TEARS FOR THE FUTURE
ISSUE 14 : John Michael Boling & Javier Morales
[John Michael Boling & Javier Morales, 'Tears for the Future', 2008]
Both of our commissioned artists, who have solo as well as collaborative practices, are based in Athens, USA. Since 2005 they have worked together on videos, as well as a number of web-based projects, most notably the video web blog Channel 53. A selection of the duo’s earlier works are hosted on John Michael Boling’s redoubtable 53 o’s website (in google search ‘53 o’s’ – quicker than typing www.gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.com)where you can also view some of his and Morales’ individual works.
In previous films such as ‘Blood Fantasy’ and ‘Body Magic’, the pair’s use of existing footage – commercials, tv shows, music videos – underpins the fundamentals of their work. As immediate as its sources, the work firstly appeals for its pop culture references engrained in an MTV generation’s subconscious, and then for its methods of display and exhibit, for example on video streaming sites like YouTube, where a number of their works can also be viewed. These resources act as a cultural hub for a new generation of artists who have found a home on the internet and continue to forage existing materials, with Duchampean vigour, to mix with new and old technologies.
Combining their online, editing, musical and visual talents, their collaborative work is among the best of the new media video currently being produced in the USA. Included in the 2007 and
2008 New York Underground Film Festival, Boling and
Morales’ practice promises to hit new highs this year.
John Michael Boling and Javier Morales’ newly commissioned video ‘Tears for the Future’ is online now!