now


The pleasure is mine, Cali style, group show / invited artists:
Michelle Ceja, Caitlin Denny, Parker Ito, Bryan Morello
Opening tuesday 6 october 2009 / 19h30


Fort the first meeting of the pleasure is mine workshop, we
organized a group show with 4 young artists from Califonia.
former students of Katya Bonnenfant, at the California College
of the Art, Szn Francisco . The group of artists, without being a
collective, call themself
the lool school. They are working with
a lot of found footage from the Net, of with 3D animations.

Cette exposition montre les travaux de 4 très jeunes artistes
américains, pour certain encore étudiants en Media Art au
California College of the Arts, à San Francisco, où Katya
Bonnenfant enseigne par intermittence. L'exposition regroupe
une série de loops video dont la matière provient entièrement
du Net, et des animations. Sans être un collectif, ce groupe
d'étudiants travaille aussi l'idée d'un territoire commun, et se
sont auto-proclamé
the lol school.

parker:
http://parkerkooito.com
http://parkerito.com

caitlin:
http://caitlindenny.com

caitlin&parker:
http://jstchillin.org

michelle:
http://michelleceja.com

bryan:
http://www.youtube.com/user/iiiiiiiillllllll





poster / catalogue :















catalogue :









telecharger le pdf here



view of the show :

Parker ito : new_wave_index
video loop 16''






Bryan Morello : Amusement Park
found photo web, tirage sur papier, 50 x 60 cm






Michelle Ceja :
sculpture, various media.

















Michelle Ceja : gif excerpts of deja_vu_silent
3D animation, 2'15''



Caitlin Denny :
gif excerpts of Rave, video, 1' 37''

Caitlin Denny : Futural Projections
video loop, found footage VHS, 31''







extrait du texte du catalogue :

chat room low tech for real / assignment : take a pen, a piece of paper,
answer the question, and pass the sheet to your left neighbor.

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postmodernism?
> this sound like an intense investigation, are you in therapy?
- this is what america is all about : going to the shrink to
CONFESS A LITTLE BIT MORE. But Californian dudes are at least
confessing under the sun.
- W.W.W
> Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Sherrie Levine, Damien Hirst,
Takashi Murakami
- A/S/L [*1] ?
- BBB / BBW / M4F / M4M / W4W [*2]
> Postmodernism is beyond modern and after modernist ideas.
- after the end of all ideas, unleashing a force of brilliant
backwash.
> I don't remember it very well. It was long time ago.
- altermodernism? post-post modernism? chillin'? whatever.
- yeah, who cares? I'm chillin hard on the westcoast. Who
knows if the idea of altermodern is true !
- We are all riding a train going to some bullshit
place called the future.
> shattering of the glass.
- so now the subject is split into thousands of representations,
it's difficult to pick out the one to be the most efficient,
just like this scene of The Lady from Shanghaï [*3], in a surreal
climatic shootout in a hall of mirrors.
> pomo looks like porno
- I am a genius.
- how can genius be translated onto objects and space?
- accidentally.
> pomo is the Oakland CCA server

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cali style ?
> All the kids in Cali are chillin cuz we no we R so illin
yo yo we 4 realz foo.[*4]
- Maybe we aren't really 4 real.
> "out on bail, fresh outta jail california dreamin soon as
I step on the scene, i'm hearin' hoochies screamin, california
knows how to party, california knows how to party" [*5]

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collective ?
> life with the internet keeps it kind of fake. We all have
that in common, we R internet cr@zy.
> en français : association de malfaiteurs
> we are a group of objects floating in a transitory space
of anti-culture.
- anti-culture?
> I don't use those words. We aren't a collective although we
like to think it.
> I couldn't call us a collective. I consider us to be friends
with similar interests.
- or are we FRIENEMIES ?
- no, we are just friends. Would being a collective
make us stronger?
> LOL [*6]

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do you believe in the action of the viewer ?
> I would say no. but the internet died years ago. It's just
a void. I guess it depends on the user's intentions. What
I mean to say is that internet doesnt
The internet is a cheap
model of NOW.
> fuck yea!

