Artists Space

Dark Rooms

February 5 – March 14, 1987

Artists Space is pleased to announce the opening of Dark Rooms, an exhibition of film, slide, and video installations organized by Valerie Smith and Daniel Walworth. The artists include Anne Bray, Kendall Buster, John Knecht, Charles Long and Carolee Schneeman.

Artists Space's commitment to showing film, slide, and video installations is longstanding but in order to respond to recent resurgence of these media in the early 1980's.

An exhibition of film, slide and video installations organized by Valerie Smith and Daniel Walworth.

A black and white photograph of two projected images emerging from darkness.
Charles Long. Installation view of Gnomons' Land, 1987. Film Installation. [A black and white photograph of two projected images emerging from darkness.]

Artists Space's commitment to showing film, slide, and video installations is longstanding but in order to respond to the recent resurgence of these media in the early 1980's Artists Space presented two previous DARK ROOMS exhibitions one in 1983 and another in 1985. Artists in past DARK ROOMS exhibition at Artists Space include: Richard Baum, Judith Barry, Dorit Cypis, Perry Hoberman, and Antonio Muntadas. Film installation was developed into an alternative means of representation which does not receive the usual commercial support of the gallery system. The current show focuses on voyeurism, language and politics as they manipulate the viewer through the filmic apparatus.

Anne Bray has been working with media installations since 1978. Her slide installation, Man On First and Third, consists of four projections on four walls with four separate audio loops released alternately. The slide projections show a man putting, a hand picking up a rock, hands opening a newspaper, and a scythe cutting grass. The accompanying sounds are those of a baby crying, human breathing, verbal excuses, and commands heard on the television. In her installation, Bray puts the viewer/listener on an axis between fear and control, curiosity and apathy, repression and inhibition, alienation and conformity. Bray has completed a number of many public outdoor installations, in Los Angeles, Boston and New York City, involving billboards and the suppression of advertisements in specific commercial areas. Bray lives and works in Los Angeles.

Kendall Buster's installation consist of two film projections inserted into two walls facing each other. On one wall, two black and white film images show two pairs of eyes slowly blinking. On the other, a black and white film shows close up shots of people buttoning, zipping up, undressing, putting hands into pockets, etc. As the viewer enters the installation he/she is caught by a green spot light, which confronts the voyeur in the process of looking. Moving around the space, the viewer also passes through stages of seduction and desire. The grainy black ad white celluloid image is reminiscent of film noir and acts as an omnipresent eye. The work deals with the processes of looking and being looked at. Kendall Buster has shown at Diane Brown Gallery, NYC; Middendorf Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA. She lives and works in New Haven and New York City.

Anne Bray has been working with media installations since 1978. Bray has completed a number of many public outdoor installations, in Los Angeles, Boston and New York City, involving billboards and the suppression of advertisements in specific commercial areas. Bray lives and works in Los Angeles.

Kendall Buster has shown at Diane Brown Gallery, NYC; Middendorf Gallery, Washington, D.C; The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, PA. She lives and works in New Haven and New York City.

A black and white photograph with two images of faces illuminated in the darkness and text underneath.
John Knecht. I'm Glad To The Brink Of Fear, 1986. Video Installation. [A black and white photograph with two images of faces illuminated in the darkness and text underneath.]
A black and white image of a hand holding a newspaper with a view of the street and surroudning buildings in the background.
Anne Bray. Film still from Man on First and Third, 1987. Slide and Sound Installation. [A black and white image of a hand holding a newspaper with a view of the street and surroudning buildings in the background.]
A black and white photograph with two projectors hanging central with projections on one wall and another hanging screen in a gallery space.
Anne Bray. Man on First and Third, 1987. Slide/Sound Installation. [A black and white photograph with two projectors hanging central with projections on one wall and another hanging screen in a gallery space.]
A black and white photograph of a mop on top of a working CRT television in a gallery setting.
Carolee Schneemann. Installation View of War Mop, 1985. Video sculpture and installation with mechanized mop, plexiglas fulcrum, TV monitor. [A black and white photograph of a mop on top of a working CRT television in a gallery setting.]

Dark Rooms Press Release

Dark Rooms Announcement Front

Dark Rooms Announcement Back

Anne Bray's Man on First and Third Floor Plan

Zimmer, William. "Artist Are Creating A Wonderland of Video In Museums And Galleries," The New York Times, March 6, 1987

Dark Rooms is supported in part by grants from the New York State Council on the Arts.

    A black and white photograph of two projectors hanging central in a darkened gallery and projecting images onto two separate screens in the foreground with light coming in from the background
    Anne Bray. Installation View of Man on First and Third, 1987. Slide and sound installation. [A black and white photograph of two projectors hanging central in a darkened gallery and projecting images onto two separate screens in the foreground with light coming in from the background]