March 18th, 2025 at SuperOtium
Something is not going very well
artist: Maria Aoyama, Will Sibley and Lara Zimmern
Something is not going very well espone il risultato del percorso di ricerca e condivisione iniziato a gennaio con la residenza di videoarte VVV-R. L* tre artist*, Maria Aoyama, Will Sibley e Lara Zimmern, utilizzano la strategia della soggettiva cinematografica per introdurre lo spettatore in visioni distopiche che analizzano e annullano il divario tra memoria e azione, tra artificiale e naturale, tra medico ed estatico.
NEW HORIZONS
Maria Sayoko Aoyama
3’54’’, 1280 x 720, colour, stereo, 2025.
È dall'indagine della dimensione performativa dell'acqua, come nelle performance di Alto Ribeira o nell'invito di Bruce Lee “be water my friend”, che prende il via il lavoro di Maria Aoyama che, attraverso immagini di inondazioni e onde, trasforma la propaganda pubblicitaria della General Motors in un ammasso di pixel, sgretolando il positivismo capitalista in un segnale digitale e vacillante.
videografia
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Archives (dir.) ( 2023). Tsunami hits Tonsai Beach, Krabi, Thailand (Original quality/Extended)[Film].
ABC News (dir.) (2013). What to Do: Car Sinking in Water, Only Seconds to React [Film].
AccuWeather (dir.) (2019). Earthquake causes chaos in swimming pool as kids frantically try to get out [Film].
Aeon Video (dir.) (2016). The wondrous future was now at the 1939 World Fair | World Fair.
Anon (n.d.). Tsunami Sweeps Coast#Horror Scene Recorded#Tsunami Sweep#Coastal Impact#Vehicle and Building Damage [Film].
captainlarrydart (dir.) (2008). ’64-65 NY World’s Fair FUTURAMA Ride Video [Film]. CBC News: The National (dir.) (2013). Man survives 3 days under water [Film].
clancy688 (dir.) (2013). Tsunami in Kesennuma city, ascending the Okawa river [Film].
DCN Diving (dir.) (2020). DCN Diving Rescue Operation [Film]. Handy (Jam) Organization (dir.) (1940). To New Horizons [Film].
National Archives and Records Administration (dir.) (1972). FLOOD DISASTER AREAS [Film].
Pete Delaney (dir.) (2014). To Be Alive - 1964/5 New York World’s Fair Film [Film]. Ricca Saints (dir.) (2019). ACTUAL FULL VIDEO (EARTHQUAKE) APRIL 22, 2019 at LUBAO, PAMPANGA [Film].
UN/FAMILIAR
Will Sibley
3’19”, 1280 x 720, colour, stereo, 2025.
Will Sibley indaga le viscere del mondo digitale attraverso la dimensione materiale che ne permette il funzionamento: le atmosfere dei videogiochi permeano l'opera, creando un loop tra immagini organiche e meccaniche. L'artista ci immerge in una dimensione propriocettiva in cui il nostro corpo e quello della rete si fondono.
videografia
Dark Souls. (2011). PC. [game]. Tokyo: Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Firewatch. (2016). PC. [game]. Portland: Panic and Campo Sancto.
Gone Home. (2013). PC. [game]. New Jersey: Majesco Entertainment.
Moss, S. (2019). A Deer Broke into a Data Centre. [online]
Mr.Duncan's Social Studies Channel. (2019). Neurons under microscope. [online]
r/CableGore. [online]. Reddit.
Sheldrake, M. (2021). Growth of fungal mycelium (Neurospora crassa). [online]
Skoberne, G. (2016). Time Lapse of Root Growth. [online]
The Beginner’s Guide. (2015). PC. [game]. Everything Unlimited Ltd.
The Stanley Parable. (2013). PC. [game]. Galactic Cafe.
Zasadzka, C. (2017). Mycelium growth simulation. [online]
RECOMMENDED DOSAGE
Lara Zimmern
2’13”, 1920 x 1080, colour, stereo, 2025.
In questo presente e in questo orizzonte, in cui le cose non vanno molto bene, Lara Zimmern conferma il cortocircuito, innescato dalla mostra, tra il personale e il politico, l'individuale e il collettivo, evocando la danza come cura, non solo per il malessere individuale, ma come rito estatico (B. Ehrenreich 2023) in cui la collettività trova la forza di resistere. Infatti, la sua ricerca passa dalle immagini che rimangono ai momenti di celebrazione collettiva.
videografia
DRdpsheehan. (2013). Tarantella. YouTube
Encyclopedia Britannica Films. (2007). Cancer. Internet Archive
Magret, L. (1953). Mental Hospital. Internet Archive
Mark Leckey. (2012). Fiorucci made me Hardcore. YouTube
National Motion Picture Company. (1940). Preventing the Spread of Disease. Internet Archive
The Rave Video Archive. (2015). Raindance 1990. YouTube
TimetravelTV. (2023). Vintage UK health product adverts (Vol.4). YouTube
National Motion Picture Company. (1940). Preventing the Spread of Disease. Internet Archive
**********
The exhibition Something is not going very well displays the result of the research and sharing process that began in January with the VVV-R videoart residency. The three artists, Maria Aoyama, Will Sibley and Lara Zimmern, wield the strategy of the cinematic subjective to introduce the spectator to dystopian visions that analyse and annul the gap between memory and action, between artificial and natural, between medical and ecstatic.
It is from the investigation of the performative dimension of water, as in Alto Ribeira's performances or Bruce Lee's ‘be water my friend’ invitation, that Maria Aoyama's work takes off: through images of floods and waves, she transforms the advertising propaganda of General Motors into a cluster of pixels, crumbling capitalist positivism into a digital, wavering signal.
Will Sibley investigates the bowels of the digital world through the material dimension that allows it to function: the atmospheres of video games permeate the work, creating a loop between organic and mechanical imagery. The artist immerses us in a proprioceptive dimension in which our body and that of the web merge.
In this present and horizon, in which things are not going very well, Lara Zimmern confirms the short circuit, engaged by the exhibition, between the personal and the political, the individual and the collective, evoking dance as a cure, not only for individual malaise, but as an ecstatic rite (B. Ehrenreich 2023) in which the collective finds the strength to resist. In fact, her research moves from the images that remain to moments of collective celebration.
