(openPR) - Basel, November 18, 2008 - Fish sticks floating in a tank; people, fully clothed walking under water; wild animals in hotel rooms; inverted body parts: the current episodes on VernissageTV art tv present contemporary artists as masters of the absurd and the illusion.

At P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Argentine artist Leandro Erlich has constructed a full-size pool, complete with all its trappings, including a deck and a ladder. When approached from the first floor, visitors are confronted with a surreal scene: people, fully clothed, can be seen standing, walking, and breathing beneath the surface of the water. It is only when visitors enter the Duplex gallery from the basement that they recognize that the pool is empty, its construction a visual trick fashioned by the artist.

Chicken Nuggets dip themselves, a rabbit in pearls is filing her nails, sausages and hot dogs squirm in terrariums, and fish sticks are floating in a tank: In The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill in Lower Manhattan British Street Art star Banksy put up a mock pet supply shop, “open for pet supplies / rare breeds / mechanically retrieved meat” as a sign says in front of the shop. Banksy: “I wanted to make art that questioned our relationship with animals and the ethics and sustainability of factory farming, but it ended up as chicken nuggets singing.”

In October 2008, 303 Gallery in New York presented new works by Doug Aitken in concurrent exhibitions at 303 Gallery’s 22nd street and 21st street spaces. For the inaugural exhibition in 303 Gallery’s 21st street space, Doug Aitken presented “Migration“, the first in a 3-part cycle of installations titled “Empire”.
The video on VernissageTV shows (in excerpts) a special viewing of Doug Aitken’s installation “Migration” on October 2, 2008. Doug Aitken invited the musicians Lichens, White Rainbow and Arp to perform live music improvisations to the installation, replacing the film’s original soundtrack.

The first solo exhibition of the New York based artist Sarah Oppenheimer at Duve Berlin presents P21 x P41, two installations with periscope like structures. P41, for example, allows the viewer to peer into the private office area of the gallery. Two holes in a wall, one above the other, allow having two lines of sight simultaneously from any given position. The hole with the periscope doubles the image and inverts it, so that the viewer sees the bottom half of the body above the top half of the body.

These exceptional videos are only a small excerpt from the current program on VernissageTV. The next highlight will be the coverage of Art Basel Miami Beach, the satellite art fairs and the exhibitions in Miami's museums, collections and galleries.

The links to the mentioned episodes:

Banksy: The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, New York
vernissage.tv/blog/2008/10/31/banksy-the-village-pet-stor...

Leandro Erlich: Swimming Pool / P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York
vernissage.tv/blog/2008/11/07/leandro-erlich-swimming-poo...

Doug Aitken: Sonic Happening / 303 Gallery, New York
vernissage.tv/blog/2008/11/14/doug-aitken-the-sonic-happe...

Sarah Oppenheimer: P21 X P41 / Duve Berlin
vernissage.tv/blog/2008/11/17/sarah-oppenheimer-p21-x-p41...

The Top 10 videos of the last 2 months:

1. Banksy: The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill
2. Leandro Erlich: Swimming Pool / P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York
3. Chanel Mobile Art, Central Park, New York / Pavilion by Zaha Hadid
4. Momus: White Trash (The Rice Experiment) / Bridge Art Fair Berlin
5. Jenny Holzer: For the Guggenheim / Guggenheim Museum New York
6. Preview Berlin 2008
7. Meat After Meat Joy
8. Ryoji Ikeda, Pierrick Sorin and Stéfane Perraud at Nuit Blanche 2008, Paris
9. Art Forum Berlin
10. Peter Doig Retrospective at Schirn Kunsthalle / Frankfurt a. Main


All episodes are available online at www.vernissage.tv/

About Vernissage TV
VernissageTV is the Internet's unique TV art project, which covers exhibitions and events in the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture. The objective is to give an authentic insight into the world of art by the means of film and video. VernissageTV materializes as video podcast / Internet TV channel / video archive. VernissageTV videocasts two series: The “No Comment” section and the interviews with the protagonists of the art world. VernissageTV is widely distributed via its website and Internet TV networks. Founded in September 2005 VernissageTV is growing steadily. Until now VernissageTV produced, published and archived over 900 episodes.
Website: www.vernissage.tv

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