Shoot Yourself: Artists in their Own Light

Scott Stark + Experimental Response Cinema

Programmed by Scott Stark.

What is it that draws artists to stand in front of their own lenses? Vanity? Convenience? The draw of the limelight? Or is it a chance to reveal publicly something that only the unblinking neutrality of a mechanical eye can expose?

The film and video artists in this program point their cameras at themselves to frame their explorations of body, psyche, sexuality and social construct.

PROGRAM Stairway at St. Paul’s by Jeroen Offerman 8:47 min / digital / sound / 2002-­2003 Offerman performs Led Zeppelin’s mega­ classic Stairway to Heaven on the steps of a church in Germany, backwards… and then plays the tape backwards for a strangely surreal audio experience.

Symbionese Liberation Army Screed # 16 by Sharon Hayes 11 min / digital / sound / 2003 Hayes recites one of Patty Hearst’s letters to her parents from memory, written while Hearst was in captivity by the SLA in 1974.

Sex Education for Finding Face in the 21st Century by Kate Hers Rhee 10 min / digital / sound / 2002 Hers is a Korean artist living in Berlin. She reveals a dark secret about her past to the camera, both in private, and in a public shopping mall, which draws the attention of the local police.

Nude Ascending Staircase by Bridget Irish 3 min / digital / sound / 2001 Irish drags a large cabinet up a flight of stairs, nude, to comic effect.

Bouncing in the Corner #36DDD by Dara Greenwald 3 min / digital / sound / 1999 A late 90′s feminist looks back on the seminal work of Bruce Nauman. A take off on Bouncing in the Corner where everything is taken off.

Atlanta by Miranda July 10 min / digital / sound / 1996 A 12­ year­ old Olympic swimmer and her mother (both played by July) speak to the public about going for the gold.

In the Pink by Jun Jalbuena 16 min / digital / sound / 2005 Philippine artist Jalbuena has himself slapped repeatedly in the face while a mournful tune is played on the soundtrack.

Chop by Scott Stark 5 min / digital / sound / 2003 Stark stands nude and chops something off ­camera that makes his eyes tear up—presumably onions, but could it be self­ mutilation?

Broken New 3 (Conspiracy) by Lori Felker 7:50 min / digital / sound / 2012 Chicago artist Felker has a series of videos recorded newsroom­ style, documenting a recent dream, recorded in the early hours when she’s barely awake.

máxima protección by Amaranta Sanchez 6 min / digital / sound / 2002 Mexican artist Amaranta Sanchez takes the simple act of dental hygiene to disturbing extremes.

I Love You by Haruko Tanaka 2 min / 16mm / sound / 2002 In this short 16mm film, American/British/Japanese artist Haruko Tanaka has 6 off­ camera friends tell her that they love her.

Hamilton and Ekrem by Ekrem Serdar 1 min / digital / sound / 2013 Selfie with cat

Experimental Response Cinema is a collective of avant­ garde film and video artists devoted to bringing local, national, and international experimental films to Austin screens. They strive to show all media (16mm and 8mm film, digital video, and others) in its original format, under the best possible screening conditions. ERC members are Ekrem Serdar, Scott Stark, and Rachel Stuckey. Experimental Response Cinema had their first screenings in February 2012.

Shoot Yourself curator Scott Stark has made over 75 films and videos since the early 1980s, and has created numerous installations, performances and photo­ collages. His work has shown nationally and internationally; his 16mm film Angel Beach was invited into the 2002 Whitney Biennial, and in 2007 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Austin, Texas.