JOSH MICHAELS
24 HOUR EMPIRE
January 7 – 16, 2016
Opening on First Thursday, January 7, 6:00 to 8:00pm
24-hour screening Saturday, January 9, 1:00pm – Sunday, January 10, 1:00pm
THE WORK
For this exhibition, Josh Michaels creates an elaborate homage to the original Empire, one of Andy Warhol's first durational films. Beginning with a 24-hour durational video, Michaels used that original footage to also create photographs, lenticular prints, multi-channel video installation and interactive video displays. Michaels approached this multi-media project as an investigation, asking: How might Andy Warhol have made Empire today? Click to read more about Josh Michaels' process, influences and collaborators.
Empire was one of the earliest in a series of underground films by Warhol that focused on a single subject for an extended period of time. To create it, Andy Warhol and Jonas Mekas spent six and a half hours filming the Empire State Building from the 41st floor of the Time-Life Building one summer night in 1964. These films were unconventional then, but they foreshadowed our current culture of always-on video made popular by the Internet and other readily available technologies. In 2014 Empire celebrated its 50th anniversary, which included screenings in New York and a special silver illumination of the Empire State Building.
THE ARTIST
Josh Michaels is an multidisciplinary artist and engineer. His primary focus is on exploring, understanding, and explaining the impact of technology on society specifically in relation to time. In addition to his practice, he operates the Diode Gallery for Electronic Art, which showcases cutting-edge electronic and digital artwork; and runs Jetson Creative, which focuses on creating artistic software and interactive installations. He is deeply passionate about new models for art distribution and is constantly experimenting with ways to share and distribute artwork. Based in Portland, Oregon, he is also active in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Paris.
PRESS
Josh Michaels Revisits Warhol’s ‘Empire’ in the Streaming Age - Artsy