Hidden on an upper floor of a building in Chinatown, Reena Spaulings Gallery presents Marc Kokopeli's exhibition MY TV SHOW I ♡ TV. The show challenges what we see when looking at a TV. What counts as a TV? What makes it possible to view media on this TV? The show features many different forms of televisions, such as a "High School Musical Locker TV", artificial reality-type see-through screens, and a piece of jewelry with a mini TV in it.
Most of the media on the TVs is hard to make out, as on the TV in the back of the room, covered by an animation of an elephant building a brick wall. This forces the viewers to look beyond what is on the screen and focus rather on what is behind the creation of the TV, from questioning how the transparent screen is showing a video while you can see cobblestones sitting in the TV box behind it, or noticing how the red, round VT is warping the media. Kokopelli encourages the viewers to contemplate the construction of the TVs and how they each create their own unique viewing experience.
The exhibit questions what other objects provide one service to the viewer, while there is a whole process and years of evolution and technological advancement required for that object to provide its service, which is not often appreciated.
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-Jude Fox
I'm glad you mentioned the questions that this work brings up: what is TV? I wish you had expanded on it more, as the works in this exhibition sit in a weird realm in between nostalgic and futuristic, and the pieces turn "TV" into something more, an object, or sculpture even. Its good that you mentioned how it doesn't necessarily matter what is playing on the TV, and how in many cases it almost seems like the artist doesn't even want us to care, instead forcing us to look at the material and the object all together to answer the question, "what is TV?"
ReplyDeleteGlad you wrote about this and I tought it was fitting that I reply to it :)
- TV
Your review is very clear and organized, it communicates what is happening in the gallery space very effectively. I think that it could have benefited from mentioning more of the artists stance on the work, including the political undertones. From the press release: “I become aware of the minerals that were mined for the body and the components. I see the color and texture of these minerals. Elements of the earth and the stars. I see the miners, and the danger of their daily lives.” And how these objects for our pleasure have a background of violence.
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