the tradition of experimental filmmaking that also shaped Vertov’s work, it’s also an intriguing step in this new direction.

My name is George Rue, and I am guest-posting on the VCS blog. I wanted to write this to introduce myself as VCS’ Student Senator and representative to the Visual Arts Student Association. The Senator program is a new student government effort to get feedback from more areas of SVA. With more knowledge of what’s going on around campus, the government will be able to better serve you as a student.

To help connect more branches of SVA, the Senators have been asked to create Facebook groups including all students, faculty, and staff within their major.

The purpose of these pages is to provide an online forum for community members to come together and discuss issues, events, and ideas concerning their department.

I have recently created a VCS group, so I would like to invite all members on Facebook to join us! We are currently at 22 members, but having everyone involved would be even better!

Here is a link:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/366561636692882/366566196692426/

I will keep everyone updated on any developments regarding the page. In the meanwhile, come and join us!

Thanks, and see you all around!

George R

[UPDATE, 1/27/2012: A permanent link to the VCS Facebook group has also been added to the "Contact VCS" tab in the banner at the top of this page.]

Jeremy Sigler is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, including Crackpot Poet (Black Square Editions, 2010), Mallet Eyes (Left Hand Books, 2000) and To and To (Left Hand Books, 1998), as well as the digital book, Math. A senior editor at Parkett and a contributor to The Brooklyn Rail, Sigler was recently awarded a Lannan Foundation residency in Marfa, Texas. He is a lecturer in the sculpture department at Yale University.

For more information about Sigler’s writing, check out this review of his book Mallet Eyes at Rain Taxi Review of Books. You can also read about his 2009 intermedia project Sculpture in this Brooklyn Rail article by Ben La Rocco.

Jeremy Sigler: A Reading of Selected Poetry will take place Tuesday, January 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 101C at 133/141 West 21st Street in New York City. The reading is free and open to the public.

Beginning this weekend, VCS student Gionna Forte will have some of her book art on display in the exhibition “Weird Party on the Other Side of the Hedge: Paintings by Megan Berk” at Recession Art, located at 9 Clinton Street in the Lower East Side. The show will be up from through March 11, with an opening reception this Saturday, January 21st from 6 p.m. to midnight. Once the show is over, Gionna’s books will remain available for purchase at the gallery, as long as copies are available.

Here’s a little more about the space, quoted from its website:

Recession Art is an arts organization that serves emerging artists and aspiring collectors by providing an affordable and accessible alternative to the traditional art market. By showcasing top quality emerging artists and keeping prices low, Recession Art provides an unusually unpretentious place where art lovers of all incomes can participate in the appreciation and collection of original art by emerging artists. Recession Art’s mission is to open the art market to all art lovers regardless of their income, which will in turn help the careers of emerging artists by opening up a vast new market for their work.

For more information about “Weird Party on the Other Side of the Hedge” and Recession Art, including directions to the gallery, click on the flyer above or this link.

Late last week, SVA sent out an announcement of the Spring 2012 schedule for Art in the First Person, an ongoing series of talks in which notable artists, critics and writers will examine a variety of topics, including their own works and the current state of the art world. This semester’s calendar includes a wide range of lectures, panel discussions, and other events sponsored by several SVA programs, including the MFA Art Criticism and Writing Department, the MPS Digital Photography Department, the BFA Fine Arts Department, and the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department.

As part of this semester’s schedule, our own BFA Visual & Critical Studies Department will be sponsoring five lectures dealing with artmaking, writing, art history, and art criticism. The first of the VCS-sponsored events for the semester will be a reading by poet Jeremy Sigler, to take place next Tuesday, January 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 101C at 133/141 West 21 Street. I will post a reminder of this event early next week.

Here are descriptions of all of the VCS-sponsored events in the Spring 2012 Art in the First Person lecture series, taken from the SVA event announcement:

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Tuesday, January 24, 6:30pm
Jeremy Sigler: A Reading of Selected Poetry
133/141 West 21 Street, Room 101C

Jeremy Sigler is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, including Crackpot Poet (Black Square Editions, 2010), Mallet Eyes (Left Hand Books, 2000) and To and To (Left Hand Books, 1998), as well as the digital book, Math. A senior editor at Parkett and a contributor to The Brooklyn Rail, Sigler was recently awarded a Lannan Foundation residency in Marfa, Texas. He is a lecturer in the sculpture department at Yale University.

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Thursday, February 16, 7pm
The Case for Appropriation:
A Panel Moderated by Joy Garnett
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street

Artist and NEWSgrist blogger Joy Garnett is joined in conversation by curator Christopher Phillips, art historian and attorney Virginia Rutledge, critic and curator Robert Storr and artist Oliver Wasow to discuss the creative methods and ideas associated with appropriation art today, as issues of appropriation enter the broader public and legal debate and copyright infringement lawsuits between artists are on the rise. The panelists will discuss why appropriation and other forms of visual referencing are important elements in art making and how to defend these practices in and beyond the courtroom.

