Wilfried Lentz Rotterdam

 

Liz Magic Laser: My Mind is My Own

The title of the show, My Mind is My Own, is adopted from her new video featuring an 11-year-old actress, Ella Maré, training adults for public speaking. This video is shown alongside two other works, all displayed on flat screen monitors: The Thought Leader (2015), and a two-channel video, The Digital Face (2012). The videos are accompanied by a mirrored wall piece, Inflective Medallion. The motif of negative public address reverberates through this work as well as throughout all three videos. The show’s concept draws upon a theme central to Laser’s work: how scientific management is applied to theater techniques in order to maximize the efficiency of a public figure’s performance.

For My Mind is My Own Laser asked professional vocal coach, Kate Wilson, to teach her own daughter, Ella, to perform the role of a speech coach in a training style video. Laser worked with the mother-daughter duo to develop sinister versions of vocal exercises. Specific words and gestures are paralleled in the campanion piece, The Thought Leader. For this video Laser appropriated the format of TED Talks (Technology, Entertainment, Design), a series of motivational speeches primarily viewed online, that aim to promote “the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world.” Laser directed 10-year-old actor, Alex Ammerman, to deliver a monologue she adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground (1864). She insinuates the Underground Man’s views into the TED Talk format, applying Dostoevsky’s attack on the socialist ideal of enlightened self-interest to its contemporary capitalist incarnation.

For The Digital Face Laser worked with two Cunningham dancers, Alan Good and Cori Kresge, to replicate the gestural movements from two State of the Union addresses: President Barack Obama’s 2012 speech and President George H. W. Bush’s 1990 speech. Laser discovered that Bush’s was the first televised State of the Union address featuring oratorical gestures and brought his body language into contrast with Obama’s more advanced technique.

The silkscreened mirrored glass work, Inflective Medallion, incorporates Laserʼs version of a diagram from a 19th Century manual on the theorist François Delsarte’s method of oratorical training. Delsarte’s original diagram assigns distinct meanings to an orator’s arm and hand movements, giving instructions on how to perform affirmative gestures. Laser’s version replaces his code of gestures with negative meanings derived from Dostoevsky’s text.

Laser’s recent solo exhibitions include: The Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (DE); DiverseWorks, Houston (US); and Malmö Konsthall (SE). Recent performances were at Le Mouvement in Biel (CH), The Kitchen and Performa 11 Biennial both in New York. Her work has also been exhibited at Lisson Gallery, London (UK); the Moscow Museum of Modern Art; The Pace Gallery, NY; the Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (SL); and MoMA PS1, NY.

Click here to download press release as PDF

Click here to download recent review from ArtForum April 2015

Credits:

My Mind is My Own:
Featuring actor Ella Maré.
Script written by Liz Magic Laser in collaboration with Kate Wilson and Ella Maré.
Vocal coach: Kate Wilson
Directors of Photography: Chris Heinrich and Tom Richmond
Audio Engineer: Nikola Chapelle
Sound Mixer: Scott Benzel
Color Correction: Alejandro Wilkins
Production Manager: Anna Riley
Production Assistant: Esther Hayes
Participating actors: Travis Branch, Virginia Ferrer, Clara Pagone, Noriko Sato, James Pyecka, Mike Quinn, Khalid Rivera, Isaiah Seward, MaryAnn Siwek, Stephanie Sanford, CharliiTV and Alex Xenos.
Produced with support from Various Small Fires Gallery, Los Angeles.

The Thought Leader:
Featuring actor Alex Ammerman
Script written by Liz Magic Laser based on Notes From the Underground (1864) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Speech coach: Kristian Nammack
Directors of Photography: Chris Heinrich and Tom Richmond
Audio Engineer: Nikola Chapelle
Sound Mixer: Scott Benzel
Sound Effects Editor: Molly Fitzjarrald
Color Correction: Alejandro Wilkins
Production Manager: Anna Riley
Production Assistants: Esther Hayes, Jasmine Kyoko and Samantha Rosner
Filmed at Kickstarter in Brooklyn, NY
Participating actors: Cole Akers, Kelela Blake, Tyler Booker, Travis Branch, Virginia Ferrer, Sein Gay, Jessica Gallucci, Ryan Healey, Joseph Henry, Minki Hong, Kelvin Lofton, Rebekah Loy, Roberto Mugnai, Job Piston, James Pyecka, Mike Quinn, Hobson Riley, Khalid Rivera, Alexis Rosenbaum, Malaika Said, Stephanie Samford, Noriko Sato, Isaiah Seward, Charlii Tv, Alex Xenos and Liz Zito.
Special thanks to Kathy Ammerman, Sanya Kantarovsky, Owen Katz, Ken Laser, Ella Maré, Fabrice Nadjari, Wendy Osserman, Chadwick Rantanen, Anna Riley, Hobson Riley, Hong-An Truong, Esther Kim Varet, Joseph Varet, Tomasz Werner, Kate Wilson, Spencer Wolff and Kickstarter.
Produced with support from Various Small Fires Gallery, Los Angeles

The Digital Face:
Featuring dancers Alan Good and Cori Kresge.