Teachable Moments

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Teachable Moments is a series of podcasts, short movies, slide shows, animations, and stories representing moments in which we experienced learning in surprising or
unexpected ways.

Originated as a class assignment for a studio course in art education, Teachable Moments continues to record unique and unpredicted incidents of learning.

This episode with Pau Atela, Professor of Mathematiks who talks about his newly found interest in drawing, marks the beginning of this series.

A Project by Richard Jochum
New York 2011
Creative Commons Licence

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Dust, Dirt, and Scratches

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[This is a preview version of a movie which has been produced for an exhibition.] Dust, Dirt, and Scratches is a movie about the obsession of cleaning up.It shows the process of digitally retouching an image which is full of stains and scratches in Photoshop. The cursor turns into a wiping cloth and broom. Guided by an invisible hand, it touches the image in sections to remove stains till the spotty image becomes plain. - Recorded as a screen-cast, the movie serves as a tutorial as well as a demonstration of compulsive behavior. If longing for perfection is inherent to the arts - hereby creating beautiful pictures at times - it's also a futile obsession. For a video artist who is used to the format of movies under five minutes, Richard Jochum's screen-cast is remarkably lengthy (42 min). However, the goal is not to have the audience watch the entire movie rather than make the viewer realize that there will always one more spot that needs cleaning. And if the superficial stains are cleared, the image will still show hidden, low-lying stains.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Daniel Falk

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http://myfavoritesaying.blogspot.com

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Collaborative Silverware

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Welded silverware, installation & performance, 2009-2010. Collaborative Silverware is an installation and performance piece for 2 performer, 1 table, 2 plates, elongated silverware and food. The 36 inch-spoons, forks and knives will prove themselves to be too long to feed oneself individually; the two performers will have to feed each other. Conceived and directed by Richard Jochum; performed by Jessica Sugerman and William Penrose.

Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4), Flash Video (.flv)

Tomatoes

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"Tomatoes" is a 1 min animation by Richard Jochum produced with Cooliris, a Firefox add-on. The video shows what is basically a Google-search for images on tomatoes. The result is a reflection on contemporary visual culture as it presents itself through the graphical interface of contemporary social media. "Visual Culture Tomatoes". New York / World Wide Web, 2010.

Matthew Amster

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Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

Eliot Eskin

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Formats available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4)

I Can't Believe It's Not Art

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The question, whether an object, image or artifact is art or not, cannot be decided either by one single object, image or artifact, let alone by an individual. Art is after all a practice rather than a product, a verb rather than a noun, but more importantly a social agreement, a title thats been decreed and continuously awarded by specific communities, particular institutions, or a group of representatives, placeholders of the world of culture and the industry of art. Nonetheless, theres a common drive in public conversations to raise questions about the legitimacy of certain objects and negotiate them in regard of their status as to what level something is art or not, which I find both, compulsively obsessive and strikingly playful.

I cant believe its not art refers to the popular childhood game with daisies in which we fervently try to decide through a ritual of petal picking whether somebodys feelings are in or against our favor. She loves me, she loves me not cannot be decided by wishful thinking unless it is whimsical to begin with. However, the ritual follows a function: it marks our courting and tries to raise our odds the more so as performed in front of the adored.

I cant believe its not butter is the name of a well-known American brand. To extend the phrase into the field of arts expands the play with daisies into the realm of words. Branding, it shows, is not just a challenging task for companies, but artists as well, see Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Naomi Klein, etc.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)