For immediate release:

(Athens, Georgia) The Way Things Work opens March 25 at the Athens Institute for Contemporary Art and includes two videos by Robert Ladislas Derr including In Play, through ping-pong the system of high art is examined and Perverted into Tyranny deconstructs the functions of our three branches of government.

Derr began In Play in 2007, video and photography of ping-pong with artists and writers of influence or like-mindedness. For five minutes, each artist or writer and he volley the ball back and forth, actualizing the cross-fertilization of ideas in art. Out of fifteen participants thus far, Derr selected his ping-pong with Dan Graham, Dennis Oppenheim, Kate Gilmore, and Michael Snow for ATHICA.

While the photographs capture the characteristics of the face, the act of ping-pong reveals a transparency, as each player concentrates on the task rather than practicing his or her own etiquette toward the lens. Using ping-pong, the cross-fertilization of the art world is epitomized. In Play highlights the interconnectivity of history, artists, writers, and ideas in the world of art.

Perverted into Tyranny, a three-channel split screen video, illustrates the split of power between the branches of the federal government.

On a Norwegian sheep farm, Derr attempts to corral and control a flock of sheep. As he runs around the pasture trying to herd the sheep, it is apparent that his endeavor is futile. This comedic pastoral intervention parallels the activity of a tyrannical federal government that attempts to strip the freedoms from the states and individuals. Thomas Jefferson warned, "Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny."

The simple, yet dictatorial performative act of attempting to corral sheep corresponds to the futility of tyranny in a federal government with checks and balances. While one branch can become overly powerful through the perversion of the laws, we see from the sheep's behavior that tyranny forced escape. Free will is an inherent instinct and drives life to escape or fight.

The Way Things Work runs through May 31. For more information: Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, curated by Didi Dunphy.

Robert Ladislas Derr uses performance, video, photography, and installation as he puts himself literally in the center of a barrage of questions about life and making art. He has exhibited and performed worldwide including Playing the City at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, and his work was featured in Volume 13: Public, ASPECT: The Chronicle of New Media Art, with commentary by Bill Arning, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Robert Ladislas Derr
Associate Professor of Art
The Ohio State University
614  292  9685
derr.34@osu.edu
http://home1.arts.ohio-state.edu/~derr34/