Karen Zalamea ~ Artist Reference Site



Selected Work		[Allow pop-ups]
	Self Geste single-channel video 6 min 05 sec b&w, stereo sound 2009	Self Geste performs the reproduction of gestures applied to the body, demonstrating a desire towards a mastery of the working body itself. This video emphasizes a shift from an outward projection of effort to an internalized experience of work. video stills > video excerpts >
	Pump single-channel video 3 min 25 sec colour, stereo sound 2009	Pump is a time-compressed presentation of a rubber ball's inflation. The performed action creates visual and audible rhythms, while the object's enlargement gradually supplants the body of its producer. video stills > video excerpts >
	Holepunch single-channel video 5 min 10 sec colour, stereo sound 2009	The video continues my exploration of the mechanized body through the obsessive and repetitive action of hole punching. With the irregular movement of the falling paper, the piece steers away from precise choreography, pairing mechanical gesture with indeterminate results. video stills > video excerpts >
	Stereo Efficiency Cheer (video) single-channel video 5 min 49 sec colour, stereo sound 2008	Stereo Efficiency Cheer presents the artist performing the role of a deadpan cheerleader and reciting an original rhymed cheer entitled “Be Efficient!”. The cheer champions productivity and maximized output, in reference to early twentieth century motion studies and industrial management. video stills > video excerpts >
	Stereo Efficiency Cheer (images) inkjet prints on polypropylene banner 3.5' x 5'; 5' x 7' 2008	The trio of large-scale banner images of cheerleading paraphernalia accompany the performance video, Stereo Efficiency Cheer. images >
	Print inkjet prints on photorag 2008	The flatbed scans of printmaking tools was a project I started while on residency at the Sagamie National Centre for Digital Art. The centre’s printmaking equipment had been stored in a basement as their production is now completely digitally-based. In an effort to understand the historical process, I decided to formally work with these tools, creating “impressions” through scanning and printing on photorag. Each item is isolated by a black background, foregrounding the tools as sacralized relics. I am interested in how these objects, in relation to my other bodies of work, articulate the hand-made, ritualized gesture, and manual labour. images >
	Gesture, Utterance, Quixote single-channel video 2 min 30 sec colour, stereo sound 2008	Gesture, Utterance, Quixote is a composition that explores the expressive quality of hand gestures, detached from verbal communication. A pair of hands takes the spotlight and performs to a musical excerpt from Ludwig Minkus' ballet score, Don Quixote. video stills > video >
	A Series of Slow Processions installation 2007	The installation presents a sculpture of stainless steel wire and cotton, set against a video projection of the weaving process on a computerized Jacquard loom. A Series of Slow Processions engages with gendered labour through performative production, with the intersections of surface, structure, and duration, and with the embodiment of process in an object. images > installation diagram with video >
	Recruit single-channel video 1 min 30 sec b&w, stereo sound 2008	Recruit is a concise text-based video that brings together a collection of customer service value statements. Taken from corporate orientation booklets that aim to initiate a sense of community through shared beliefs, Recruit presents poignant statements. Each word is simultaneously emphasized by a loud, pulsating sound effect. The rhythmic hammering sound, along with the unfolding statements, create a jarring viewing experience where customer service credos mimic the dialect of propagandistic manipulation. video >
	Exercises in Napery single-channel video 5 min 40 sec colour, stereo sound 2007	Exercises in Napery focuses on napkin folding as a disciplined and repetitive task. Divided into three parts, the video begins with a fast-paced instructional video, followed by a task-based performance, and concludes with a stop-motion animation. Through humour and rigour, theatricality and militarism, absurdity and irony, the video examines the economy of labour practices associated with domesticity and the service industry. video stills > video excerpt >
	Diagrammatic Drills ECO prints of vector drawings 7' x 15' 2007	Diagrammatic Drills is a drawing exercise that simplifies different napkin folding diagrams into linear abstractions. Working within the same parameters as Exercises in Napery, the drawings consist of nine constructions. A system was devised to repeat the nine constructions, with each rotating ninety degrees. images >

© Karen Zalamea 2003-2009 < top