mnartists.org: Stephen Rife

Projection

Stephen Rife — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 13:46:30 GMT

Demonstration with the firehovel (see earlier examples), using a large fan to distribute burning dust up the side of building's exterior wall.

Yves Klein Tribute: Return of the Sun

Stephen Rife — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:43:30 GMT

A Valentine's Day tribute to the ephemeral/everlasting Yves Klein, marking the close of the Walker Art Center's retrospective, [i]With the Void, Full Powers. [/i]The central element is a 12-jet wok burner, painted gold and placed at eye level on a gold stand. The piece was unauthorized but brief and without interference. Video documentation can be seen though the external link.

Reprise: Signer's Suitcase

Stephen Rife — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:25:09 GMT

The live performance of this piece and its resulting video was part of a series I did in 2008-2009, intended to resurrect the work of other artists in form and spirit. 'Suitcase was an attempt to recreate a kinetic sculpture/action by Roman Signer, documented by Peter Liechti in his 90 minute film, [i]Signers Koffer[/i] (1995). The principle of the effect is simple and, in Signer’s hands, poetic. A weight is tethered by a lengthy rope to a suitcase handle and thrown over the edge of a bridge, causing the rope to follow the weight and eventually yank the suitcase up and over the railing.

As none of the potential witnesses appeared for the performance, and dog-walkers and joggers passed by without giving the piece their attention, I was free to treat the camera as the single audience member, and stop to reposition it as needed. The establishing shot, two close-ups, and final medium shot that make up the sequence were shot chronologically, so that the impact seen in the last three frames was, in fact, a surprise when it occurred.

Video can be seen through external link.

Streetlamp

Stephen Rife — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:34:26 GMT

A metal housing for an electric, outdoor light was filled with shredded office paper, ignited, and held aloft at various locations in downtown Halifax, during the NOCTURNE Art Festival. The series of ignitions/illuminations was improvised at the last minute due to the cancellation of a more interactive work. That piece was meant for the interior of an abandoned building that had been made inaccessible just hours earlier. (photo by Ege Edener)

Roman Signer Tribute

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:19:46 GMT

A birthday cake for Roman Signer covered in white icing and seventy ping pong balls (made of nitrocellulose), signifying Signer's 70 years. The cake was ignited outside The Rochester Art Center during exhibition of the artist's sculpture, drawings, and video works. Video of the piece can be seen here: http://vodpod.com/watch/3833821-seventy-ping-pong-ball-cake-for-roman-signer (photo Sean Smuda)

David

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:15:28 GMT

This was a complex piece that involved hot water, a large reproduction of Bernini's David, the cutting of my thumb (knife visible in image), and the hurling of dozens of tea bags at the facade of The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. The piece was highly photogenic, involving a surprising amount of blood, steam, and audience enthusiasm. Alas, the stills and video documentation of this event are woefully inadequate.

Monofilm (fire stage)

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:55:27 GMT

The very rapid ignition of the piece. To see a video document of this event visit: http://rifework.blip.tv/#1293008 (photo by Patrick Maun)

Monofilm (installation before ignition)

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:50:25 GMT

Visitors were able to examine various scenes from the B Western "Feud of the Trail" before the film stock was ignited. A layer of plastic and soft paper acted as a diffusion filter for the halogen light that illuminated the wooden pentapod on which the film was displayed. Medicine Lake, Minnesota, Winter 2008. To see a video document of this event visit: http://rifework.blip.tv/#1293008 (photo by Alexa Horohowski)

Partial Document of Performance

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:46:34 GMT

The cardboard sheet and ceramic helmet, on display in Anna Leonowens Gallery after the "Entry" performance.

Entry

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:43:46 GMT

A sheet of cardboard and wax, 42" x 42", ignited from the center with a gelled fuel contained in a ceramic helmet made by Martina Lantin. When the burned hole was large enough, I lowered the sheet over my body and stepped through it. The famed "moth palindrome" is written in charcoal on the piece, in such a way that each letter is legible from both the interior and exterior of the palindrome's circular formation, to create a kind of double palindrome. What is the difference between reading in one direction or another, if what is being read conveys the same thing, and moves the reader with the same message? We might say that in reading something backwards, we are moving away from reading normally, and moving toward reading what has never been read.

Smell Piece

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:27:26 GMT

The concept was to present an olfactory meal that participants could savor in stages, as they would a multiple course dinner. Smells were separated by a plastic, with dry or moist components exposed one after another, and spread or disturbed with a hockey stick to aid in the release of smells, which included scotch, nutmeg, chili and sesame oil, asparagus urine, and coffee. Presented at NSCAD's Port Campus Bldg. Winter 2007.

Carbonera

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:15:01 GMT

A cardboard fireplace assembled with packaging tape and using shredded office paper as fuel. Presented to pedestrians on Christmas Eve 2007.

Launch

Stephen Rife — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:07:11 GMT

The key element of this piece is the steaming body, reaching upward from its seated position in Halifax's Grand Parade Park. Bright quartz lights were used not only to accentuate the steam, but produce it, by heating the surface of my body in the cool night air. The vapor is urine, gathered from other MFAs in the program at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. The urine was reheated in a coffee maker, cooled slightly with additional water, and poured over my head and chest, with a wool mask and wrapping to help hold the liquid. (photo by Ege Edener)

Thanksgiving Prelude

Stephen Rife — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 02:04:24 GMT

A 'meal' of smell and weight, using fermented wheat and barley from a local brewery. A wooden plank was laid on the laps of participants, to support my weight as I walked on them around the banquet table, spreading and turning the mash with a hockey stick. (photo by Ege Edener)

The Darshanty

Stephen Rife — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 01:49:24 GMT

Part of the 2007 Art Shanty Projects, The Darshanty was an installation that invited visitors to "give what you can," by inserting a message in a decorative hole in the top of a podium standing in the center of the structure. The eight-legged structure (pictured) allowed visitor to approach the podium from any angle. Some interpreted the podium as a donation box and inserted one dollar, five dollar, and ten dollar bills. These were sometimes (accidently) burned by successive visitors using a book of matches and writing paper provided in a drawer on the podium. (photo Sean Smuda)