Lous America
2021Performance [live]
Lous America
Differences between the live and the studio version of America's performance are interesting in and of themselves, although they are technical rather than content differences. The studio version is shot with a still camera in color, with no zooms or shifts in perspective. The live version – which took place in Tilburg on 3 November 1978 – is in black and white and somewhat shaky as a result of a human camera operator. There are also a number of zooms and shifts in perspective in the live version. The scenario, music, and duration of the piece remains the same. Very little action happens in this short piece, but arguably it is full of drama. The drama comes from the musical accompaniment. There is no other sound save for this music. It is overpowering, discordant classical that in a conventional film would often accompany a images of a crime unfolding or a character discovering something dramatic or traumatic.
Performance [live]
Eye Wat Ching
Lous America
In the work, we are immediately introduced to the face of the artist looking directly into the camera, confronting the viewer, openly, unwavering and clear. Throughout this work America performs slight variations in head and facial movement to a repetitive and absurd soundtrack. The face is presented as a blank yet mechanically expressive canvas and the expression in her eyes is non-directional and unemotive. This isolation and exaggeration of the different parts of her face gives the viewer the impression that what we see is an object rather than a person or individual. The visual composition is supported by a repetitive percussion beat with Jazz overtones and synthesizer sounds.
Eye Wat Ching
Posterama
Henk Wijnen, Annie Wright
For the first time the artists worked together; they organized a "poster" demonstration, in which everyone created their own posters using texts and images... concerning posters. Through their demonstration they situated themselves in the context of existing, active subcultures. They used elements from an underground graffiti culture, broadsheets and unofficial posters that were usually distributed over more neglected parts of the city. These, by nature, ensured a mysterious, ever-changing picture of the city. As a reaction within this subculture the group built a large wooden partition (300 x 500 cm) on the central square of Maastricht, The Vrijhof, for the eleven-day festival "Public artworks" in September 1980. On this "Posterama" fence the otherwise marginal activities of graffiti and posters were taken from the periphery to the center, and made visible for the public. None of the activities were pre-arranged or commissioned by external parties.
Posterama
Mens Agitat Molem
Lous America
Undoubtedly you are being drawn into the dream world of a split personality, in a multitude of bizarre associative images. In this videotape the pictures change in an apparently chaotic sequence. It is the choice of working this way that does not make it easy for the viewer to follow. Soon one will discover there is no narrative, although it is suggested.
Mens Agitat Molem
Squash
Lous America
A close up of the artist’s face, turned horizontal because she is lying on her side, is the focus of this simply shot piece. The title refers quite literally to what happens to the artist’s head. Her face is fairly neutral; it is hard to read anything into her expression. After a few moments in which she looks straight ahead then to the left and right with just her eyes, a hand appears from the top of the screen and pushes down. Quite deliberately another hand is laid on top of the first, followed by another. The pressure of the hands increases and squishes America’s features into a grotesque expression. Men’s and women’s hands both press down in a pile, one with a wedding ring, another with bright red nails. No emotional response from America or discernible gesture of aggression in the hands tells the audience that there is a specific emotion or story associated with this physical act.
Squash
Labyrinth
Lous America
The work 'Labyrinth' opens with grainy and aged sepia tone images of the artist textured with film scratches. These images are set to the sound of an old film projector evoking a nostalgic and retro feel, as if the artist is evoking memories of herself. In the opening scenes we are introduced to a still shots of the artist performing different facial expressions. America plays with the notion of capturing differing moments in time. This is done in a stop-frame mode, where single frames of her expressions are placed one after the other creating a rickety and shaky feel to the movement of the imagery. As the work progresses, America multiplies the single frame in a grid across the screen.
Labyrinth
Underpass
Henk Wijnen, Annie Wright
'Underpass' is a registration of a project organised by David Garcia, Annie Wright, Lous America and Henk Wijnen in an abandoned underway passage at one of Amsterdam’s main traffic intersections near Waterlooplein. This tunnel complex was well-known among graffiti artists, avoided by pedestrians but a fascinating example of an urban 'black hole'. The registration provides an overview of the happenings during the 'Underpass' project by Garcia, Wright, America and Wijnen: four Saturdays during which the Underpass became a public studio with light shows, live music performances, graffiti acts, performances and personal artistic statements made by citizens of Amsterdam.
Underpass
Performance [studio]
Lous America
Two versions of this performance are documented in the collection of the Netherlands Media Art Institute. This particular version was filmed in the artist’s studio, ‘Performance (live)’ documents a live version. Very little action happens in this short piece, but arguably it is full of drama, coming from the musical accompaniment. There is no other sound save for this music. It is an overpowering, discordant classical piece that, in a conventional film, would often accompany an unfolding crime scene or a character discovering something dramatic or traumatic.
Performance [studio]