Artist Statement: Cat Manolis

Cat Manolis: Action Pants, 2007; foam, thread, sequins, and steel powered by gear motor. Courtesy of the artist.

Reality is not absolute.

It is like a movie, happening out there on a screen as we watch from in here.

We go into the cinema expecting an experience. We are immediately aware of the lighting, and our participation begins. In the cinema, we can be completely drawn in and forget where we are, uniting our reality with the action on screen.

These sculptures are made from film parts. They are fantasized combinations of costumes and audio, collaged screen shots, and audience-activated lighting. Set up in mini-cinemas ("minemas"), they evoke more intimate interactions than the giant Cineplex.

Here, film is the common denominator between art and audience, a known "attraction" to orient and guide our attention toward a lived experience. These living cinemas inspire participation with art objects. No longer seated, the viewer moves about the space determining her own position in it and the duration of her visit.

These minemas provide indeterminate time for contemplation.

Fascinated by how film suspends our reality, I offer these minemas as imagined realities. Entering the minema, you are given costumes, audio, lighting, and text. You are presented with a sculptural "stand-in," like a "light stand-in" on a movie set who moves about and talks so light/sound can be adjusted.

Your job is to create the sculptural "stand-in"'s story, the intersecting stories before this moment in the plot.

Return to the exhibition.