Slought Foundation’s New Show Focuses on Five Themes

"1:5:25" features five mini-shows within the larger video installation.

By Roberta Fallon
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted May. 26, 2009

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Photo by Mariya Dimov

Video is a huge part of the art world and many galleries now include the medium as part of their regular programming, though shows consisting solely of video work aren’t common.

The Slought Foundation's  “1:5:25” is an all-video show curated by a team of five artists under the supervision of Osvaldo Romberg and presenting works by 25 artists or artist groups. A dim sum video banquet of stuttering, fast-paced, culture-questioning videos, the show is good but it raises the question: How much video is too much?

“1:5:25”: Through June 19. Slought Foundation, 4017 Walnut St. 215.222.9050. slought.org

“1:5:25” decentralized the curating by inviting each of the five young co-curators to organize their own “mini” show on a theme. The videos loop on five screens, each dedicated to a different theme: sex, the body, architecture, language or technology.

The resulting experience is like going to five shows in one gallery. The individual pieces are short, and some are very good. Mariya Dimov’s upside-down whirling dervish is a great take on everything from voyeurism to religious imagery to torture. David Romberg’s split-screen hip-hop dance sampler shows the same dance moves around the world and embraces both humanity and technology. Jennie Thwing’s video of a sock-puppet-like leg snaking its way through a landscape is Pee-wee Herman meets the Brothers Grimm—terrific and terrifically odd. Slought’s back gallery features another show that, like “1:5:25,” is part of its emerging artist series.

Alana Bograd’s large colorful, loop-de-loop paintings are standouts and Asher Barkley’s digital portraits and videos of mom and dad are also worth a look. Installations by Tina Zavitsanos and Aki Torii and deadpan photos by Didier Clain shouldn’t be missed. “New Media in the White Cube and Beyond,” a collection of essays on the phenomena of all things new media (video, internet art, game-hacking art, and more), provides examples of alternative modes of display for mediated art.

The need to engage the viewer and prevent viewer fatigue is implied throughout the work. Sarah Cook’s essay suggests “one night stands,” instead of the 30-day shows for work that requires artist-viewer interaction. It’s a novel idea and would work perfectly for “1:5:25.” Maybe five one-night stands, one for each theme, would allow viewers to individually digest what’s presented here as a big smorgasbord.

For more on the Philadelphia art scene go to theartblog.org.

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