exhibitions

for immediate release


“CO/NUN/DRUM”

Gil Omry-Barel + Ori Barel
Opening: Feb. 13th & 14th, 2004; 7-10PM
[on view through February 21st, 2004]

Kunst Brothers + Kadet - "Bird"
Opening & Performance: Feb. 27th & 28th, 2004; 7-10PM
[on view through March 6th, 2004]

Carole Kim + Jesse Gilbert - "Stethoscope"
Opening & Performance: March 12th & 13th, 2004; 7-10PM
[on view through March 20th,2004]

OVERTONES is pleased to announce a joint project with Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

"CO/NUN/DRUM" is a series of installation/performances curated by Overtones' Director of Exhibitions, Elizabeta Betinski, and Tom Leeser, Director of Integrated Media at the California Institute of the Arts. The multi media exhibit will be composed of three group collaborations utilizing video and sound in a performative/installation environment.

Gil Omry-Barel is a visual artist and recent graduate from California Institute of the Arts. Ori Barel is a music composer currently studying at UCLA; he has collaborated with video artists and scored for film. Both artists have presented work in Israel, Europe and the US. Their recent collaborations presented in Los Angeles include an installation of a projected still image with composed sound and a work with dancers, video and sound. Their new work explores the interstitial space between video image and sound, the stitching together (and at times unraveling) of unanticipated meanings from their interaction. In a spirit of perceptual conundrums, this work teases the viewer by questioning his or her perception of rhythms and movement within the continuum of time and space.

"Bird" is a collaboration between the visual artists, the Kunst Brothers, and sound/video artist Kadet Kuhne. The work mixes sound, video projection and sculpture into an installation that allows the viewer to transgress the notion of narrative and mediated "truth."

Carole Kim and Jesse Gilbert will present "Stethoscope", a multi-channel performance/installation exploring the interface between interior and exterior spaces. The architecture of the installation will explore spaces that can and cannot be occupied, raising issues of inclusion/exclusion and inside/outside. Through video projection and sound spatialization we are interested in sensitizing the membrane between, at times only providing mediated access through live-feed audio and/or video, probing the enhancement of perception made possible through this intended limitation of access.

The second project in the series opens on Feb. 27 and 28th and will be on view through March 6th.

"Birds (eye view)" is a collaboration between the visual artists, the Kunst Brothers, and sound/video artist Kadet Kuhne. The work mixes sound, video projection and sculpture into a multimedia installation that allows the viewer to transgress and question the notion of originality, narrative and mediated "truth."

Kadet Kuhne is a digital media artist specializing in electronic music composition/performance and interactive installation. She released her full-length CD •8Seismic' in 2002 and has a new release due out in 2004 titled •8Spectra.' Kadet composes for new media, film and interdisciplinary projects out of her studio, Tektonic Shift. In her visual work she creates interactive, audiovisual installations that involve sensors, spatialization, virtual applications and/or live processing. Past exhibitions/performances include venues such as the Museum of Art Lucerne, Musees de Strasbourg, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery and the Knitting Factory. As an award-winning, experimental filmmaker she has nine film and video shorts that are screened worldwide, with distribution through Cinenova and Fever Films.

An artist's collective that is composed of a fluctuating membership, The Kunst Brothers currently feature artist Alison Saar and digital media artist Tom Leeser. Working from a basis of combining opposites, they bring together the analog world of physical materials and the digital world of moving images and sound.

The work involves the transformation of existing spaces through the art of installation.

Tom Leeser is a film and video artist working with digital multimedia. His work has been shown at the Bronx Museum of Art, the Kitchen, the Knitting Factory, Millennium, Canyon Cinema, Chicago Art Institute, Siggraph and numerous film and video festivals worldwide.

Alison Saar works in sculpture and installation. She is currently represented by Phyllis Kind Gallery in NYC and Jan Baum Gallery in LA. She has exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum, the High Museum, the Whitney Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Brothers have been involved with public installations for group shows such as "New Urban Landscape" in 1988, "Automotive Votive", in 1989 and "Angels at the Crossroads" in 1990. They have received grants from Art Matters and Creative Time.

In 1999 the Kunst Brothers collaborated on "Travelling Light", a sculpture/video installation for the Santa Monica Museum of Art in Los Angeles.

"Stethoscope" is a multi-channel performance/installation exploring the interface between interior and exterior spaces. The architecture of the installation will explore spaces that can and cannot be occupied, raising issues of inclusion/exclusion and inside/outside. Through video projection and sound spatialization we are interested in sensitizing the membrane between, at times only providing mediated access through live-feed audio and/or video, probing the enhancement of perception made possible through this intended limitation of access.

Carole Kim's primary focus as an interdisciplinary artist has been on performance-based installations that often utilize digital and new media technologies combined with the human touch. Situations can range from involving everyone who enters a space to a select few designated performers. She is engaged in making video a more plastic, responsive, improvisational medium. Much experimentation has been done in utilizing the camera as a live visual instrument (live-feed projection), exploring the laptop's live-mix capabilities and investigating the spatial/architectural potential of video projection.

Jesse Gilbert works in sound and software design, creating flexible tools that are activated in live performance and installation settings. His work has recently focused on multi-channel environments, data networks, and real-time electronics using custom sampling software. He's usually occupied with deconstructing technologies as rational systems by exploring alternative designs that emphasize intuitive, fluid modes of human/machine interaction.

OVERTONES is a Los Angeles art venue that supports and promotes creative endeavors in all artistic disciplines, with emphasis on the diversity of Los Angeles communities, emerging and mid-career artists, international collaboration and social responsibility. OVERTONES is dedicated to searching outside the confines of established art institutions and presenting work that has the potential to engage a wide range of audiences.

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