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Already honored to be participating in "The Gildless Age," a group exhibition at the Torrance Art Museum curated by Denise Johnson, we are further honored to have our work in the show spotlighted by Christopher Knight in his LA Times review. We originally made the multi-channel performative video piece, called Temporarily Embarrased, for inclusion in our 2011 solo show "Play Against" at the UCR Sweeney Art Gallery. In the videos, we "perform an image" by standing still for 2 minutes, frozen in the midst of the performance of "pride of ownership" tasks on the grounds of foreclosed properties in the Inland Empire region of California, ground zero for the foreclosure crisis. "The videos are structurally odd," Knight says, "which is constructive." The title of the piece references a statement attributed to John Steinbeck that equates socialism's lack of appeal in the United States with an economically disenfranchised class considering itself "temporarily embarrassed millionaires." Knight concludes, "JEFF&GORDON infuse the scenes with a subtle, churning sense of cyclical inevitabilty and frail response."
If the Lumière Brothers' "Workers Leaving the Factory" is synonymous with both the birth of film and the 20th century, then the 21st century, internet-based version might be called "Workers Always at the Factory" – a paradigm reflected and embodied in this new work by Jeff Foye and Gordon Winiemko. JEFF&GORDON: DAY JOB is a split-screen video (or video diptych) that collapses a day in the life of the two artists – during which they are always in some state of labor, or engagement with labor – into a monolithic 8-hour running time that coincides with the workday that laborers once fought and died for. The 8-hour running time implies a laborious commitment from the viewer but also deliberately undermines the expectation to take in “the whole thing.” JEFF&GORDON: DAY JOB is a time-based work that transcends the boundaries of time, the way our labor now transcends boundaries under the “empire” of late capitalism. At the same time, this transformation of time given over to labor into an object of aesthetic contemplation begs the question, how might we transform our labor?
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 19th, 12pm - 8pm (special hours).
Coffee and tea will be served 2pm - 5pm.
Regular viewing hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 12pm - 5pm, and by appointment.
Location: Monte Vista 5442 Monte Vista Street, Los Angeles, CA
In a media saturated, success driven culture, the most coveted place to be is the winner’s circle. However you get there – sports, business, politics … on a self-interested or altruistic path – what matters is that you get there, to that place in time where you get to hear the applause, spray the champagne, return the high fives, and fervently shout “YES!” With this interactive, multi-media performance event, collaborative artist duo JEFF&GORDON will give visitors to the gallery the opportunity to bask in their own personal moment of glory, without any of the work to get there. With the aid of live video compositing, the artists will transport each participant to the location that corresponds to their version of success. The addition of the appropriate props, audience participation, and the like will complete the picture, enabling each participant to act out the fulfillment of their ambition, and re-live it forever on video. Part of the "Forum Lounge" series, Thursday, December 6th, 7-9 PM. Visitors may arrive at any time but are encouraged to come at 7PM. Admission: FREE. Link: HERE.
What's in a name? That which we call a NASCAR driver by a slightly different name would be an artist group. Such is the case with JEFF&GORDON, the artist duo comprised of Jeff Foye and Gordon Winiemko; and Jeff Gordon, the charismatic NASCAR driver (#24). The ampersand—the symbol for the Latin word for “and”—is all that separates the artist duo from the driver. Such a small detail can be easily overlooked, or so it would seem by the number of Jeff Gordon NASCAR fans who mistakenly “like” the artists’ Facebook page. Used with Deceit examines public identity and fan culture; JEFF&GORDON have taken these incidents of mistaken online identity as a point of departure, appropriating Jeff Gordon Youtube videos posted by fans and altering them in various ways to conflate the artists with the titular subject. Into NASCAR video game footage featuring Jeff Gordon's car, the artists insert themselves driving around the block multiple times in defiance of a "no vehicular cruising" law; into a clip of the race car driver and his mother cooking with a family recipe on the Rachael Ray show, they insert themselves having a curious encounter with a fried egg; into a fan video of Jeff Gordon winning a race, they insert themselves performing everyday tasks while wearing identical Jeff Gordon masks. JEFF&GORDON will ultimately deposit these (and more) clips back onto Youtube; this exhibition will be their public premiere. Facebook Invite with directions.
On the court of a tony club or ivy covered institution, another Squash player makes an aggressive serve, or politely calls for a "let," ending the rally because his opponent accidently interfered with his shot. In a Riverside neighborhood or Inland Empire community, another family gets a foreclosure notice, just one of an estimated half a million California families that will lose their homes in the national foreclosure crisis. Do we really declare all of these people losers at the game of life, or might we be able to grant them a "let"? What are the limits of personal responsibility, and achievement? Applying their usual performative appropriation of social customs and idioms, the collaborative duo of JEFF&GORDON take on the tension between cooperation and competition that runs through the public discourse in a nation of "temporarily embarrassed millionaires." Sweeney link.