As of December 18, 2013 the ASPECT store is closed permanently. Thanks to all of our customers over the past 11 years. If you would like to order an issue of ASPECT, please contact us or contact Old City Publishing.
Thanks,
Michael Mittelman
V21: A Good Place to Stop
After ten years and hundreds of published works, ASPECT has decided to cease publication. Good gamblers and good artists both possess the same important skill: knowing when to walk away. The ending may be artificial, such as a time limit, or it could be external, as in the case of an authority figure, but the time comes when we must put our pencils down. We may never be done, but we can find “A good place to stop.”
Dear ASPECT friends:
After ten years, twenty-six DVDs and the published works of over 200 artists, the staff and board of ASPECT have decided to stop publishing our DVD periodical. Looking back on what we have accomplished, it is no understatement to say that we took on the art world and changed the way it looks at new media art.
When ASPECT published our first DVD in 2003 there were few, if any, dedicated new media programs at the graduate or undergraduate level in the world. Youtube and Facebook did not yet exist. At that time the idea of getting video directly from artists and publishing it for the use and consumption of universities, students and other artists was considered impossible. A DVD periodical was an unknown idea, and it took several years to educate the public as to the potential of such a format.
Today, new media art programs exist at universities around the world. Many artists publish their work on their own website or on video sharing services. Video art is a much more accepted and understood medium, and the broader genre of new media art has been accepted and integrated into galleries, museums and academia. However, the concept of pairing primary source material and critical analysis in the same publication remains unique to ASPECT.
The world has changed around us and accepted the genre, format and approach that ASPECT has been highlighting. Therefore it is time for us to say thank you to all the artists who have contributed their work, the commentators who have lent their time and expertise, and the staff and volunteers over the years who have made this publication possible.
Bill Arning, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and a renowned expert on new media who was involved with ASPECT from its beginnings recalls, “When ASPECT started there was great confusion about how art lovers and students were to experience time-based artworks, with no clearly defined distribution systems in place. ASPECT’s vision was to put DVDs directly into the hands of eager viewers until the art world mechanisms could catch up to what the best artists were making. I am proud to have been part of this history.”
In Spring 2013, we will be publishing our final release, Volume 21: A Good Place to Stop. We hope you have enjoyed ASPECT over the past ten years, and will continue to use our disks and online resources for years to come.
Thank you.
Michael Mittelman
Founder
V19: Communication
As tools of communication evolve, so does language itself. While globalization expands our notion of community and networked culture shrinks the boundaries between public and private, the strategies through which we communicate are thrown into question. In light of this questioning, Volume 19 features works that address language and communication as their primary subjects and tools.
V18: Export China
In recent decades, China has undergone massive social, economic and cultural change, altering its citizens’ view of the world and themselves. China’s artists have rapidly absorbed and reinterpreted the pluralistic styles of Western art, using them to translate the unique realities of life in contemporary China. In turn, many Western artists interested in the play between the individual and society have turned their attention to China as a complex and often culturally loaded subject.
We are excited to announce the launch of the ASPECT app for the iPad. This new system allows you to gain access to the entire ASPECT collection on your iPad at an inexpensive flat rate. An invaluable educational tool, the app functions as a unique primary source textbook of new media art. Search and browse the entire ASPECT catalogue and create your own playlists of time-based artwork. Purchase access for one day, a semester, or an entire year for yourself or your students.
Now available for purchase online!
ASPECT-EZ Volumes 1 & 2: Strangely Funny & Failure are now available on a single DVD, featuring over 25 works in video, new media, and performance art. ASPECT-EZ is an ongoing series of exhibitions, events and limited-run DVDs showcasing work from emerging artists.
V20: The Cinematic
As new genres of art making develop, video and new media art are still heavily informed by their predecessor, film. Today, Many artists who work in time-based media are fascinated by the cultural, formal, and theoretical issues surrounding popular cinema. Volume 20: The Cinematic features works that explore the complex relationship between cinema and new media.
The Quitter
"The Quitter" depicts me smoking my last cigarette before attempting to quit. It was shot in two parts (both on Super-8 film), half in 1999 and half in 2005. Like many people who attempt to quit smoking, I have had many "last" cigarettes. Both films (1999 & 2005) are shown simultaneously and are accompanied by a musical score by composer Nils d'Aulaire.
No Junk
No Junk is a series of videos created in collaboration by Seattle based artist Kayo Nakamura and Providence artist J.R. Uretsky. Initiated by Nakamura in 2009, the No Junk project is an interesting look into a creative world generated by two artists on opposite sides of the United States. The eleven video series is guided by a loose set of rules that are continually being enforced, broken and reinvented as the videos progress. The main restraint being that each artist is to recreate the previous No Junk video without purchasing items to create the work.
