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Video: assume vivid astro focus at the Whitney Biennial

by assume vivid astro focus on 27 July 2005

assume vivid astro focus’s site specific artwork is captured as part of the cheapcream series. Last year as part of the prestigious US Whitney Biennial in New York assume vivid astro focus created an outdoor project by way of a large-scale floor sticker for the skate circle in New York's Central Park, between the bandshell and the sheep meadow. The circle is a stretch of pavement that is transformed into a dance roller rink on spring and summer weekends. Working in collaboration with the Central Park Dance Skaters Association, assume vivid astro focus created his vibrant floor scape for the surface of the Skate Circle which covered large sections of the pavement with colourful abstract patterns. 'avaf 8' is inspired by a wide variety of cultural and graphic sources including the work of American illustrator George Plank, whose elegant, fantastical art deco imagery appeared on Vogue magazine covers in the 1910s and 1920s. Here avaf himself takes to his skates and films the snaking dancers and skaters with his hand-held camera as he circles around and around the rink.

assume vivid astro focus’s site specific artwork is captured as part of the cheapcream series. Last year as part of the prestigious US Whitney Biennial in New York assume vivid astro focus created an outdoor project by way of a large-scale floor sticker for the skate circle in New York's Central Park, between the bandshell and the sheep meadow. The circle is a stretch of pavement that is transformed into a dance roller rink on spring and summer weekends. Working in collaboration with the Central Park Dance Skaters Association, assume vivid astro focus created his vibrant floor scape for the surface of the Skate Circle which covered large sections of the pavement with colourful abstract patterns. 'avaf 8' is inspired by a wide variety of cultural and graphic sources including the work of American illustrator George Plank, whose elegant, fantastical art deco imagery appeared on Vogue magazine covers in the 1910s and 1920s. Here avaf himself takes to his skates and films the snaking dancers and skaters with his hand-held camera as he circles around and around the rink.

cheapcream is a guest-edited series of video clips captured and collated by the artist assume vivid astro focus (avaf). It is made up of short pieces of footage shot at a variety of performances in many venues worldwide over the last year or so. Each captured by avaf, the footage covers drag acts, artists' performances in galleries, bands playing events and documentation of some of his own work. The clips are an ongoing record of others' performances, and the series offers insight into the world of an avid observer and collector of such. cheapcream also represents access into the ideas that inform or might become assumed by such a practice as avaf’s, and an invitation to be engaged in this ongoing work in progress.

avaf is an artist moniker that is used in the spirit of an inclusive, often collaborative, artistic practice. avaf operates as part of the legacy of artists such as Canadian collective General Idea who have consistently worked across a variety of media to communicate political ideas about queer identity and politics. cheapcream comprises a selection of avaf's ever-growing personal film archive, presented as a resource that is there to be shared. As part of his larger practice and part of a research process–a distinction avaf doesn't make–it is an enthusiastic sharing of what he considers public material.

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