Swamp Swamp

Paul Nudd

1999 | 00:06:25 | United States | English | Silent | 4:3 | 8mm video

Collection: Single Titles

Tags: Art Criticism, Chicago Art, Performance

Swamp Swamp and Wurmburth are each comprised of a series of tightly cropped shots of small, hand-made table-top sculptures or "sets".  Paint and many other materials that behave like paint (i.e. lotion, shampoo, foodstuffs) are blown through these environments with plastic tubing and forced air.  Each edited collection of shots makes an endless cycle of primal sludge and rupturing goo.  Often, they are reminiscent of nature television, surgical documentary, science-fiction landscapes, and primitive forms of puppetry and special effects.  In addition to obvious references to painting and sculpture, these videos possess a  performance aspect that is noteworthy.  Made in the wake of much slick and glossy new media work, these videos utilize basic analog equipment, conventional art and craft materials, and generate an atmosphere of low-tech cheapness.  Indeed, these works only cost a few dollars to make.  They have been exhibited on small monitors on pedestals, as multi-channeled installations, and as large wall-sized projections.  These pieces contain no sound.  

This title is only available as an excerpt on Suitable Video, Volume 1.