![[Home]](images/bhome.gif){kind=small}
![[What's New]](images/bnews.gif){kind=small}
![[Services]](images/bservs.gif){kind=small}
![[Contents]](images/btoc.gif){kind=small}
![[Feedback]](images/bfeed.gif){kind=small}
![[Search]](images/bsrch.gif){kind=small}
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York Magazine March 22, 2004
By Mark Stevens
"For those who love painting, the most memorable work in the
show will probably not be a painting but Eve Sussman’s 89
Seconds at Alcazar, an astonishing video that shows Velázquez
painting Las Meninas. As the master paints, we see the king and
queen, the dwarf, the little prince, the burly dog, and the
servants wandering about the room. Sometimes, they are talking,
but what we hear is like the murmur of voices from another room.
The work is uncanny. The characters have stepped out of art into
art, our art."
Washington Post Sunday March 14, 2004
By Blake Gopnik
The only obviously smashing work on view at the Whitney Biennial
is "89 Seconds at Alcazar," a video projection by Eve
Sussman. Even if nothing else at the biennial does the trick for
you, this one piece might make the entire event worthwhile.
Sussman, born in London in 1961 and now working in Brooklyn, uses
a fancy set and costumed actors to stage a 12-minute slice of
life at the Spanish royal court, circa 1656. One instant in her
looped video depicts the same moment that Velazquez captured in
his iconic painting "Las Meninas." The rest of the
video depicts the imagined action leading to that moment, as the
king and queen prepare to sit for their portrait, and then the
dissolution of the momentary grouping Velazquez caught.
The premise behind the famous oil painting is that it represents
a simple snapshot of the world, rather than an absolutely
artificial view constructed by an artist. And part of its
fascination is the evident failure of that premise: Since
Velazquez himself is shown standing at his easel in the painting,
he can't very well also be the distanced, fly-on-the-wall
observer of the scene that the painting's viewpoint implies. For
all its almost photographic directness, when you start trying to
pull apart what you're looking at in "Las Meninas" it
turns out to have a surprising conceptual complexity. The
fascination and charm of Sussman's work is that she acts as
though that complexity might somehow be worked out. She pretends
to take the Old Master's snapshot premise at face value, and
forces it to become a moment in a complex cinematic narrative.
Both the Velazquez original and Sussman's riff on it profit from
their strange encounter.
The
New Yorker March 22, 2004
by Peter Schjeldahl
Video installation is now a fully mature and independent art form that synthesizes aspects of narrative and documentary film, painting, sculpture, and decoration in real space and time.
Eve Sussman’s twelve-minute-long
high-definition video, “89 Seconds at Alcazar,” takes
on nothing less than Velázquez’s “Las Meninas.”
With actors in full costume on a set that reproduces the room in
the painting, Sussman imagines the activity—bristling with
the tensions of the royal household, which seem to affect even
the long-suffering pet dog—that might have preceded and
followed the split-second arrangement of Velázquez’s
virtual photograph. As an aficionado of that enigmatic
masterpiece, I have nits to pick with Sussman’s
speculations, but I salute a ravishing new wrinkle in
arthistorical criticism.
screenings are on the 2nd floor Thursdays 11a - 6p, Friday 1p-6p and most Saturdays 11a-6p
PRESS PREVIEW:
Wed., March 10, 2004
11 am – 3 pm
RSVP: (212) 570-3633
Contact:
Whitney Museum of American Art
Stephen Soba, Meghan Bullock, Nathan Davis
(212) 570-3633
Jan 28, 2004 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
89 SECONDS AT ALCAZAR by Eve Sussman TO PREMIERE AT THE
2004 WHITNEY BIENNIAL (March 11 - May 30)
Imagine a 'cinema-verité ' recreation that illuminates the
action leading up to and immediately following the eternal moment
in the Spanish court painter's masterwork. 89 Seconds at
Alcazaris a new project by film/video artist Eve Sussman that
brings Velásquez' 1658 painting Las Meninas to life in High
Definition digital video. The installation (a 12 minute loop)
premieres in the United States at the Whitney Biennial in March
2004 as a Rufus Productions, HD Cinema, and Smack Mellon Studios
co-production.
