Artist Lecture: Zoe Beloff
Questions: October 31, 2010
1) You work with such an extensive array of mediums (performance, film, photography, drawings, etc). It seems most of your work has to do with state of mind and the connection between mindsets, do you try and keep a similar theme throughout each medium you use?
2) I think something that stands out the most from your website, besides your work of course, is the fact that you have information up about your family. It is so interesting that you have photos and information about your specific family members. Do you have this information available because you want us to know something about them, because they fit into the themes of your work, or simply because of their support as your family? Whatever the reason, I haven't seen a family page like that before and I love it.
Zoe Beloff Response
It was hard to get a quote from Zoe Beloff because she read so perfectly from her notes. My favorite off-the-fly comments she made were probably:
"I went to visit these little people, who have finally made it to London, and they didn't even remember me!!"
"I like to think about these movies as psychoanalytic materials."
"I think of this as my contribution to the history of dreams." (This one is my favorite because I know she is being sincere. I was moved by her passion for what she was talking about and the genuine hope she had that her work was changing history. History of dreams anyway.)
"Being Albert Grass gave me opportunities that I wouldn't normally have had."
Three words to describe Zoe and her work would probably be: melodramatic, narrative, and blurry fabrication.
It is easy to name the most interesting thing I learned during this lecture. I learned that I was fooled! I was completely duped and I think everyone else in the room was too! Her lecture was not a lecture at all- it was an informative performance. She gave an entire speech about this man, Arthur Glass. She showed us his picture, talked about the ties he had to Coney Island, the sketches he made for his amusement park idea, the oddities of his being, his personal dreams, his personal diaries, the comic books he made, the things he struggled with, etc. We learned about intimate details about the life of this man and his roles in the society she was working with on Coney Island... I had no doubt that she had studied this man and his accomplishments and his personal habits for her Coney Island exhibit. And she drops the bomb on us at the end of his fabrication? This was not only the most interesting aspect of her lecture, but also the piece I found most compelling. Because it's a trick! Her performance was flawless. No one doubted her until she revealed herself at the end. I am still thoroughly confused about who hired her for the Coney Island exhibit if that Psychoanalytical Society she talked about doesn't really exist. It was also so interesting because we learned SO much about Zoe as an artist and as a person because she became this alternate figure. And it was great to see her genuine excitement when she so calmly admitted her secret at the end of the lecture.
My original questions about the medium were answered twice. She said medium doesn't concern her, she thinks about what she is doing and how she can best do it and the medium fits in afterward. The question about her family was not addressed, but upon further investigation of her website, I think it is obvious that her family means a great deal to her and effects her work constantly.
Questions: October 31, 2010
1) You work with such an extensive array of mediums (performance, film, photography, drawings, etc). It seems most of your work has to do with state of mind and the connection between mindsets, do you try and keep a similar theme throughout each medium you use?
2) I think something that stands out the most from your website, besides your work of course, is the fact that you have information up about your family. It is so interesting that you have photos and information about your specific family members. Do you have this information available because you want us to know something about them, because they fit into the themes of your work, or simply because of their support as your family? Whatever the reason, I haven't seen a family page like that before and I love it.
Zoe Beloff Response
It was hard to get a quote from Zoe Beloff because she read so perfectly from her notes. My favorite off-the-fly comments she made were probably:
"I went to visit these little people, who have finally made it to London, and they didn't even remember me!!"
"I like to think about these movies as psychoanalytic materials."
"I think of this as my contribution to the history of dreams." (This one is my favorite because I know she is being sincere. I was moved by her passion for what she was talking about and the genuine hope she had that her work was changing history. History of dreams anyway.)
"Being Albert Grass gave me opportunities that I wouldn't normally have had."
Three words to describe Zoe and her work would probably be: melodramatic, narrative, and blurry fabrication.
It is easy to name the most interesting thing I learned during this lecture. I learned that I was fooled! I was completely duped and I think everyone else in the room was too! Her lecture was not a lecture at all- it was an informative performance. She gave an entire speech about this man, Arthur Glass. She showed us his picture, talked about the ties he had to Coney Island, the sketches he made for his amusement park idea, the oddities of his being, his personal dreams, his personal diaries, the comic books he made, the things he struggled with, etc. We learned about intimate details about the life of this man and his roles in the society she was working with on Coney Island... I had no doubt that she had studied this man and his accomplishments and his personal habits for her Coney Island exhibit. And she drops the bomb on us at the end of his fabrication? This was not only the most interesting aspect of her lecture, but also the piece I found most compelling. Because it's a trick! Her performance was flawless. No one doubted her until she revealed herself at the end. I am still thoroughly confused about who hired her for the Coney Island exhibit if that Psychoanalytical Society she talked about doesn't really exist. It was also so interesting because we learned SO much about Zoe as an artist and as a person because she became this alternate figure. And it was great to see her genuine excitement when she so calmly admitted her secret at the end of the lecture.
My original questions about the medium were answered twice. She said medium doesn't concern her, she thinks about what she is doing and how she can best do it and the medium fits in afterward. The question about her family was not addressed, but upon further investigation of her website, I think it is obvious that her family means a great deal to her and effects her work constantly.
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