Tag Archives: Band of Outsiders
Sabina Ott Talks Media Lounge & “Band of Outsiders”
Previously I posted about the Media Lounge located at the Hilton on the Concourse Level. As part of an initiative to have more artist participation in the CAA Conference, Sabina Ott and Cindy Smith of the Services to Artists Committee worked back and forth between Chicago, New York and several other parts of the country to bring together nine artists and curators and create a video display to be seen by CAA attendees as well as the entire city of New York. To get more information about the project I sat down with one of the organizers, artist and educator Sabina Ott.
Tempestt Hazel: What is the Media Lounge?
Sabina Ott: The Media Lounge is a project put on by the Service to Artists Committee of the CAA. That was formed because the CAA felt that there wasn’t enough events and services for visual artists. It’s a group of people that aren’t necessarily on the board–there are a couple of board members, but it’s people from all over who have volunteered to be on the committee.
I volunteered to do the Media Lounge this year with Cindy Smith, and excellent New York based installation and video artist. And we decided to try and cover as much territory as possible and really expanded the program. We invited nine curators–and I say curators broadly. Some are curators, some are artists or designers who we asked to create one-hour video programs to their own discretion. They came up with incredible programs. Really beautifully designed, conceptually rigorous programs of video art.
TH: Where else will these videos be screened?
SO: We were offered the opportunity to screen our work at the Big Screen Project here in New York. It is an outdoor screen project where you basically sit at a bar across the street with headphones and watch the big screen video. You can also see it from the street but for sound you must be outside. The Big Screen Project edited the nine hours of work into a two hour program, taking at least one piece from each curator’s vision.
The Center For Book Arts is having a reception on Friday from 5-8pm for [Band of Outsiders]. Everyone should come. Alex Compos, the director of the Center for Book Arts also curated a program [for Band of Outsiders] and will be running the Media Lounge program for the entire month. So, people will be able to see all nine hours if they like.
TH: Where does the name of the program come from?
SO: This is called Band of Outsiders, which is based on a film by [Jean Luc] Godard. We felt that it really encapsulated the spirit of what we were really trying to accomplish and inviting people who are somewhat on the periphery of art production in some way or another.
It’s a brilliant program and brilliant curators! What I’m also very excited about is one of the curators I know, Debra Riley Parr, has curated a program based on design, which isn’t usually represented in these programs.
Invited Curators:
Boshko Boskovic, Program Director at Residency Unlimited
Alexander Campos, Executive Director of the Center for Book Arts
David Familian, Artistic Director at Beall Center for Art and Technology
Claudia Hart, Associate Professor in the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Martha Kirszenbaum, Research Assistant at the New Museum
Karen Moss, Professor of Art History, Critical Theory Otis College of Art and Design and the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Fine Arts.
Aily Nash, Film Curator, Filmmaker and Writer
Debra Riley Parr, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Art History at Columbia College Chicago
Catherine Sullivan, professor of art at the University of Chicago
Band of Outsiders will be on view at the Media Lounge in the CAA Conference now through Saturday, February 12th. The publication is available in limited numbers at the Media Lounge. If you want more information about this project and the Big Screen Project, click here.
ARTspace Media Lounge “Band of Outsiders”
If you have not had the chance to see the ARTspace Media Lounge, there several opportunities to. This Jean Luc Godard inspired collaborative exhibition brings together artists, curators and more to create a special conference and city-wide multi-media installation in honor of the centennial College Arts Association Conference.
The College Arts Association presents
Band of Outsiders
Organized by Sabina Ott and Cindy Smith of the CAA Services to Artists Committee
Screenings:
ARTspace Media Lounge
7:30am-5pm Feb 10-12
Concourse F, Concourse Level
Hilton New York
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10010
The Center for Book Arts
February 1 – April 2
Weekdays: 10am – 6pm
Saturdays: 10am – 4pm
28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001
The Big Screen Project
Selections from Band Of Outsiders
Feb 9-12, 5-9pm
Public Plaza behind Eventi Hotel
6th Avenue b/w 29th and 30th
New York, NY
The following are some photos of the collaborative publication made in honor of the ARTspace Media Lounge and Band of Outsiders.