Ignacio Uriarte began his career in business administration before quitting “to work as a full time artist,” as he describes in his statement. Translating his administrative expertise to a creative context, Uriarte incorporates the quotidian tools and habitual methods surrounding the office environment into his artistic practice. His materials include Bic pens, Xerox machines, ink cartridges, and other office paraphernalia; his process is driven by routine and repetition. His new video work, which was displayed in Nogueras Blanchard‘s booth at Art Basel Miami Beach earlier this month, comments on the iconic machine, the typewriter, and its decline into obsolescence.

The History of the Typewriter Recited by Michael Winslow documents the actor’s recreation of the distinct mechanical sounds generated when using a typewriter. Michael Winslow is known for his role in the Police Academy movies, as well as his uncanny ability to simulate sound effects using his voice. In the video, Winslow attempts to mimic the sounds of various typing machines from the 1870s to the 1980s. Uriarte recorded the sounds of over 3,000 typewriters from the Schreibmaschinenmuseum in Partschins, Switzerland and the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. The artist then chose 68 models for Winslow to work with. The actor was only able to recreate the sounds of 32 models in the film, a powerful reflection on the interaction between man and machine, and the limitations of both. The specific timeframe of the work points to the invention of the typewriter and its ultimate demise with the launch of the first personal computer and accompanying word processing software by IBM in 1984. The first Police Academy movie was also released in 1984.

Uriarte received a degree in Business Administration in 1995 before studying audiovisual arts in Guadalajara, Mexico. Born in Krefeld, Germany, he currently lives and works in Berlin.

Courtesy: Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo/ The Quiet in the Land, Laos/ the Artist

The Mizuma Art Gallery of Tokyo is showcasing artist Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s ongoing project Breathing is Free: 12,756.3 at Art Positions in Art Basel Miami Beach 2009.  This complex and meaningful project is a statement on the current condition of the refugee and, in Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s words, a ‘reflection and offering to the refugees whose lives are to run or to perish’.  As an artist with resources and a passport, Nguyen-Hatsushiba is part of the global elite, whose mobility effortlessly enables movement across national borders.  Through his step and sustained mental and physical discipline the artist physically embodies the desire and struggle of the powerless refugee that is on the move and longs, as the artist notes, ‘to be on “the other side” instead.’

The work is defined not only by Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s act of running, but by the deliberately plotted path the artist takes which crosses any national and ethnic divisions.  In his effort to run 12,756.3 miles – equivalent to the most direct circumference of the earth – Nguyen-Hatsushiba chooses urban areas with a history of forced displacement.  The artist has completed runs in places such as Geneva, Tokyo, Singapore, Manchester and Ho Chi Minh City.  The paths taken in each of these places forms a  shape – often organic – with metaphorical meaning.

Courtesy: Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo/ The Quiet in the Land, Laos/ the Artist.

On view in the Mizuma Art Gallery booth at Art Basel Miami Beach is video footage from a selection of Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s runs paired with ‘earth drawings’ or ‘running drawings’ which map his route from an aerial perspective.  These ‘drawings’ are actually lambda prints created by transposing GPS data of his movements onto aerial photographs of each of the cities chosen for the project.  These GPS transfer prints reveal the symbolic shapes formed by the path of his runs.

Nguyen-Hatsushiba’s film The Ground, the Root, and the Air:  The Passing of the Bodhi Tree from 2004-2007 (single channel video, 14 min, 30 sec) is also on view.  This video explores globalization and resulting loss of tradition in Luang Prabang, Laos.  The image of the runner, an empty stadium, the lantern, the Mekong River and the Bodhi tree serve as symbols of this economic change – as well as hope for the future.

Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba has shown internationally and can be found in important collections such as the Centre Pompidou and the Whitney Museum of American Art.  He received his BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art.  Nguyen-Hatsushiba currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City.  His current project for Breathing is Free: 12,756.3 is set in Chicago.

Art Basel Miami Beach ends 6 December 2009.

The Art Video Program at Art Basel Miami Beach, curated by New York’s Creative Time, presented three short films by Tom Sachs and the Neistat Brothers at the Oceanfront area last night, Waffle Bike, Obstacle Course, and Space Program. The Neistat Brothers (Casey and Van), based in New York, have made several short videos and have a new show coming out on HBO. They started working as assistants to Tom Sachs, making movies with him about his work; their collaborations are often humorous and technically uncomplicated.

Waffle Bike, 2008 (8:06), meticulously describes the construction and function of a bicycle that has been converted into a mobile waffle-making station with several peculiar features. The short film documents the maiden voyage of the bike from Manhattan to Brooklyn, in search of a pair of chickens to lay the eggs for the batter. A cage on the back houses the chickens, directly beneath a call to prayer public address system that plays as the bike makes its way through the streets of New York. The bike stores other ingredients and supplies needed for the preparation and consumption of waffles, including boxes of batter, cans of Pam cooking spray, an electronic waffle maker, forks, and a refrigerator storing whipped cream. The inclusion of unusual amenities such as a padded passenger seat and two Winchester shotguns, accessible while riding, elevates the captivating absurdity of Waffle Bike.  The film was presented as part of the night’s topic Video Art and Mainstream Distribution, along with several short films by Marc Horowitz.

Tonight at the Oceanfront area, an exclusive work-in-progress sneak preview of the feature documentary film Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, 2009, directed by Tamra Davis, will be shown at 8:30pm.