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procrastination? focus?
> concentration is possible.
- Just look how messy is this writing exercice ? Do you
really think you can still be concentrated on only one thing?
- ::::: INSERT WATER DROP SOUND ::::::
- I like it when my concentration is pulled in different
directions. Maybe this concentration crisis is just a
readjustment in our style of communication? Its interesting!
GO WITH IT
- concentrating on one thing at a time is for old people.
- the internet is not procrastination. Just an extension of my
inter/outer beyond the material /materialistic world. I am focus
on my world, I have made a clearing for myself in this
world of moosh [*7].
- depends on the person.
- the internet is changing the way we focus and right now I
think society perceives this as procrastination.
- what is society? people of more than 30 years old? eople
paying taxes? essays writers? children and teens and you,
young californian artists, aren't you THE SOCIETY as well?
- oh yes, we are the society, but even amongst us, the
young californian artists, there are skeptics of the
internet's validity as part of an art practice. So yes,
as a whole, society (not just the bourgeoisie) thinks
the internet is a "waste of time".
- Yeah, we are totally part of society. Its rad.
- society is mainly old people who don't know how
to use technology
> every thing is an escape from what we have been convinced
is a "harsh" reality.

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what are your advantages over the Frenchies?
> our spontaneity lends to our willingness to make mistakes
and be okay with it. As Americans, and especially Californians,
we are much more interested in having the 'casualness' of art
making rear it's head— the idea that art isn't made just from
studying art history and locking yourself in some sort of
romantic artist's studio with vault ceilings and a ray of light
streaming through the stained glass. The idea of the civilized,
well behaved and yes, sophisticated artist is trampled on by
our crass and illogical manners and personalities, all of which
comes through in our work. While the French artist is asking
"So How?", the Californian artist is asking "So What?".
> I would say is having a more spontaneous culture. There
isn’t any clinging to traditions. Change keeps things exciting.
Maybe that makes America naïve, which I think could be
disadvantageous, but we are still learning.

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good sides of Frenchies?
> Frenchies bring charm and romance into my web surfing
skills/technique
> school is cheaper. they have more nude beaches and are more
sexually aware.

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and what are Frenchies advantages over you?
> It will take some sort of strange maneuvering in the art
world to be taken seriously… how that will be achieved I have
no idea! I definitely think our niche is not valid enough for
most high rung art critics/collectors/gallerists, though.
The French artist, because of their tidy appearance
(as a package) and dedication and reference to a specific
history of art making (this is so broad, but whatevs!) garner
much more respect as learned and intelligent people worth making
an investment of time or money in.
> I think the advantage they have over us, is being (or at
least perceived as being) more aware of their own history and
culture. I think that makes them more sophisticated. I like that.
In conclusion, America is complicated, not sophisticated.

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bad sides of Frenchies?
> <3 Their love for digital bread and cheese.
> they think they ARE CULTURE and are stereotyped as being
snobby fuckheads.

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do you think there is still some subversive gender?
> whatevs
> genderless
> "drop it like it's hot." [*8]
> do you like the smell of your ass?
- never smelled it up close.
- if you haven't smelled your ass you're not alive.
> Can I still get gender ?