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Tuesday, February 28, 7pm
Fixing Shadows: Milagros de la Torre
in Conversation with Charles Traub
and Carla Stellweg
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street

In conjunction with the exhibition “Observed: Milagros de la Torre” on view at the Americas Society Gallery, Peruvian artist Milagros de la Torre will discuss the many facets of her research. She will be joined in conversation by photographer Charles Traub, chair of the MFA Photography, Video and Related Media Department at SVA, and art historian and curator Carla Stellweg, faculty member in the Art History program at SVA. De la Torre is one of the foremost conceptual photographers active today. Her images often project an eerie beauty and visual seduction that precedes their thoughtful and at times haunting proposal. “Observed: Milagros de la Torre” is on view at Americas Society Gallery, 680 Park Avenue, February 8 – April 14.

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Monday, April 2, 7pm
The Gertrude Stein Paradox: Michèle Cone heads a panel of renowned Stein scholars
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street

Coinciding with the exhibition “The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde” on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, historian and SVA faculty member Michèle C. Cone will lead a roundtable discussion on the sometimes problematic and mercurial figure of Gertrude Stein as a writer, thinker and patron of the arts. Dr. Cone will be joined by Mary Ann Caws, distinguished professor of English, French and comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York; Catharine Stimpson, professor and dean emerita of the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University; and Barbara Will, professor of English at Dartmouth College. With each panelist weighing in on a particular aspect of what Dr. Cone calls the “Stein Paradox,” the discussion will range from Stein’s early embrace of Picasso and Gris and her own cubist writings to her later collecting of works by theater designer neo-Romantics, her absorption in detective stories and her attraction to the fascist regime of Marshal Pétain during WWII.

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Tuesday, April 17, 7pm
Yes, You Don’t Know Me—Susan Hefuna in Conversation with Bettina Mathes
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street

If truth is never naked and facts are always dressing up, what does it mean to be an expert? If to find ourselves we must get lost, what do the patterns, grids and notations we invent to navigate our inner and outer worlds look like? If space is a corporeal map, where do we draw the lines? Author and cultural critic Bettina Mathes will talk with German-Egyptian artist Susan Hefuna about disguise and dis/orientation as formal strategies and about Hefuna’s collaboration with choreographer Luca Veggetti for the dance performance “point-move-line” at The Drawing Center.

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As the semester progresses, I will post additional updates and announcements on each of the events listed above. I will also be attending some of the lectures and writing blog posts about them, and asking some of the VCS students who will be attending for their responses.

For more information about the events above and listings for the other entries in the Spring 2012 Art in the First Person Lecture series, visit its SVA website. The page includes a full schedule of all of the talks in the series, with locations, dates and times, and information on how to sign up to receive SVA’s weekly e-newsletter and monthly calendar.

(Top image: Susan Bee, Recalculating, 2010, oil on linen, 16 x 20 inches, from the collection of Richard Deming & Nancy Ku.)

You can click on any of the images below to open up a larger version and zoom in on the details.

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An assemblage by Jenna Lee, on display in the main gallery space.

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A detail of Jenna's piece.

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An installation of prints by Marissa Havers.

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A closer view of one of Marissa's prints. (The white spot in the upper right corner is a bit of glare on the glass, not part of the print.)

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An installation by Jill Pucciarelli.

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A closer look at one of the pieces in Jill's installation. This is a screenprinted cloth recreation of a zine from the music scene in Olympia, Washington.

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A wall-mounted sculptural work by Ranya Asmar.

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A detail from Ranya's piece.

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A print by Eleni Kontos.

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A video by Joe Bressler and a book by Jennie Martin.

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A still image from Joe's video.

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Mixed-media paintings by Annatruus Bakker.

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A closer view of one of Annatruus's mixed-media paintings.

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Another piece by Annatruus.

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A large painting by Ryan Brady, installed in the front hall outside the main gallery.

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A detail from another of Ryan's paintings.

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A print assemblage by Autumn Eggleton.

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A detail from Autumn's piece.

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A mixed-media piece with digital embroidery by Elektra KB.

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A detail of a sculpture by Elektra KB. You can see a wider view of it in my previous post about the show's opening reception.

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Studies for paintings by Gisel Endara.

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A sculpture by Gionna Forte.

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A detail of Gionna's sculpture.

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A photo-based installation by Kelli Cheval.

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A closer look at Kelli's installation.

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An installation by Alex Goldstein.

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A detail from Alex's installation.

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Still shots of two videos by Emma Cooper.

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A painting by Natasha Jacobs, displayed in the hall to the right of the main gallery space.

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A detail from Natasha's painting.

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A floor installation in cast plaster by Molly Nadav. There is a closer view of this piece in my previous post on the show's opening reception.

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Two paintings by Zeke Decker in the front hall.

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Another painting by Zeke.