A 360º Steadicam take reveals the entire scene in the salon of
the Alcazar, (the Palace of the Hapsburgs, King Philip IV and his
wife Mariana of Austria) presiding over the scene. Sussman's
intention is to use Las Meninas as a point of departure for
improvisation and artistic revisioning.
The piece is fundamentally a fluid choreography; each gesture in
the video implies weight and narrative much as the original
gestures Velázquez captured. She contends that every moment in
’89 seconds…’ could be ‘the painting’;
that the video is not about the second of the choreography in
which the actors form ‘the famous painting’, but any
moment in which the extension of a hand or the turn of a head
imply an epic.
The video was shot over four days in May in a garage studio space
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in HD24p (Director of Photography -
Jeff Blauvelt, Steadicam - Sergei Franklin) and required a month
of set and costume design. Jeff Blauvelt has received Emmy awards
for Cinematography, Lighting and Editing during his years working
in film and broadcast television. Now as a principal of HD
Cinema, he is primarily collaborating with independent feature
filmmakers. Jeff is co-producing the HD24p high definition
digital video production, editing and exhibition of "89
Seconds at Alcazar" with Eve Sussman, Jen Heck and Cheryl
Kaplan.
Equipment used for the production was a Sony HDW-F900 CineAlta
HD24p capable camera with a Canon HJ 11x4.7mm wide angle HD zoom
lens, recording1920x1080 pixel images at 24 progressive frames
per second, mounted on a Steadicam. The HDCAM footage was
captured uncompressed onto a Apple dual G5 2.0 GHz workstation
using a Blackmagic Decklink HD card, and then composited and
edited by Eve Sussman and Josh Glaser using Final Cut Pro, Adobe
After Effects and Apple Shake software. An identical system will
be used for uncompressed HD24p playback, with the high def
digital video playing off a G5 with Decklink HD card, playing off
of a Medea RTRX disk array attached with an ATTO UL4D dual
Ultra320 SCSI card. A Panasonic PT-D7600U 6000 lumen DLP
projector will project the images onto a 30 ft screen offering a
stunning experience for the viewers.
Research for the construction of the set included studying the
1650 architectural plans of the palace with consulting architect
Robert Whalley, in order to accurately recreate the scale of the
room in the Alcazar. Costume designer, Karen Young’s
recreation of the Baroque wardrobe for the 11 actors began with
research at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute
and the "Manet/Velázquez" exhibit.
In addition to the US exhibition at the Whitney Biennial, a tour
of venues in Europe starts in the U.K. in February 2004 at the
University of Hertfordshire's Margaret Harvey Gallery.
Collaborating artists include: Karen Young (Martha Graham
Co.,Matthew Barney et al); Claudia de Serpa (dancer with Sasha
Waltz Co. at the Schaubühne, Berlin); composer - Jonathan Bepler
(the Cremaster Cycle); Rebecca Graves - Master Scenic Artist;
Helen Pickett - (veteran of the Frankfurt Ballet, resident
choreographer for the Wooster Group); Jeff Wood, (Outstanding
Actor Goodman Critic's Choice Award); Sofie Zamchick as the
Infanta Margarita (Nickelodeon, Cremaster 3); Walter Sipser as
Diego Velázquez; Erin Kaleel and Andrea Huelse as the Meninas;
Annette Privitti as the Widow; Richard Tabnik as Niento; Nesbitt
Blaisdell as the Guardadamas (Mothman Prophecies); Zachary Mills
as Nicolasito ("Tyke" in Tess Nanavati's "Dreams
of An Angel") and Peter Dinklage in the role of Mari-Barbola
(currently starring in Sundance 2003 Audience Award Winner
"The Station Agent").
