Monday, August 31, 2009

Rhetorics of memory @ Eastern Expansion September 5, 2009



Retórica del recuerdo

Rhetorics of memory
An installation by Jorge Miñano Ramírez
September 5 – Sept 22, 2009

Opening Reception: Saturday September 5 6pm to 9 pm

Eastern Expansion Gallery
244 W 31st St 
Chicago
El: Red to Sox/35th. 
Bus: 29, 35

Artist Statement:
The exhibition is a starting point for a reflection about the concept of cultural memory and how it has overcome a binary opposition between the individual and the collective experiences. This reciprocal relationship came across my mind when I had to leave my own country; and experience a completely different place with a new community of friends. The feeling becomes more obvious when a visiting person has to go back home.

New concepts are related with the perspective of familiar history, memory and gender; colonial, postcolonial, and transatlantic studies; museums, monuments, and memorials, as well as the practical implications for heritage industries. It is also a skeptical way to leave one’s mark and prolong the virtual existence of a person in a specific place with techniques other than photography. The show is composed of graphic, writing, mail correspondence and actions in the city which were created for the exhibition as a tribute to Chicago. The artist also is going to take a group photo of friends and assistants during the opening in the gallery.

About the Artist:
Jorge Miñano Ramírez is a Spanish artist working with experimental narrative in film, video and photography. He documents actions about personal and collective experiences related to food, family and friendship. Using archive, reconstruction or performance, he creates different images to reflect our personal desires and the influence of one’s surrounding. He studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of the Complutense University of Madrid and in 2008 received a fellowship from this university and the Bancaja Foundation to study at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

For more information visit:
www.jorgeminano.es

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Freakie Outie @ Eastern Expansion

Freakie Outie @ Eastern Expansion

freakieoutie

Eastern Expansion is pleased to host Freakie Outie for a one night only performance August 14, 2009 from 7-9pm

Referencing peep shows and iPod commercials, Freakie Outie is a window-based performance installation which ties together personal electronics, affect, pop music and sensoral memory. Four performers at a time are contained within the boundary of a storefront window, with sets of headphones dangling from the top of the exterior. Each performer wears a uniform consisting of a green sensible sweater and khaki slacks. Each pair of headphones, one for the performer and one available for a viewer, is connected to one audio source playing a pop song selected by the performer. The performer rocks out to the pop song they have selected in a manner normally only practiced in a private space, as he or she would do in front of a mirror or in their bedroom at home. Viewers are welcome to listen to a set of headphones along the performance boundary for as little or as long as they like, or not at all. Freakie Outie is a study in personal connectivity to pop music which discusses the fine line between what makes one rock out and what doesn’t.

Eastern Expansion
244 W 31st Street