Mad Tv Video Clips

Reruns, which fuel the economics of the television industry and turn mildly amusing shows into icons of popular culture, are the inspiration for Jennifer and Kevin McCoy's exhibition, "we like to watch." Presenting five recent projects, the pair, who have made their mark as digital artists, have developed software that randomly pulls samples from video footage. They use the software to ransack TV programs ranging from Warner Brothers' cartoons to "Star Trek." After grabbing clips from the original shows, the McCoys assemble the selections into archives on DVDs that are sorted into highly ordered but often idiosyncratic categories. For example, in How I Learned (1-4), 2002, they sort clips from episodes of the 1970s East-meets-West classic "Kung Fu" into four groups: How I Learned Religion, How I Learned About Nature and Society, How I Learned About Capitalism and Violence, and Howl Learned About Filmmaking. The DVDs are individually labeled and displayed on library-style shelves Above each shelf on the wall hangs an open valise; a DVD player and a miniature monitor are installed in the industrial foam lining of each suitcase How I Learned (1-4) and several other pieces allow viewer participation. Gallery-goers can pick and choose among the DVDs and watch various moments.

In Every Anvil (2001), originally shown at P.S. 1, the McCoys took the most violent moments from Looney Tunes cartoons--Road Runner pummeled by a falling safe, Bugs Bunny clobbering Elmer Fudd, and so on--and sorted them into dozens of categories, such as "every mean dog," "every monster" and "every mad scientist." Viewers can select among the categories and sample the compilations of cartoon characters.

Other works in the exhibition, First Season--every onscreen (2002) and Horror Chase (2002), eliminate viewer interaction but are equally intriguing First Season is a single DVD loop displayed on the screen of a laptop computer. It plays every instance in the first season of the original "Star Trek" series in which the crew of the starship Enterprise view a large screen to gather information about the universe beyond their capsule. Horror Chase was a much more elaborate project The McCoys built a re-creation of the house in the cult classic Evil Dead 2 on a soundstage at Brooklyn College and reenacted the film's climactic chase sequence. Shown as a projection in the back room, Horror Chase employs custom-designed software to turn the footage into infinite permutations of a breathless victim running through an endless maze of stairwells and hallways. By deconstructing TV narratives into pocket-size bits of pseudo-reality, the McCoys manage not only to reexamine popular culture but to make a show perfectly suited to audiences with limited attention spans.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Brant Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group

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