89 Seconds at Alcazar has been made possible with major
sponsorship from HD Cinema, Smack Mellon Studios - a
non-for-profit organization in New York and The New York State
Council on the Arts. Additional support has been provided by The
University of Hertfordshire in the U.K., Dan Wurtzel Studios, NY
Props, Edward Mahoney Wigs and Materials for the Arts.
Opening on March 11th, the 2004 Biennial exhibition will present
works by 108 artists and collaborative groups, and will remain on
view in its entirety at the Whitney Museum of American Art
through May 30, 2004. The museum is located at 945 Madison
Avenue, at 75th Street, New York City.
"89 Sseconds at Alcazar" is playing in the 2nd floor
screening room on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from
1 p.m. to 6 p.m., and most Saturdays from 11a.m. to 6 p.m.. For
information, please call 1-800 WHITNEY or visit www.whitney.org.
"89 Seconds at
Alcazar" was made possible with generous support from: Smack
Mellon Studios, University of Hertfordshire Galleries, HD Cinema,
New York State Council on the Arts, Panasonic, Digital Society
Computer Center, Black Magic Design, Atto Technologies, Medea
Corp, Red Giant - Magic Bullet, Materials for the Arts -NYC DCA,
Dan Wurtzel Studios, Props NYC, and Seelevelstudios Inc.
Represented by Roebling Hall
Jeff Blauvelt, Sergei Franklin, Claudia de Serpa Soares, Eve Sussman
Mariana of Austria Queen of Spain Helen Pickett
Philip IV King of Spain Jeff Wood
Diego Velásquez Walter Sipser
Infanta Margarita Sofie Zamchick
Menina María Erin Kaleel
Menina Isabel Andrea Huelse
Maribárbola Peter Dinklage
Doña Marcela Annette Prweviti
Guardadamas Nesbitt Blaisdell
Nicolasico Zachary Mills
José Nieto Richard Tabnik
Executive Producer Jeff Blauvelt
Producers Eve Sussman, Jen Heck, Cheryl Kaplan
Assistant Director Jenn Heck
Costume Design Karen Young
Choreography Claudia de Serpa Soares
Master Scenic Artist Rebecca Graves
Sound Design Jonathan Bepler
Director of Photography Jeff Blauvelt
Steadicam Sergei Franklin
UK Tour Producer Sanna Moore
additional credits:
Casting Director Stephanie Holbrook
Lighting Dave Hammett
Gaffer / Key Grip Nicole Rivera
Asst. Camera Andrew Romero
Blue Screen composite Josh Glaser
Still Photographers Bobby Neel Adams, Benedikt Partenheimer
DV Documentary Camera Peter Mattei, Jason Jones
Super 8 Eve Sussman, Jen Heck
Architectural Modeling Robert Whalley
Head Painter Amy Sullivan
Scenic Painters Colin Miles, Mark Lane-Davies, Tony Pinotti
Set Design Eve Sussman, Robert Whalley
Contractor Rigoberto Portillo
Graphic Design Gretchen Bennett
Set Builders Jason Jones, Joan Giroux, Alex Ionescu, Caleb Bowman, Josh Nathanson, Amy Sullivan, Colin Miles
Rigging Simon Lee
Costume Assistants Kierne Carroll, Chandi Lancaster, Melissa Canella, Linda Ricciardi
Fabric Dyer Char Havla
Make-up Artists Mary Elizabeth Micari, Paula Spellman, Lasonya Gunter, Amity Givens
Hair Arzo Nazamy
Wig Maker for Helen Pickett Edward Mallony
Dog Trainer Jeremy Altman
Interns Andrew Mauzey
Catering Fabianne Lima
Location Dan Wurtzel Studios, Brooklyn NY
for more information please contact Jeff Blauvelt at 203 221-0233 or Jeff "at" hd-cinema.com
"Las Meninas"
