Amidst a plethora of artworks comprising the eclectic (and exhausting) internationally curated exhibition situated in the Arsenale, a nondescript flat screen television held a high-note of optimism in the form of an ingeniously executed video production by a pair of relatively young artists from Barcelona, Spain. David Bestue and Marc Vives, aged twenty-nine and thirty-one respectfully, an artistic unit for the past seven years, represent a refreshingly uncomplicated, thoughtful approach to artistic practice through their piece Action At Home: 89 Actions.
Using instructional suggestions or concise phrases and statements, an interchangeably linear and non-sensical series series of events and situations, entirely filmed within an apartment aside from the opening sequence, make up the roughly half-hour long video. Creative maneuvering replaces technical prowess and high-end production in a work that suggests everyday domestic circumstance provides resources enough. With nearly no dialogue and only a small handful of actors, most of the film portrays the artists in leading roles of playfulness and absurdity.
A brief menu of exercises would be: wetting the floor with water and sliding across it’s surface with a bar of soap under each bare foot, dressing up as a wall, stealing a plant from the lobby and displaying it on the balcony, peeing from the hallway into the toilet, waiting for a date who arrives nude, camouflaging food and then cooking with it, simulating a time-lapsed party by means of flicking the light switch on and off, placing keys on a table without making noise, and imitating early Bruce Nauman by repetitively bouncing off a wall.
However, Bestue and Vives are not merely limited to performative actions. A series of object-oriented events are also featured such as: a water fountain made from a sink and an intricate array of kitchen ware, a picture frame with removable family members, an exploding bookshelf with suicidal books, a minimalist cube creating a meal-time interruption, a television set that a soccer player exits from the screen at the same size, and moving heavy furniture using rope and an elevator lift.
All of these actions are performed by relatively-basic means. Absent is any post-production special effects or computer-aided animations. Even the quality of the video image falls underneath the typical bench mark of high definition so present in many new media works and contemporary video art.
It’s physical presentation also seems important in a venue of aggrandized imagery emitted from projectors placed in specific viewing environments. The artists piece is on a moderately sized TV near a corner with a backless bench at a comfortable distance and sized to fit probably three persons.
In an immediate sense, the viewer is provided with an entertaining comedy. The video proves to be digestible easily enough, it’s visual language far from cryptic and without an unnecessarily esoteric theme. Through references to domestic settings and everyday circumstances, a reinterpretation of both is made accessible. Consistent is this work, even throughout it’s strangeness, in it’s logic of familiarity.
Beyond the surface humor, the artists video work manages to be thoughtful and extremely considerate while still appearing in a casual manner. It can be understood through watching that a conceptual value system was created for the film instigated by an understanding of the past half-century of art history and an insightful leaning towards homemade production qualities and aesthetics. Bestue and Vives successfully implement a series of brief ideas into a clear whole through a personalized schema of time appropriate for the production.
A reminder exists in a work such as this. While there are fresh introductions to be had, the level of what could be considered imative skill, attributed to to an old school, works while in an age of over-produced video language being adopted in the arts. There is an emphasis on performance and actions similar to groups from a trajectory of Dada. An underlining of moments exists through creations within them and their subsequent documentation. A work such as this echoes the suggestion that art can happen though an examination of commonality, a commemoration of it’s truthful accessibly and inviting possibilities.
Represented by Maribel Lopez Gallery, a webpage features additional screenshots as well as a numbered map of the apartment relative to the actions. The video in it’s entirety (untranslated) can be viewed following the link: Acciones en Casa.
For further work by Bestue and Vives, the following clip is from a dual-panel video installation featured at the Venice Biennale as part of the Artists’ Special Projects.
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