Mika Rottenberg’s latest work Squeeze continues the artist’s inquiry into the mechanisms by which value is generated, considering the logistics of global outsourcing and the alchemy of art production. Through movie magic portals Rottenberg links video of her Harlem studio stage set to on-location footage of an iceberg lettuce farm in Arizona and a rubber plant in Kerala, India. This composite factory toils ceaselessly to create a single precious object, one small sculpture. The video is presented in a custom-made theater. The sculpture is inaccessible– preserved offshore, out of reach for public or private viewing.
Squeeze is an architectural portrait of crisscrossing assembly lines: a multidirectional labyrinth that spins energy within a closed circuit. The central protagonist—the product around which all the work takes place—is only revealed through its raw ingredients. In the continuous video loop, the manufacturing process is never completed, remaining in constant flux. The video narrates a step-by-step choreography of rooms and mechanisms, bodies and landscapes. Laboring hands, feet, tongues and buttocks requiring pampering and maintenance.
Interior spaces are penetrated by the eruptions of “foreign elements” from the exterior. As these various components of the factory “make effort” they also seem to move purely for the sake of motion. Squeeze was shot by Mahyad Tousi, Set engineering and special effects by Katrin Altekamp and Quentin Conybeare; acoustic consultation by Steve Hamilton; production by Andrew Fierberg. Mika Rottenberg was born in Buenos Aires in 1976, and holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts (2000) and an MFA from Columbia University (2004). She lives and works in New York.
[Photo: Art knowledge news]
Related posts:
The 3rd Annual Hell’s Kitchen Artists in Studio Tours Friday June 24 – Sunday 26, 2011
Performance Art: “here there nowhere”
Never Pipe Down, This is the Lower East Side
Related Posts:
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
FEATURED OPENING: FEDERICO CATTANEO
Artist Kim Kalinoski
Arte Fuse Recent Posts
Picture This: Abstracta-cadabra at Site/109Front of Site 109 where Jack Geary Contemporary presents Federico Cattaneo On to the more glamorous side of the LES from… »
Never Pipe Down, This is the Lower East SideEven the Dragon gets into the Street Vibe via skateboard The fine china collection by Sheryo x the Yok at Krause… »
Art Has Gone To The Dogs: Venus Speaks!Venus photo by Olya Turcihin Alright, I know what you’re thinking. AF has gone to the dogs indeed! What are we drinking… »
UNIQUE May 30 – July 12, 2013 at Von Lintel GalleryUNIQUE May 30 – July 12, 2013 at Von Lintel Gallery Von Lintel Gallery is pleased to present UNIQUE, a group show of… »
V E N T I K O: The Other World May 2 – May 21, 2013The Other World III 40" x 60" The Other World I 60" x 43" Interview With Quiet Lunch In her first NYC solo… »
Ilona Szwarc’s “American Girls” and Val Britton’s “Cosmology” to open at Foley GalleryIlona Szwarc's "American Girls" June 5th- July 3rd Opening reception: June 5th, 6-8pm Ilona Szwarc's "American… »
Featured artist: Kim KalinoskiDiGiovanni, ink on gelatin silver print, 16 x 14 inches, 2012 Kim Kalinoski received her Bachelor or Fine Arts degree from… »
Karen Heagle Is Fully Armed to BattleBattle Armor by Karen Heagle Artist Karen Heagle Heraldry and the days of valiant knights are now legendary. Everyone… »
Picture This: A Roaring Good Time in NOLITAThe art is BOLD yet alluring by Laura Bochet Guests glamour it up at Something in Mind Artist Laura… »
Opening for Out of Blink curated by Sarah CrownJessica Segall, The Thirsty Person, Who Having Found a Spring, Rushes to Drink, Does Not Contemplate Its Beauty (2011), video… »
Please install and activate the "Twitter for WordPress" plugin to use this section.
 "Pin It")