In conjunction with the exhibition Shell at Del Vaz Projects with work by Heidi Bucher, Olivia Erlanger and Nicola L., a screening of films by all three artists will take place on the closing day of the exhibition, alongside a publication launch. The publication launch and film screening will take place on Saturday, May 14th, from 7-9PM.
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Heidi Bucher Bodyshells, 1972 (2:33)
In this short film, which was performed on Venice Beach in California in 1972, Heidi Bucher, her husband Carl, and their two sons Mayo and Indigo appear with four so-called Bodyshells. These Bodyshells were shown on the occasion of the solo exhibition which Heidi and Carl held at LACMA the same year. Completely produced from foam, Bucher's Bodyshells were soft and portable sculptures, their surfaces painted with mother of pearl pigment. Unfortunately, today there is but this film and some drawings which document these wonderful and strange sculptures.
Olivia Erlanger Portrait of D', 2022 (8:25)
Originally intended as an investigative documentary into a possible connection to a distant branch of the artist's family that moved to Tunisia in the 19th century, Erlanger's Portrait of D' blends personal family narratives, local anecdotes, and dream recounting, creating a blurred and perplexing report which mimics the way histories are obscured as they are passed down. This multi-streamed account is scattered over images and film of traditional and modern architecture, historical ruins, unfinished construction sites, natural topography and geological formations collected during Erlanger's visits to and around Tunisia.
Nicola L. The Red Coat for 11 People or Same Skin For Everybody, 2009 (12:40)
Composed of red vinyl and containing eleven hooded jackets, The Red Coat was originally created as a communal and protective raincoat for eleven people, including Brazilian singers Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Gal Costa, for the Isle of Wight Music Festival in England in 1969. From there, Nicola would take The Red Coat with her in a suitcase to London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Cologne, Barcelona, Ibiza, and New York over the next several decades, inviting strangers and passersby on the streets of these cities to try it on. This film created by Nicola contains photographic and filmic documentation of The Red Coat during its many activations around the world.
Heidi Bucher Herrenzimmer, 1978 (15:49)
In contrast to the other more deliberate and planned in-situ filmic documentation of Bucher's skinnings, this film is a spontaneous video interview between Heidi and her son Indigo (who is also the cameraman) during the second latex skinning of Bucher's father's study in 1978. The frank and candid conversation between mother and son provides us with an intimate view into Bucher's practice, all the while revealing the joint and communal effort of this family unit, recalling the family's performance in Venice Beach in 1972.