You Can’t Stay Here PAM!

by Eliza Fernbach December 2007.

Online Video Portal Streams Artists into community and exhibition.

[PAM] Live and in Person
Participation lies at the heart of the online video portal [PAM]. In fact the site has generated such response that the best way to communicate with the PAM founders is to find them in person. They are a visible, engaged group on the New York Art scene; Lee Wells, a curator and Artist in his own right, was introduced to Christopher Borkowski, a digital artist and IT specialist at the Guggenheim by Raphaele Shirley, whose credentials include working for Nam June Paik. Artist Aaron Miller had already been collaborating with Borkowski following on their with Scope Art fair on the horizon, [PAM] was born in December 2005 two months after an impromptu brainstorming session at Shirley’s studio.

‘With [PAM] we sought an interactive and inclusive means of bringing artists and their audience into the curatorial process. Says Wells, ‘We figured out a simple way to present it in a non-hierarchal fashion. [PAM] is more of an educational tool than anything else.’ Arguably [PAM] is more than just instructional. [PAM] is an online smorgasbord of video creation and a real time installation that is reviving the sense of community in an art world where dollars seem to be overtaking sensibility. Like the commercial behemoth, Youtube, [PAM] was created with open source software but its start up cost was less than $500.00. The [PAM] founders essentially hacked a system that would have necessitated hundreds of thousands of dollars for a commercial venture. The result is a dizzying array of one thousand video artworks by artists in over eighty countries.

In [PAM] we trust
Trust and collaboration ensure [PAM] evolves smoothly. ‘Alexis Hubshman and the Scope Art Fair made us realize that [PAM] wasn’t a one time gig.’ Says Wells ‘Alexis is our partner and one of our most trusted advisors.’ Wells and his partners are quick to acknowledge other influences: ‘I have been lucky enough to learn from a lot of great people. Kerry James Marshall, Phyllis Bramson, Julia Fish, I-igo Manglano-Ovalle, Steve Campbell, Stewart Home, God and the Stars, Hannah Higgins, Critical Art Ensemble and Miroslaw Rogala to name a few.’ Wells also cites a wide range of co-operative inspiration; art portals such as Rhizome.org, Furtherfield.org and organizations like the Coyote Arts Festival in Chicago as well as The United Nations. Raphaele Shirley references her experience assisting Nam June Paik at the Guggenheim as groundwork for the sort of interpersonal and technical work that [PAM] has required. ‘On a conceptual level we are walking in his footsteps so it is a great joy to be able to reference him and review what he originally predicted for the age of technology.’

[PAM] comes to life
TELECULTURE a show curated by Wells at PACE University Gallery in New York in December, showcased a selection of [PAM] artists. At the opening photographer Eric Payson paid tribute to both PAM and PACE as vital new elements of the video art scene. His haunting transparencies (Ghostplay, 2007), rich in sociological observation, (the NFL as a metaphor for slavery) were as dynamic as the moving pictures in the show. Of these, the four-channel video (SisterCity, 2007) by newcomer Jennifer Jones was technologically ambitious and psychologically challenging. Jillian McDonald, Co-Director of the Gallery and practicing new media artist singled out Taras Hrabowsky’s Amalgamide Tide (2006) as a highlight. A projection careening down a wall overlooking the main staircase, the CGI video was a year in the making, the work depicts thousands of human figures; tossing, floating and whirling in patterns of weather systems that Hrabowsky has mapped them into. Mesmerizing and disturbing, it is uncanny in its decorative and political balance.

Making [PAM] pay
Now that [PAM] is established and thriving, the founders must face the inevitable- a reconciliation with the Art Market. Alongside plans for the site to become a vehicle for art sales, developments include shifting the focus of the website to engage artists in commentary as well as providing exhibition information. Says, Chris Borkowski ‘We would like to find a way to sustain the organization and put money into the hands of the artists involved. At the end of the day artists have to make a living.’

[PAM]’s Progeny
Interpersonal and professional alliances that [PAM] has already fostered bode well for its future. In two short years the project has gone from studio imaginings to real-time exhibits, generating new work and opportunities for established as well emerging video artists Bethany Fancher, a [PAM] member and sculptor, new to the video world was included in the TELECULTURE show and is already at work on new video pieces. She is also planning a work that will incorporate a horseback trip across the United States. Mew Media Pioneer G.H. Hovagimyan whose work spans decades of the New York Alternative scene, has played an active role in supporting the project. His piece, New Orleans Rant2, a wry punk commentary on the tragedy in that city, also challenges the worldwide membership of [PAM] to keep moving forward. His rant You can’t stay here is a call to perpetual action. Lee Wells has great hopes for the creature he and his collaborators have brought into being, ‘[PAM] is designed to be adapting to technology as it changes. She is two years old in December. We are hoping she will have children one day.’

Websites:

http://www.perpetualartmachine.com
http://www.pace.edu/digitalgallery