#MemoryoftheUniverse (#1)
Syria Planum: For Water for Oil
video: Alysse Stepanian
sound: Philip Mantione
2016. 7:22 min. color. sound. 3D animation
See here for the perfromative presentation that accompanied this work (lecture/performance/video).
See here for the second edition of #MemoryoftheUniverse.
See review of this work in Brooklyn & Boyle, by artist/writer, Kelly Blunt.
As more humans and other animals are displaced due to climate change and drought, petropolitical wars will be overshadowed by urgent needs such as access to fresh water. Syria Planum: For Water for Oil is the first edition of #MemoryoftheUniverse, a work of speculative fiction combined with current real-life global events. It covers difficult intersectional social and political issues in a posthuman world. Other subjects explored are the Anthropocene, nationalism, colonialism, politics and ethics in science and technology, drones and “militainment”, refugees, and exploitation of humans and other animals.
Historically, the bodies and reproductive organs of women and cows have been subjugated in patriarchal societies. The protagonist, MOTU, is a half-woman, half-cow mythopoeic superhero that is the embodiment of the memory of the universe. I like to think of her as the female version of Nietzsche’s Übermensch (Superhuman, Above-Human) – she represents hope amidst despair.
MOTU’s wanderings in the desolate Martian landscape, including the Syria Planum, symbolize the alienation that she feels, having crossed the line that separates humans from other animals. She observes, absorbs, and is jolted by what she sees, setting the stage for future actions. The question of what comes next drives the series forward, as in serial episodic form.
As the world looks away from crimes that are unmet with restitution, their aftermaths resonate in the dark recesses of our minds and metaphorically, continue to live in the memory of the universe, eternally recurring, until we find ways to change our consciousness and current state of affairs.
EXHIBITIONS & SCREENINGS OF MOTU:
• “The Room” at the 36th annual 2018 Fajr International Film Festival; continuous loop of a collection of videos; curated by Sohrab Kashani and Nariman Hamed; sponsored by Pejman Foundation; Tehran, Iran (April 19 – 27)
2017
• Make America Create Again juried by Deborah Paine: CoCA – Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington (March 2 – 4)
• MADATAC 08: Centro Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain; see program catalog (Jan 12 -Feb 5)
2016
• Recipient of Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant for #MemoryoftheUniverse observes and absorbs! (20 min), a performance for the opening of a solo Video Exhibition at Galerie DEUX [dø] in Marseille, France; organized by Instants Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques: 29th Festival Les Instants Vidéo (Nov 8 – Dec 3)
• Miami New Media Festival, 10th Anniversary: by Arts Connection Foundation; Black Box in Miami Theatre Center; Miami, Florida (Nov 26) – see program
• Now&After’16: Ecology without Borders: curated by Marina Fomenko; The State Darwin Museum; Moscow, Russia (Oct 22 – Nov 29)
• Miami New Media Festival, 10th Anniversary: by Arts Connection Foundation; Perez Art Museum (PAMM); Miami, Florida (Oct 22) – see poster – see program
• 17 Days Video Series (day 9, vol.9): curated by Adriane Little; The Bret Llewellyn Art Gallery – Alfred State College; Alfred, New York (Sept 26 – Oct 20); Atrium Gallery – Western Michigan University (Nov 14, 2016 – May 1, 2017); Mahoney Hall – University of Massachusetts Lowell (Sept 6 – Oct 1)
• FASCISM: curated by Nayana Glazier; Gallery W @ the Whitney Center for the Arts; Pittsfield, MA, USA (September)
• OFF the WALL: video art screening series (Night 2); curated by Simone and Max, with support from the Arts + Literature Laboratory; Madison, Wisconsin (August 13)
• Featured artist on ArtSlant: ‘Under the Radar’; curated by ArtSlant Senior Editors (week starting May 13)
