SPECIAL EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

Michal Rovner, More, 2003, projected digital video, projected dimensions variable. Photo courtesy the artist and PaceWildenstein, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York.

Rovner Interior 5'x115" sign:Layout 1

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Michal Rovner

Video, Sculpture, Installation June 28 to November 9, 2008

What’s Inside...

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Exhibition Summary........................................1 About the Artist..............................................1 Exhibition Summary Artwork Images...............................................2-7 Vocabulary Exhibition-related Vocabulary, Books, DVDs.......8 PrePost-visit Activities Pre-and and Post-Visit Activities............................9

Artwork images Upcoming Exhibitions Visit www.heckscher.org for free access to all the Museum’s

Special Exhibition Resource Guides for Teachers.

(see back cover)

2 Prime Avenue Huntington, NY 11743 631.351.3250 Tel 631.423.2145 Fax www.heckscher.org

EXHIBITION SUMMARY This exhibition features the video installations of the IsraeliAmerican contemporary artist Michal Rovner. Teeming masses of little anonymous figures are projected onto various surfaces including stone tablets, books, and graph paper, appearing to walk, bow, spin, and hop all over the flat planes and craggy surfaces. They give a sense of mass humanity, of a dynamic culture and of man’s vulnerability and insignificance in a large society. All the stones were collected in the Middle East. They remain in the form they were found in nature and have not been altered in any way. The figures are more or less silhouettes without identity, dark shadows on a light surface, or vice versa. A number of works of art are projected on objects inside glass vitrines (see image to left), while others are shown on LCD screens and still others project either towards the floor or on blank walls. One video projection, More (opposite), occupies an entire wall of a darkened gallery and has an accompanying audio track.

ABOUT THE ARTIST Michal Rovner was born in 1957 and lives and works in Israel and New York City. She spent much of her early life studying to be a professional ballet dancer. After serving in the Israeli Army, she turned to photography as a career. Since 1987, she has worked with video and film. Rovner is a photographer, film maker, and installation artist. She uses the computer and digital imagery which she projects onto a variety of surfaces. Michal Rovner wants the viewer to come to the work and respond to it totally without influence of any accompanying text. The lack of information accompanying the mounting of the exhibition is intentional. In fact, she goes out of her way to be evasive in some of her titles. The technology is at the heart of the exhibition; without the use of laptop computers, remotes, and projection equipment, the exhibition would be non-existing. The stones, books, papers, and screens would be blank. 1

Museum visitors watch the following in one of the Musuem’s galleries: Michal Rovner, More, 2003, projected digital video, projected dimensions variable. Photo courtesy the artist and PaceWildenstein, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York.

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Michal Rovner, Flower-Knot, 2005, steel vitrine with glass, notebook and digital projection, 57-1/8” x 32” x 20”. Photo courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York.

Michal Rovner, Satat, 2008, stone with digital projection, 33” x 34” x 3”. Photo courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York. 3

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Michal Rovner, Kedem, 2004, steel vitrine with glass, stone and digital projection, 57-1/8” x 32” x 20”. Photo courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York.

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Michal Rovner, Script, 2007, framed LCD screen, paper, computer and digital files, 31” x 19”. Photo courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York.

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VOCABULARY repetition. A way of combining elements of art so that the same elements are used over and over again.

gesture. A movement of the body or limbs that expresses or emphasizes an idea or attitude. It is a form of non-verbal communication.

movement. The act or process of moving, especially change of place or position. This may be actual motion or implied by the arrangements of parts to move the eye.

silhouette. An outline filled with a solid color, typically black on a white ground, and

most often for a portrait.

scale. The ratio between the size of something and a representation of it. positive space. Space in a work of art that is filled with something, such as lines, designs, color, or shapes. The opposite of negative space.

negative space. Empty space in an artwork, or a void. The opposite of positive space. installation art. Art that is or has been installed (arranged in a place) either by the artist or as specified by the artists.

BOOKS Michal Rovner: The Space Between by Sylvia Wolf, Leon Golub, Michal Rovner, and Michal Rush (2002).

Michal Rovner: Fields by Michal Rovner. (2006) A History of Video Art: The Development of Form and Function by Chris Meigh-Andrews. (2006)

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Michal Rovner, Mathematics, 2007, framed LCD screen, paper, computer and digital files, 31” x 19”. Photo courtesy PaceWildenstein, New York. Artist Rights Society, New York. © Artist Rights Society, New York.

DVD art: 21 - Art in the 21st Century (Seasons 1 & 2) (2003). 8

Pre- and Post-visit Activities

Grades 5-12: Value Studies and Stop-Motion Animation

The following activities center around key concepts addressed through the exhibition including movement and gesture as well as video as an art form.

Part I: Figure Drawing Value Studies

Grades K-4: Wire Figures How do our bodies move? Lead kinesthetic movement exercises and discuss human body proportions. How do lines move our eyes? Form different types of lines using string/rope. Introduce wire as a sculptural medium (pipe cleaners for young students). Have students each choose an activity or gesture and use wire to form a figure in motion.

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SHARE YOUR IDEAS ONLINE! Have you taught an exciting preor post-visit lesson related to this exhibition or a past exhibition at the Museum? Share it with other teachers on www.heckscher.org. (See back cover for details.)

Have students carefully observe and draw from mannequins and/or live models to learn human body proportions and shading techniques to show light and shadow. Prepare for Part II: Grades 5-8: Have each student create a movable paper figure. Create individual body parts and shade each with different values of one color. Attach with brass fasteners. (Templates may be desired for younger students.) Grades 9-12: Students may choose to use clay or other materials to create a “movable” figure or use mannequins.

Part II: Gestural Stop-Motion Animation Films

Is video an art form? Why or why not? Have students create storyboards for their own original films starring movable figures from Part I. Create sets and plots using materials of your choice. Use digital cameras to take atleast 30 photographs for each film, gradually moving the figures/sets with each subsequent photograph. Flow photographs into iMovie software and, if desired, add titles and audio for finished original stop-motion animations!

Above: Several still photographs from a stop-motion animation film showing a figure gradually moving through space.

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Everything you need

www.heckscher.org

SPECIAL EXHIBITION RESOURCE GUIDES for TEACHERS Prepare your students before their upcoming School Discovery Program! Guides are developed on a rolling basis and are available free of charge at www.heckscher.org. Simply click on “Education” and “Educator Resources.” All guides include exhibitionspecific information including: • artist biographies • exhibition summaries • full-color artwork images • vocabulary words • pre- and post-visit activities

NEW!

IN THE

“KIDS CORNER”

Each month, the Museum will choose up to 6 lucky young artists to have their artwork displayed in this new online gallery! HOW TO ENTER: Please send a .jpg of your artwork to [email protected]. All entries must include the artist’s FIRST NAME, TITLE of the artwork, and AGE of the artist.

TEACHERS: SHARE LESSONS & STUDENT ARTWORK Have you taught your students a lesson inspired by Michal Rovner: Video, Sculpture, Installation? Share it with us and fellow art teachers at www.heckscher.org! Please send a description of your lesson along with .jpg files of student work to [email protected]. All submissions must include teacher’s full name, school name, district, and grade level.

FURTHER QUESTIONS? 2 Prime Avenue Huntington, NY 11743 631.351.3250 Tel 631.423.2145 Fax www.heckscher.org

Please call the Museum’s Education Department at 631.351.3214 Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, or email [email protected] and we would be happy to help!