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Jennifer West
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Name
Jennifer West
Education
Art Center College of Design
castle on cloud jennifer west and amy k
Jennifer West is an American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. She is known for her digitized films that are made by hand manipulating film celluloid. She has produced over 70 films since she started working this way in 2004. Wendy Vogel writes for Artforum.com, "Like her experimental predecessors, West forgoes narrative cohesion in favor of creating jumpy cuts and abstract visual collages––splicing, rolling, and drenching the celluloid using materials from Mylar tape to pickle juice, whiskey to candle smoke." Christopher Bedford wrote in Artforum on her work, "sexy, whimsical, painting-scale DVD projections walk that elusive line between pictorial modes with deftness, wit, and airy originality." Joanna Kleinberg wrote on her work in Frieze "the intermingling of materiality, feeling and identity creates a wild blend of synaesthetic experience wherein the substances of life literally and figuratively colour the film."
She was born in Topanga, California and received her MFA from Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, California) in 2004 and her BA from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She studied with Mike Kelley and Diana Thater at Art Center. She is currently living and working in Los Angeles.
Work
West makes 16mm, 35mm and 70mm films by manipulating the film celluloid to a level of performance. The film emulsion might be doused with perfume, Jack Daniels or pepper spray, skateboarded on or dragged through tar pits. West is also known for the Zine booklets that she produces featuring the production stills showing the making of the films. The destroyed and distressed films are then digitized and shown as looping video projections in museums and art galleries.
She is best known for the live performance, "Skate the Sky" staged at the Tate Modern in London in 2009 where she invited skateboarders to skate over filmstrips taped to the floor of the Turbine Hall. Other significant commissions include, "One Mile Film" (for High Line Art, NY) where the artist taped a mile-long filmstrip to the length of the High Line walk-way in New York City for one-day allowing the visitors to leave their mark on the film by writing messages, drawing, and walking on the filmstrip. The damaged 58 minute, 40 second film was digitized to high-definition and shown as a digital projection onto the side of a building on the High Line. She has also made commissioned projects for Institute of Contemporary Arts London's Art Night (2016) Aspen Art Museum (2010) and as an Artist in Residence at EMPAC at RPI in Troy, NY and at MIT List Visual Arts Center (2011).
Solo exhibitions
Is Film Over?, Yuz Museum Shanghai, China (2017)
Action Movies, Painted Films and History Collage, Man Museum, Nouro, Sardinia, Italy (2017)
Marinated Film - the roll of 16mm I had in the fridge for over ten years (16mm film negative marinated for several months in: Absinthe & XTC, Pepsi & Poprocks, Jim Shaw's Urine, Red Wine, Coffee & Detox Tea, Aphrodisiacs), 2005
Double Fast Luck Film (16mm film leader sprinkled with Red Luck Oil, Green Luck Perfume, soaked in mint, cinnamon and vanilla), 2006
Attraction Film (16mm film leader dripped words with maple syrup, soaked in red onion, red apple & red carnations), 2006
Hot, Spicy, Tingle Film (16mm film leader soaked for 3 months in: Ben Gay & Tiger's balm, salsa, 100 garlic cloves, crest striped toothpaste, red hots, hot tamales & altos, mouthwash), 2006
Comfort Food Film ("unprocessed" 16mm film negative cooked in mashed potatoes & gravy, macaroni & cheese, guacamole, ketchup, mustard & pickle relish, hot oatmeal, applesauce and spaghetti & meatballs), 2006
Yeah Film (16mm film leader soaked in clover, belladonna and poppie tea, inscribed with the word yeah written in beet juice and Pepto-Bismol), 2006
