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On View In The Islands
Artist explores influence
of technologyLocal-born artist Paul Pfeiffer explores how our experience of the world is affected by mass media and new technology in "Paul Pfeiffer: Video, Photographs and Sculpture."
Pfeiffer extracts visual elements from popular culture -- which include a video of Michael Jackson dancing, boxing matches and basketball games -- in his works and transforms them into a completely different experience. His pieces provoke reflection about our society and the influence of technology on our worldview.
"Race Riot," for instance, loops video of an apparently injured basketball player writhing on the court. The player's "agony or ecstasy" and the figures "hovering over him ... suggest violence," the accompanying text reads. The video is enclosed in a vitrine, which gives it "the appearance of a historical artifact," suggesting "an infinite probability of social strife" through the repetition.
The Jackson piece, "Live Evil," morphs Jackson's dancing figure into patterns that resemble a skeleton morphed into a primitive idol morphed into "a Rorschach-test pattern."
The show runs through next Sunday at the Contemporary Museum, 2411 Makiki Heights Drive. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $5 adults; $3 students and seniors; children 12 and under free. Call 526-1322.
"Corner Piece" (2002), a digital video loop, features footage of a boxer being treated in his corner during a match. It creates the effect of infinite spatial recession, similar to the effect of putting two mirrors across from each other.
"Live Evil," a video installation, is the artist's manipulation of a dancing Michael Jackson.
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