Cory Arcangel – subtractions, modifications, addenda, and other recent contributions to participatory culture…

Ever since Cory Arcangel released Super Mario Clouds – rewrite” (A modded Super Mario Brothers Nintendo video game, erased, but the clouds) – I’ve followed his work – it’s techy, funny and he usually releases the source code of his data tweaking related projects too – Cory has a show in NYC and since I’m spending some time here, I’m going to check it out…

Team Gallery
Soho
83 Grand Street, between Wooster and Greene
212-279-9219
September 29 – November 4, 2006

Sweet Sixteen
Cory applied American avante-garde composer Steven Reich’s concept of phasing to the guitar intro of Guns and Roses’ track Sweet Child O’Mine. Rather than use instruments, Cory took the same two clips from the song’s music video and shortened one clip by a single note. As the videos loop, the two intros grow farther apart until they are back in sync.

Untitled Translation Exercise
Cory sent the script for the film Dazed and Confused to an executive assistant outsourcing firm in India. The assistants were instrcuted to read the different parts and record their performances. The results were then sent back to Cory who has painstakingly dubber the original motion picture. As a viewer watches the feature length film, they are struck by the inconsistencies and manipulations that underline the split between sound and image in the cinema. Cory has taken a film in English and had it dubbed into English, an act which makes the familiar strange. In so doing, he comments on the corporate phenomenon of outsourcing- in which jobs are farmed out, to be performed by cheaper labor in foreign markets. Cory’s piece also illustrates the manner in whcih American ideology is sold to foreign countries frequently in the guise of ‘entertainment.’

Related:

• Cory’s site – Link.
• More info on Artcal – Link.