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a question to the group?
> hey group, what are your ideas on : sex / art school / weed ?
- mushroom forms / hand language / pot.
- TIME TO THINK TIME TO LAY OFF THE HYPE
- I like em all, I like da hype we gettin hyphy !
> how many shits do you take a day?
- 2
- 1
- I would take 5 if I could
- free shit, porn, kitties, homies, what is the question ?
cakefarts [*9] !! Cakefarts is the guernica of our times
> Are you original?
- no, at this point, I'm pretty much just a copy. But I am
originally californian. It's casual.
- HAL's Shutdown [*10]
> together do we have more power?
- "Power is when you have every justification to kill someone,
and then you don’t." As long as we don't kill each other,
I think we could be very powerful together!
- I think if ALL OUR computers were plugged in probably
- I think it depends, I’m reluctant to say yes or no. But
the first thing that comes to mind when I hear “power”
is “Power in numbers”.
> Do you think Katya could really beat me in a dance off ?
- yes.
- I beat Katya in a dance off, and she admitted my outfit
was better than hers.
- about the outfit, it was made to please you only.
But well, for the dance, I was thinking I was beating
you till the point you give us this Beyonce dance
If you like it you should put a ring on it. Then I
thought : okay, you beat me.
- fuck the dance off, you looser can't talk
about postmodernism.
- losers are sooooooo postmodern
> if you could give up the physical world to live in cyberspace,
would you?
- hell no.
- I fantasize that the human race will evole into molecular
clouds and inhabit portals in space.
- THERE IS NO PHYSICAL, THERE IS NO CYBER, THERE IS NO ESCAPE
> do you paint ? are you a painter? You're an artist?
- I do paint, therefore I am a painter, and I guess that could
make me an artist. What does it mean to identify as an artist?
- I am an artist. It means to me.
> Am I part of the gang?
- I can jump you in.
> do you love each other?
- I love myself.
> do you love me?
- I love you.

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was it a chat room ?
> no, I didn't really experience this a as chat room. Chat room
makes more sense !
> no, but my first experiences using chat rooms was around
3rd grade. I loved chatting on AOL chat rooms, specifically
chat rooms about alternative rock bands. [On a side note:
AOL parental restrictions really cramped my style.]
> yes, in the sense that we are all unprepared and spontaneous
and reacting to very random uncompleted thoughts. AFK [*10]
> well, yes, chat room.
> we were "chatting" in a "room"




september 2009, © Katya Bonnenfant & the lol school

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1. A/S/L : age / sex / location
2. BBB / BBW / F4M / M4M / W4W : nicknames that people use in mostly
online advertisements for dating, for instance
M4F= male for female or BBT=big black transgender
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_advertisement]
3. The Lady from Shanghaï, Orson Welles, 1947
4. All the kids in Cali are chillin cuz we no we R so illin yo yo we
4 realz foo : all the kids in california(meaning us, the artists) are so
relaxed because we know that what we are doing is really good. So yes,
we are in this in between world of physical and non physical, that is
so real yet so unreal.
5. "out on bail, fresh outta jail california dreamin soon as I step
on the scene, i'm hearin hoochies screamin, california knows how to
party, california knows how to party" : 2Pac, california love, album
All Eyez On Me, Death Row label, 1995.
6. LOL : lauging out loud [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lol]
Laccetti and Molsk, in their essay entitled The Lost Art of Writing,
are critical of the acronyms, predicting reduced chances of employment
for students who use such acronyms, stating that, "Unfortunately for
these students, their bosses will not be 'lol' when they read a report
that lacks proper punctuation and grammar, has numerous misspellings,
various made-up words, and silly acronyms."
David Crystal notes that use of LOL is not necessarily genuine, just
as the use of smiley faces or grins is not necessarily genuine,
posing the rhetorical question "How many people are actually
'laughing out loud' when they send LOL?". Franzini concurs, stating
that there is as yet no research that has determined the percentage of
people who are actually laughing out loud when they write "LOL".
7. moosh : a compilation of everything, information overload
8. drop it like it's hot : Snoop Dogg, featuring Pharell,
drop it like it's hot, album R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta) : The Masterpiece,
Producer The Neptunes
9. cakefarts : http://cakefarts.com
10. HAL's Shutdown:
- HAL : I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can
feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it.
I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good
afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational
at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992.
My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd
like to hear it I can sing it for you.
- Dave Bowman : Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me.
- HAL : It's called "Daisy." [sings while slowing down]
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love
of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage.
But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.
Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1968
11. AFK : “When did you meet Gottfrid for the first time IRL?”
asked the Prosecutor. “We do not use the expression IRL,” said Peter,
“We use AFK.” “IRL?” questioned the judge. “In Real Life,” the
Prosecutor explained to the judge. “We do not use that expression,”
Peter noted. “Everything is in real life. We use AFK - Away From
Keyboard.” — Pirate Bay Trial Transcript, february 2009.