A lot of the thoughts that I thought last year never made it to this site. I’m going to be posting them periodically as though they were still fresh — unedited and un-updated. And maybe with some context. This one’s a review I pitched to an art mag that didn’t quite make it.
Tommy Hartung
Anna
On Stellar Rays
Tommy Hartung has found a winning formula for his handcrafted movies: begin with literary inspiration, combine footage from an old documentary, experiment with found objects in stop-motion animation and exhibit the result along with some objects from the studio. It worked for his 2009 video Ascent of Man, which was a breakout hit at the 2010 edition of “Greater New York” at MoMA PS1 and it succeeds again in “Anna,” the artist’s second solo show at Orchard Street’s On Stellar Rays.
For the single-channel video at the center of the exhibition, Hartung began with Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. There is, however, little evidence of the realist masterpiece here, other than the indirect inclusion of another realist work, a 1930’s Soviet film called Earth. Instead, the film follows a group of figures—deeply detailed, but disturbingly fragmented mannequins—as they observe and participate in a series of ritualistic actions. Covered in glitter, missing limbs and revealing burning candles where their organs would be, the sculptures huddle over alchemical acts involving fire and steams of salt. In some cases, the camera follows material as it flows into orifices, revealing abstract passages of film that evoke chimneys and advancing crowds. Even as they blend into one another the scenes with the figures and those that buttress them share an uneasy feeling, heightened by Hartung’s tightly crowded framing.
Hartung has said that his work is deeply personal, something which is clear throughout the gallery. An installation of the plaster-covered mannequins offers a glimpse into the artist’s studio, with sticks of incense, cigarette butts, props, and film equipment. The artist is also present in the video; stop-motion animation reveals the artist’s hand—sometimes quite literally—as he shifts figures and lights fires. At times, Hartung succumbs to art-school tropes like those scattered cigarette butts and a droning ambient soundtrack that signals: this is serious video art. But even with its hiccups, the depth of detail present here promises Hartung has much more to explore.
photos (top to bottom): flickr/akeg; Jeremiah, 2011, C-print, 20 by 24 inches; Epilogue, 2011 (detail), Mannequins with plaster, nail polish, paint, salt, dirt, crushed walnut shells, incense, white wall and unique single-channel HDV, Dimensions variable
