Seasonal Affective is a video art exhibition that showcases the works of five artists from the catalog of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), a nonprofit organization that distributes and promotes video art and artists. The show features works by Charles Atlas/Merce Cunningham, Stephen Beck, Forcefield, Maggie Lee, and Chris Marker, and was curated by Howie Chen in collaboration with EAI. These pieces explore the themes of nature, sound, movement, and time, creating sensory and affective experiences for the viewers. The aim of this exhibition is to re-enchant the viewers with video art in meaningful and sustained ways that are not clinical or didactic.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is Coast Zone, a landmark video-dance work that is a collaboration between Charles Atlas and Merce Cunningham. The 27-minute piece was shot in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan in 1983. It features dancers performing for the camera, which moves and weaves among them in an elaborate choreography of its own. The soundtrack was composed by Larry Austin and performed by John Cage, Martin Kalve, Takehisa Kosugi and David Tudor. Another highlight is Anima and Union, two works by Stephen Beck that explore his pioneering video synthesis, creating hallucinatory, almost psychedelic experiences. Beck is one of the first artists to use video synthesizers to manipulate electronic signals and create abstract imagery.

The exhibition also includes a collection of early videos from Forcefield, a group that made a splash at the Whitney Biennial in 2002 with their eccentric costumes and performances. Their videos combine animation, music, and humor to create surreal and playful scenarios. Finally, the exhibition presents selections from Chris Marker's Bestiaire series, featuring his beloved cat Guillaume-en-Egypte and a beguiling owl. Marker was a legendary filmmaker who influenced generations of artists with his poetic and political films.

Seasonal Affective is a rare opportunity to see some of the most influential and experimental video art works from the EAI catalog. The exhibition invites the viewers to immerse themselves in the intimate psychic spaces created by these artists, and to reflect on the passage of time and the turbulent backdrop of the world. It runs from November 9, 2023 to February 3, 2024 at the 80 Washington Square East gallery at New York University. For more information on this exhibition and other exciting events happening at 80WSE Galleries, visit their site.

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