LiveBox

Current Exhibition

LiveBox is back for Hyde Park Art Center's Mischief Night! October 29th

In conjunction with the Chicago Opera Vangaurd, LiveBox presents:

Title Question Mark - A Certainly Uncertain Journey

Be prepared for blazing brass, hot couple dance-fu, cataclysmic destruction, the highest of high drama and more. Performers will strike anywhere, at any time. Tread lightly, keep your eyes open, make no sudden movements and remain suspicious of everyone...everywhere...all the time.

Mischief Night will also include a LiveBox screening program touching the essence of Edgar Allen Poe, Doris Lessing and Roald Dahl

They want my bacon slice by slice participating artists: Celeste Fichter, Mark Franz, Tony Gammidge, Ellen Lake, Rebekkah Palov, Malcolm Sutherland

Rebekkah Palov, "Seaworthy", video still, 2010

They want my bacon slice by slice compiles the best videos collected throughout the year from submissions inspired by the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, Doris Lessing and Roald Dahl. Edgar Allen Poe, Doris Lessing and Roald Dahl followed their own paths, significantly influencing the genres they are noted for. Poe developed a theory of composition; theme or plot was subordinate to the construction of a single intense mood. Doris Lessing is known for both her radical writing on social issues and as a science fiction writer. Her novel The Golden Notebook is considered a feminist classic, but she would argue her most important work is Canopus in Argosa science fiction series. Roald Dahl is most known for his unsentimental and wickedly humorous children’s books, but he also wrote 60 adult short stories noted for their dark sense of humor and surprising endings.

The videos in Subtitles VII champion this dedication to surprise, inventiveness, and dark humor.

The Dahl collection, Celeste Fitcher, 6 videos, 2011
“The Dahl Story”, 4:12
“A Message for Charlie”, 0:38
“Charlie and the Chocolate Bar”, 1:26
“Charlie and the Worry Cure”, 0:35
“If you wish to become a writer. By Roald Dahl”, 0:54
“Pure Imagination”, 0:50

Celeste Fichter is interested in the act of re-ordering the ordinary and in the relationship between objects comprised of seemingly commonplace elements and their representation. Her Dahl collection commissioned for Subtitles VII.

 

The Pig, Mark Franz, 10:00, 2011

Mark Franz performed "The Pig" for Subtitles II, an audio/visual performance based on text written by Roald Dahl. The piece was such a success we asked Mark to create a video for Subtitles VII.

Franz is intrigued by Dahl’s reputation, known for imaginative children's stories while his adult texts are mostly forgotten.  This work attempts to present both sides simultaneously, with each informing the content of the other.  Custom electronic instruments provide rhythmic pulses that accompany the spoken word, visual, and textual elements. Mark Franz’s work has been exhibited worldwide at venues including International 18!, Hollyshorts Film Festival, Bagasbas Beach International Eco Arts Festival, and Pixelerations.

 

“Who killed cock robin?”, Tony Gammidge, 2:41, 2009
Tony is a video artist, makes puppets and hand made books and is an art therapist. Tony explores legends, poems and books targeted towards children, which encapsulate adult themes in their rendering of moral themes. 'Who killed Cock robin?' is an English folksong or poem. The words of "Who killed cock robin" are said to refer to the death of the legendary figure of Robin Hood, who “stole from the rich to give to the poor”.

“Seaworthy”, Ellen Lake, 3:31, 2011
Seaworthy is based on observations of everyday life – a short and eclectic mix of HD video of cargo ships and sailboats, with a bluegrass soundtrack by Evie. Ellen piece embodies Poe’s timeless topics of love and loss, never letting go of the quirkiness of the situation.

“Science Fiction”, Rebekkah Palov, 6:88,  2010
"Science fiction" is a single take monologue. The text tethers numerous topics, including mother-child, desire, (re)production, speed and success in an unbalancing act. The performer is comically androgynous with a childlike lisp, dressed in what might arguably be the world uniform, an Adidas warm-up; the character insinuates a future world marked by infantilism and international branding.

The strange falseness is due to text that is read from a prepared script and background science-fiction-esque video, which like the script is not compellingly integrated but instead indirect and distanced.

 

Umbra, Malcolm Sutherland, 5:35, 2010
An explorer adventures into an unknown world, yet it seems that he has been there before.
Umbra is a short hand-drawn animated film exploring emptiness, transience and interconnection. The piece emotes the style and sensibilities of Dahl and Lessing. Music by Alison Melville and Ben Grossman.