The Unusual Artwork of Rodney Graham Presentation by L. Forrest Winter.
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Transcript of The Unusual Artwork of Rodney Graham Presentation by L. Forrest Winter.
![Page 1: The Unusual Artwork of Rodney Graham Presentation by L. Forrest Winter.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062620/551af0375503465e7d8b4ebe/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The Unusual Artworkof Rodney Graham
Presentation by L. Forrest Winter
![Page 2: The Unusual Artwork of Rodney Graham Presentation by L. Forrest Winter.](https://reader036.fdocuments.in/reader036/viewer/2022062620/551af0375503465e7d8b4ebe/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Basic Info. on Rodney Graham
• From and works in Vancouver• Has done made many pieces of art over the past few
decades• Uses mediums that range from photography to film,
performance, sculpture, music, and text.
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Recurring theme in his Work
• Graham enjoys making what’s simple seem quite complicated
• Often makes works “loop” continuously and not have designated stopping points
• Fixated on psychologist Sigmund Freud and very interested in psychology
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Famous Video Loops
• Vexation Island (1997)• Short video in which a beached castaway gets
knocked out with a coconut• The video loops endlessly so the blow is seen over
and over
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Famous Video Loops (Cont.)
• Two Generators (1984)• 4 minute loop of river water at night• Water is never seen and heard simultaneously
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Famous Video Loops (Cont.)
• Coruscating Cinnamon Granules (1996)• Video of Graham burning cinnamon in his kitchen• Heat makes cinnamon crystals rise and fall, meant to
depict birth/death of galaxies
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Famous Video Loops (Cont.)
• Halcion Sleep• Video of Graham being driven around Vancouver in
the back of a minivan while passed out on Halcion pills
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Famous Video Loops (Cont.)
• How I Became a Rambling Man – a cowboy sings, rides off into the distance, only to come back to the same spot and sing again
• The Photokinetiscope- Graham takes LSD, rides a bike around a park, comes back to same spot, takes more LSD and repeats
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Text Manipulation/Looping
• Reading Machine for Lenz
• Graham took the first 5 pages of a 19th-century novel by Georg Buchner
• He then rearranged the pages so that if you try to read it, you can never finish the first 5 pages
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Photography Work
• Graham was interested in the camera obscura throughout the 70’s and 80’s
• He hung many photos upside down for display• In fact, he had a whole walk-in exhibit of upside
down photography
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Recent Works
• Graham has a strong desire to not be “trapped” in a particular medium
• He spent most of 2007 working on many different kinds of paintings
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Recent Works (Cont.)
• 2006 video loop “Lobbing Potatoes at a Gong”• Inspired by Pink Floyd concert where Roger Waters
flung potatoes at a gong while performing• Graham is often inspired by music, due to his second
career as a rock and roll musician
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The Gifted Amateur
• Graham is into role playing, to the extent of which he created an alter ego for himself that he calls “the gifted amateur”
• His alter ego has just discovered art• Maybe it’s a way to make his art feel fresh again• or it’s a sign of developing mental problems…
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Recent and Future Exhibits
• Most recent exhibit- “Rodney Graham: A Glass of Beer” in Malaga, Spain in 2008
• An exhibit in Paris, France is scheduled for later this year
• “Rodney Graham: Through the Forest” is scheduled to open in 2010 in Barcelona, Spain
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Conclusion
• Overall, the major theme in the artwork of Rodney Graham is repetition and confusion
• It depicts repetition is a constant part of human life in interesting and unique ways
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Sources• http://www.artinfo.com• http://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/10/rodney-graham• Humphrey, David. “New York Fax: Feb 3 ‘98.” Art Issues 52, Apr. 1998: 34-
5.• Johnson, Ken. “A Mercurial Conceptualist who Remains an Enigma.” New
York Times, 4 Nov. 2005.• Liang, Jack. “Another Day in Paradise: The Film and Video Work of Rodney
Graham.” Parachute 95, 1999: 12-19.• Miller, Barbara L. “Re-evaluating Virtual Representation.” Art Papers 28-3,
May 2004.• Steiner, Sheperd. “In the Studio with the Gifted Amateur: Rodney Graham
Practices Painting.” Modern Painters 64-9, March 2007.