OPTIC NERVE X FILMS
Harumi Abe, Sunset.
A vintage box with found slides inspired Abe to conclude, “Maybe what is important is just to see what is in front of me right now.”
Alexa Caravia, Shoo.
Michael Jack San discovers that the pursuit of basic things is not so easy for a wet man without shoes.
Aiden Dillard, Carnival.
Dillard’s collaborative work with Jay Hines, Nick Lobo and Rat Bastard, is a surrealist exploration of this celebration that occurs before the observance of Lent.
Studio El Condor, Planktonic Corrosion of the Mind.
In this film by visual artists and local musicians Reeve Schumacher and Aki Shiroza, a marine scientist analyzes his own emotional detachment from fellow humans through preserved specimens under a microscope.
Garcia Freundt, Cain.
Peruvian-born Freundt contributes a visual representation of the biblical story of Cain and Abel in which Cain kills Abel because he believes that God favors his brother.
Nelson Hallonquist, Gesticulation of an American Icon
This film features edited footage of Bill Cosby and an omission of language that reveals the comedian’s body language as a form of communication.
Dee Hood, Real Life.
Hood’s richly layered video looks at the world of virtual identity.
Mika Kobayashi, Koto.
Kobayashi’s life experiences are presented in simple lines and colors in random forms.
Alvaro Ilizarbe, Museum Quality Freegums.
Peruvian-born, Miami artist Ilizarbe appropriates pop-culture and original dance moves in a celebration of American expression and youth culture.
m lafille, You Gotta Laugh!
Though the amount one laughs varies from individual to individual, one must never forget to do so.
Marlene Lopez and Nicole Martinez, seeing things with one eye closed and both ears open.
In this video, the mundane experience of staring out a window unravels as sights and sounds that usually go unnoticed are stretched, manipulated, and pushed to the forefront.
Federico Nessi, Simulated Sentiment.
Nessi represents the presumed beauty of enlightenment and its flip side – the confusion and anxiety brought on by the struggle to attain it.
Tommy Ralph Pace, Getting Capital Hurts Like Bullets.
A climactic scene from a home makeover television show is appropriated and subverted as social commentary referencing the 2006 murder of Sean Bell by New York City police.
Carlos Rigau, They Told Me To name It Something Personal, So I named it Personal.
An introspective, surreal journey into questions of life and death.
David Rohn, Tick-Tock.
Famed drag persona Adora wanders through an opulent Mediterranean mansion like a phantom.
Jordan Service, Jumping Rope.
Service recognizes the benefits of exercise, but questions why things that improve one’s life are so hard to do.
Jen Stark, Streaming Gradient.
Inspired by the unseen potential of common things and mystery found in the magic of childhood fantasy, this stop-motion animation, which was meticulously made by hand cutting sheets of colored paper, guides viewers through a psychedelic trip of colorful wormholes.
Optic Nerve X is curated by MOCA Assistant Curator Ruba Katrib.
