📺
I had the opportunity to visit Buffalo's AKG Gallery about two weeks ago. The plan was to see the entire museum, but my time there was overwhelmingly consumed by Steina's Playback collection of video artworks- see photos attached. Keep in mind that all of what you see was created in or around the 1970s. While these sorts of images might be common and easily creatable now, Steina's works were perhaps the first of their kind- she's a true trailblazer.
I think there's something deeply disturbing about what Steina has created, especially in seeing such works in person. I do not think the goal was to create something so viscerally terrifying, but I also do not think Steina and her collaborators weren't making something they knew to be upsetting. If that makes any sense at all. My interpretation of Steina's body of work is that she is attempting to show us, the viewers, something that would otherwise be literally impossible to see outside of a digital medium. In sitting down to watch one of her works, you will constantly be trying to apply sense, and make shapes where there are none. It's pattern recognition pushed to its limits. It's the irrationality of it all that, I think, inspired such a powerful reaction in me on seeing it. Humans weren't 'supposed to' see this. We weren't brought into this world to comprehend it, and yet, we live in an age where we're asked to, and I believe that's Steina's message in showing us her work. If you're able, I'd recommend viewing some of Steina's work online. Or, if you're in the Buffalo area, visit AKG. There's even more to enjoy there behind the topic of this recommendation.
+3
1d ago
Related Recs
Been following her work since 2015 and made a special trip to NYC to see this show. She’s a very cool Deaf artist whose work explores the experience of being Deaf in a hearing world. She works across media, dipping into performance, video, sculpture, drawing, and music (often working with amazing collaborators like Blood Orange). Her work contains lots of art history references and often critiques museums, galleries, and academia in a clear and funny way. Also, she used to work at the Whitney and piloted their ASL tours as a museum educator. What an incredible coup it is for her to have a stellar mid-career survey in her former workplace.
If you’re in NYC, make a trip to the Whitney Museum and spend some time with her work. Pictured below is one of her drawings from the “Deaf Rage” series that had me chuckling. Love how humorous and serious her work is at the same time, especially when she calls out ableism in the art world.
Apr 21, 2025
🎨
She’s one of my favorite artists. Specifically her performance art videos, and the quality / visual taste of how her pieces in nature are filmed, is exquisite. The way she uses herself as a body within her work is not only captivating, but something I feel I can personally relate to as someone who also uses their physical being as part of their art process.
Nov 10, 2023
🪞
I love Joan Jonas and this retrospective took me three visits to see entirely. Her later video work is especially lovely and full of unreal aquatic landscapes and realizations about how alien it can feel to have a body.
Aug 26, 2024
Top Recs from @Tavernacle
FFO: Who knows
This probably isn't the best first recommendation I could make, but this app is about sharing your love of all things, so I'm going to. La Dispute often sounds more like a poetry project than a hardcore act. Their style is mostly, if not entirely spoken word vocals, lending itself well to intense emotional range, and highly intricate and vivid lyrical content. That said, they're very much not for everybody. While the music itself very much is, the vocals themselves are far from melodic, which might turn most people off. I get that, I really do. I just hope you'll give it a try, just to say that you did. Who knows, maybe you'll love them.
2d ago
I am quite fond of these wacky little pictographs. I feel their uses are vast and incredibly versatile.
1d ago
FFO: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Kayo Dot plays with a style of music I've hardly ever seen anywhere else. It's ambient and serene a lot of the time, but it occasionally dips into jazz-fusion, prog metal or prog rock. Lyrics range anywhere from growls to spoken word poetry, and everything in between. Hell, I think the last track, in its magnificent 15 minute length, covers all of the above. Speaking of which, all songs but one are upwards of 10 minutes in length- there are only four of them, mind you, but my point stands. If you don't have that sort of attention span, Choirs of the Eye may not be for you. I'd try it out anyway, personally- my favorite track is Wayfarer. Try that out for a taste, if what ive described here interests you.
18h ago