Tar Smell Film (16mm film negative exposed with cigarette light, dragged along beach sand tar, rubbed with skin so soft lotion and dripped with manic panic hair dyes - based on
perfume notes for Tar Scent by Comme des Garcon), 2006
Tar Pits Film (16mm film negative thrown in the La Brea Tar Pits, ridden over hot tarmac by a motorcycle, soaked in kitty litter, lighter fluid, mayonnaise and body lotion) 2006
Paintball Film (16mm film leader "shot" with paintballs by me, Finn West and a bunch of 12 yr old boys), 2006
Psychosomatic Films #1 -5, 2006
Dirty Film (16mm film leader buried in dirt from my yard, the street and Elysian nudist colony, given mud bath and red hot lava mask), 2006
Odor Film 53 (16mm film negative dripped with nailpolish, burnt Rubber, xerox light, skimboarded over - based on notes from Comme des Garcon Odor 53), 2006
Odor Film 71 (16mm film negative soaked in lettuce juice, submerged in LA river, static electricity, dust on a hot light bulb - based on notes from Comme des Garcon Odeur 71), 2006
Odor Film 2 (16mm film negative soaked in horse manure, ink, patchouli incense, cumin -based on Odeur 2 notes), 2006
Naked Deep Creek Hot Springs Film (16mm film negative soaked in lithium hot springs water, Jack Daniels and pot - exposed with flashlights - skinnydipping by Karen Liebowitz,
Benjamon Britton & Jwest), 2007
Whatever Film (16mm film leader soaked in lots of coffee, espresso & turmeric, taken on power walk, rubbed with sweat and inscribed with the word, "whatever" written in purple
metallic eyeliner), 2007
Nirvana Alchemy Film (16mm black & white film soaked in lithium mineral hot springs, pennyroyal tea, doused in mud, sopped in bleach, cherry antacid and laxatives - jumping by
Finn West & Jwest), 2007
Popped Cherry Film (16mm film leader stained with cherry juice, popped with hole puncher), 2007
My Milk Is Your Shit/Nirvana Alchemy Film 2 (35mm movie film frozen in breast milk from the freezer and hand processed), 2007
Led Zeppelin Alchemy Film (16mm film dripped with lemon juice, honey, wine, hit with a custard pie, tangerines, flowers and cucumber - featuring strobe light hair performances by
Jill Spector & Jwest), 2007
Regressive Squirty Sauce Film (16mm film leader squirted and dripped with chocolate sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise & apple juice), 2007
Organic Biodynamic Natural Food Film (16mm film neg cooked in organic tofu dogs, hemp milk, beets, fried in cage-free, vegetarian-fed eggs, canned chili, peanut butter sandwich &
steak sauce - hand processed in bathtub), 2007
A 70MM Film Wearing Thick Heavy Black Liquid Eyeliner That Gets Smeary (70MM film leader lined with liquid black eyeliner, doused with Jell-O Vodka shots and rubbed with body
glitter), 2008
Rainbow Party on 70MM Film (70MM film leader kissed with lipstick & impressed with teeth marks by Jwest and her former students: Mariah Csepanyi, Maggie Romano & Roxana
Eslemiah), 2008
Skinnydipping Carbon Beach Malibu Film – In Front of David Geffen‘s House (16mm color and b&w film neg sprayed with fried pickle juice, painted with Bloody Mary’s
using, celery stalks & ash from the Malibu fires, submerged in the ocean – skinny-dipping by Renee Lotenero, Lia Trinka-Browner, Karen Liebowitz& Jwest – lit by the full moon & search lights), 2008
Riot Grrrl Alchemy Film (16mm b&w and color film neg danced on with sneakers, sprayed with cherry tomatoes, rubbed with cinnamon butter buns, strawberries and candy bars –
based on lyrics from Sleater Kinney, Bikini Kill and Le Tigre – food fight on the table performances by Ariel West & Jwest, shot on superbowl Sunday by Peter West who was kind of drunk), 2008
Roadtrip Between LA and Seattle Film (16mm color negative, positive and b&w negative scratched with tumbleweed, tire treads, pine needles, sprinkled with BlackJax extreme
energizers pills, coffee, donuts, hot cheetohs & doused with gasoline & gatorade), 2008
