Join us for a gallery opening and screening featuring new work made by the 2011-2012 Regional Artist Access Residency (RAAR) participants - Catherine Archias, Debora Bernagozzi, Patrick Cain, and Tom Stoll.
Each year Squeaky’s RAAR program grants four emerging media artists in the Western New York region free access to our equipment and facilities to create new work. The works to be premiered on March 10th include a short documentary about health care reform, a live video processing performance, a live audio/visual performance incorporating found sound objects and hand painted film, and a custom-built-software based installation meditating on themes of growth and decay in an urban setting.
The artists will be present to talk about their work. This event is free and light snacks will be provided!
stills from work by Tom Stoll and Pat Cain
Meet 2011-2012 RAAR Participants, whose new work will be premiered during this screening:
Catherine Archias is a public interest lawyer who is interested in the intersection of art and law, and how pictures and storytelling can be used to create a dialogue about important legal theories and concepts of justice. She is working on a short documentary that uses animation and found images to explore the debate about whether or not Obama-care is constitutional. Talking about a dream art project in which she would produce similar animations about major Supreme Court decisions, Catherine says, “I think everyone should understand the law and how the justice system operates. It is unfortunate that, historically, the law and the legal system have been accessible to a privileged few in America. It would be incredible to have the time and the resources to work through the landmark cases and make the process of historical legal reasoning visual and accessible to everyone.”
Debora Bernagozzi is an artist who lives in Rochester and creates experimental and documentary work in the mediums of video and photography. During this residency, she has been using Max/MSP/Jitter to custom build an interface for digital audio and video processing that mimics real-time analog video processes that Debora had been using as an artist in residence at the Experimental Television Center. If this sounds confusing, things will become clear during Debora’s live video processing performance, which will be a part of the premiere on Saturday! Debora talks about the way RAAR has helped her turn a longstanding idea into a reality: “I had said for several years that I wanted to learn to use Max/MSP/Jitter better, to be able to create my own tools. The closing of the Experimental Television Center made that idle wish a necessity. Having the residency as a set period devoted to achieving that goal made me focus in a new way.”
Pat Cain is a multi-genre artist whose work includes found sound sculpture, social sculptures, poetry, and movement. He says, “I have been hesitant to consider myself a visual artist and [RAAR] was the perfect opportunity to take the plunge. So I applied and was accepted and now I have to make something or I’m going to look like a fool.” Based on what I’ve seen so far, I think it is highly unlikely that he will look like a fool come Saturday – Pat has been working on a live performance that will incorporate sound, video, and hand-colored film loops as well as on an interactive installation, built in part out of scavenged plastic bags and mirrors, that will encourage viewers to manipulate their environment through sound, color, and shadow play.
Tom Stoll has a PhD in music composition and is a seasoned programmer capable of building cool interactive mobile and audio apps. He has been using the residency time to build software using SuperCollider, OpenCV, and Openframeworks, and applying what he builds to an a/v installation mediating on themes of growth and decay. He says of his evolving artistic practice, “I am spending less and less time programming and more and more time on composing and making images…My artistic practice has relied on major amounts of time spent programming before I can make a piece. Now that I’ve put the time in, I have more ambitious plans for musical and multimedia works.”
stills from work by Debora Bernagozzi and Catherine Archias
What is the Regional Artist Access Residency (RAAR!)? Each year, four emerging media artists from the Western New York area are chosen from a large pool of applicants to participate in Squeaky Wheel's Regional Artist Access Residency (RAAR), which is funded in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. During a span of six months, RAAR participants use Squeaky Wheel facilities and equipment, which includes five days rental of film/video production equipment, 100 hours of free access to SW film, digital, and video labs.
INTERESTED IN A SQUEAKY WHEEL RESIDENCY? Squeaky Wheel is currently accepting applications for the next round of RAAR! artists, applications are due Sunday, May 6th by midnight. For more information, visit the Regional Artist Access Residency (RAAR!) page on our website for more information and download the application. Squeaky Wheel is also accepting applications for the summer international Media Artist Residency, applications are due annually on January 31st. For more information, visit the International Media Artist Residency page on our website and download an application.
The RAAR residency and the premiere event is funded in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts' Electronic Media and Film Presentation Funds grant program, administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes (www.NYSCA.orgwww.eARTS.org).