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I’ll be back in a few days with a post about the VCS entries in the Spring 2012 Art in the First Person lecture series.

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A view of the front hall outside the Westside Gallery, taken from the sidewalk in front of 133/141 West 21st Street.

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A group of people enter the gallery to check out the show (left). There are also works on display around the corner to the right, and in the front hall to the left of this view.

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Inside the gallery.

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A detail of a floor installation by Molly Nadav.

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A piece by Elektra KB.

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A view over the crowd inside the gallery. We had a great turnout.

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Paintings in the front hall by Zeke Decker (left) and Ryan Brady (right).

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A sculpture by Maddy Gentile, hung in one of the hall windows facing the street.

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You can see more images from the reception in this photo set on the VCS flickr page. I will post additional views of artworks from the exhibition soon.

This Wednesday, January 11, from 6 to 8 p.m., SVA’s Westside Gallery will host the opening reception for “It’s All in Your Head,” an exhibition of art by VCS fourth-year students curated by faculty member Amy Wilson. The show will run from January 7 to February 4, 2012. Both the exhibition and the reception are free and open to the public.

Here’s a comment from Wilson about “It’s All in Your Head,” taken from the exhibition overview on SVA’s website:

“The students of Visual & Critical Studies have once again created a body of works over diverse media and styles. These works share a cerebral nature, which is a reflection on the sort of program VCS is. The artists in the show have drawn from philosophy, literature and science in order to create their works.”

“It’s All in Your Head” includes work by Ranya Asmar, Annatruus Bakker, Ryan Brady, Joseph Bressler, Kelli Cheval, Emma Cooper, Zeke Decker, Autumn Eggleton, Gisel Endara, Gionna Forte, Maddy Gentile, Alex Goldstein, Marissa Havers, Natasha Jacobs, Eleni Kontos, Elektra KB, Jenna Lee, Jennie Martin, Molly Nadav and Jill Pucciarelli. It will occupy both the main gallery and much of the surrounding hall space.

The Westside Gallery is located on the ground floor at 133/141 West 21 Street in New York City; it is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and is closed on Sunday and federal holidays.  For more information about the gallery, visit the exhibition announcement at the link above.

I will return in a few days with more information about “It’s All in Your Head,” including images from the reception.

Today’s entry focuses on the 6th-floor studios at 133 West 21st Street. As in the previous post, a selection of student works is presented first, followed by photos taken during the reception on April 28th. You can click on any of the images below to see a larger version.

Prints by Marissa Havers

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Woven photographs by Molly Nadav

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Sculptures by Ranya Asmar

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(You can see one more of Ranya’s works in my first post on the 2011 open studios.)

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Collages by Berny Tan

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A handmade book by Betty Laboz, and videos by the first-year students

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The monitor in the image above was playing a series of short videos from Amy Wilson’s Foundation Drawing class. I have embedded a couple of them here. You can see more at the VCS Vimeo page.

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Works by Autumn Eggleton

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Paintings by Eleni Kontos

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Assemblages by Amanda Spinosa

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Finally, here are some photos taken during the open studios reception on April 28th:

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The spring 2012 semester begins next week. I will be back early in the week with a post about the VCS fourth-year student show “It’s All in Your Head,” which will have its opening reception this Wednesday, January 11, from 6 to 8 p.m.

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A suspended installation of paintings by Sofia Klapischak.

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A closer view of Sofia's paintings.

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An installation by Kelly Cabezas.

Courtney Linderman's huge handmade flag.

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A group of tiny soldiers at the base of Courtney's flag.

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Two collages by Courtney.

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A sculptural installation by Jennifer Santiago.

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Two more of Jenn's works.

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A set of prints by Shellyne Rodriquez, based on the Seven Deadly Sins.

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Another view of the studio installation by Joana Fittipaldi that was shown in the last post.

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A closer view of Shannon Broder's prints, also shown in the last post.

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Another of Shannon's prints.

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A studio installation by Olena Shmahalo.

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A closer look at Olena's installation.

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Another detail from Olena's installation.

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An interactive piece by Michelle Yun. The video at the bottom of this post includes a description of this piece and some footage of it in action.

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A visitor looks at a piece by Justin Elm.

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Sara Friedman's studio.

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A closer view of one of Sara's works, a large open relief in wood.

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A shot taken over the top of Kelly and Jenn's installation (see the previous post for another view of it).

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Erin Franke (center) speaks with visitors to her studio.

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Shannon Broder's studio.

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A projection of a video piece by Brooke Tomiello. The video embedded below gives a brief glimpse of it in action.

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A wider view of the works by Jenn and Courtney shown earlier in this post (Courtney is the person standing at the far right).

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Another image of Joana Fittipaldi's performance with Sophia Ribeiro (see the previous post for the other view).

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Finally, check out this video about the senior open studios from the VCS Vimeo page:

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I’ll be back this weekend with one more post about the 2011 VCS open studios, featuring images from the studio space at 133 West 21st Street.