CLIFFORD
SMITH GALLERY
is pleased to announce its May exhibition of digital video and
video stills by the collaborative team of Diana Shpungin &
Nicole Engelmann. Shpungin & Engelmann made their first appearance
in the project room at Clifford-Smith Gallery in November 2002
with their continuous loop DVD, Smack. This is their first
solo exhibition in the Boston area and is scheduled to coincide
with the Boston Cyberarts Festival.
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About
their collaborative work, the artists write:
You
are my best friend and I hate you.....
The
intimate behavior of both friends and enemies fascinates us.
Our personal relationship feeds the work. We depend on the collaborative
effort and explore it as a self-reflexive act that is always
aware of itself. Our collaboration thrives through agreement
and not through compromise.
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Diana
Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann
Bloodlap
2001
c-print
video still from Bloodpour, DVD, 3 min.
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Camaraderie
and jealousy, love and hate exist simultaneously within the
work. Through the de-individualization of power and denial of
the selfish vantage point, the inner struggles of human relationships
are examined. We often investigate normally non-collaborative
acts in a collaborative manner as a method of challenging notions
of ego, identity and socially defined roles.
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Diana
Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann
Gunfight
2001
c-print
video still from Gunfight, DVD, 3 min.
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In
conjunction with an art historical context, we borrow from performance,
installation, theater, film and movie making trickery. Additionally,
we explore collaboration through thematic issues of violence,
body, media, fashion, sexuality and childhood play.
Within
the work, we utilize the color gray as a contrived neutral.
We practice constraint. By this, we mean there is no authentic
"neutral" and though we attempt to mask our personalities,
unavoidably our individualities surface. Our characterÕs identities
remain hidden and interchangeable. We perform intuitive acts
in safe private spaces. These intimate acts are made public
solely through the eye of the camera.
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Diana
Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann
Handgame
2002
multiple
c-print video stills from Handgame, continuous loop DVD
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Diana
Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann have exhibited widely througout the
United States, France, Italy and Germany. Both artists hold MFA's
from the School of the Visual Arts in New York. |
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