Mexico City, July 18 – August 9, 1996
Curated by Rubén Gallo and Terence Gower
Artists: Knut Åsdam, Robert Beck, Cheryl Donegan, Rainer Ganahl, Aunrico Gatson, Thomas Glassford, Silvia Gruner, Lucy Gunning, Takahiko Iimura, Javier Téllez
In Video Faz, ten video self-portraits, brought together by Rubén Gallo and Terence Gower, illustrate the strategies that exist within the genre of self-portraits as a way to deal with “artistic identity”. The artists in Video Faz define themselves interacting with their public. The Austrian Rainer Ganahl faces the viewers from the screen, anxiously attempting to make contact with them. “Hi, my name is Rainer, I am learning to speak Korean.” Despite the fact that it is incomprehensible what he says, Rainer’s imploring, friendly expression is enough to make the viewers stop and listen. Knut Åsdam of Norway invites the viewers to sit in front of the monitor in order to hypnotize them, though of course without success. Nonetheless, the fact that these simple talking tele-portraits catch the attention of the viewers shows the power the medium of video has in handling this pictorial genre. Despite the fact that these works are low-budget productions, the results are generally truly expressive, not of the ego of the artist but of the situations in which videos capture us.