Idyllwild Campfire Smell Film (16mm film neg lit by the campfire and treated with bug spray, white gas, gin, sweat, smoke, pitch, marshmallow, beer, wine, pit toilet, dirt, sap, tent &
sleeping bag – featuring marshmallow roasting by a bunch of friends), 2008
Daisies Roll Up Film (16mm color and b&w film neg rolled with hard boiled eggs, oranges, lemons, avocados, pickles, green apples, milk and watermelon – a remake of a scene from
Vera Chytilova’s 1966 film, Daisies – rolling off the bed performances by: Mariah Csepanyi, Finn West & Jwest, lit with black light & strobe light), 2008
Daisies Cut Up Film (16mm color and b&w film neg licked with orange & lemon juice, sprayed with pickle juice, rubbed with daisies and California poppies – cut up and pieced
back together – a remake of a scene from Vera Chytilova’s 1966 film, Daisies – scissor and image eating performances by: Mariah Csepanyi & Jwest, lit with black light & strobe light), 2008
Malia the Babysitter Guitar Hero Film (16mm film neg rubbed with fruit loops sugar cereal, pizza and soda – guitar hero video game performances by Malia James, Finn & Ariel West
and Colette Weber Shaw), 2008
I’m a (Beautiful) Stain/Nirvana Alchemy Film 3 (35mm film leader stained with Teen Spirit deodorant & glue – jumped on, skateboarded over, dove on, smashed & crushed – collaged
back together with splicing tape – film crushed and smashed by Finn West, Keenan Bloughand Val Koziak), 2008
Electric Kool-Aid Fountain Swimming Film (35MM movie negative submerged in LA's Mulholland Fountain, dripped with Kool-aid and liquid LSD - featuring nighttime fountain
swimming by Mateo Tannatt, Lia Trinka-Browner, Lesley Moon, Mariah Csepanyi and Jwest), 2008
Green M&M's & Mezcal Worm Film (70MM film leader with a mezcal worm dragged over the surface - imprinted with hundreds of green M & M's), 2008
Seriously Film (70MM Film Leader soaked in MSG and boiling water - inscribed & stamped with the word seriously - with Viagra, Visine and Fake tanning lotion), 2008
Skate the Sky Film (35mm film print of clouds in the sky covered with ink, Ho-Ho’s, and Melon juice - filmstrips taped to Tate Turbine Hall ramp and skateboarded over using ollie, kick flip, pop shove-it, acid drop, melon grab, crooked grind, bunny hop, tic tacs, sex change, disco flip - skateboarding performed live for Long Weekend by Thomas Lock, Louis Henderson, Charlotte Brennan, Dion Penman, Sam Griffin, Jak Tonge, Evin Goode and Quantin Paris, clouds shot by Peter West), 2009
Lavender Mist Film/Pollock Film 1 (70mm film leader rubbed with Jimson Weed Trumpet flowers, spraypainted, dripped and splattered with nail polish, sprayed with lavender mist air
freshener), 2009
Goodbye Green River Killer Film (70mm film leader soaked in the Green River, mud, blackberries, ferns, flowers - smudged with the smell of burning sage), 2009
Hollywood Sign Film - for Peg Entwistle (35MM interpositive dripped with holly berry juice, painted with pepper spray & silver dust using a great horned owl feather - illegally climbing
on the Hollywood Sign performances by Shamim Momin, Mariah Csepanyi and Jwest, lit by headlamps, flashlights and police search lights), 2009
Vampire Obsession Film (70MM film leader painted with pomegranate juice, bit with vampire teeth, sprinkled with reflective mica flakes, dragged through the misty Olympic Rainforest
woods, 16MM film taped to the surface - girls in movie theater watching Twilight performed by Jessica Tetu and Sara Van Oostrum, 70MM film bitten by Keenan Blough, Val Koziak and Finn West), 2009
Shoes on the Telephone Wire Axe Body Spray Patchouli Film (70MM film leader sprayed with Axe Body Spray Cologne and dripped with Patchouli Oil - 16MM film taped to surface -
featuring shoe throwing onto telephone wire performances by Stephen Rhodes and Jwest - shot by Peter West - lit with flashlights by Mariah Csepanyi), 2009
Smoke, Darts and Mirrors Film (35mm film leader painted with candle smoke, taped to a dart board and hit with darts dipped in habanero sauce, taped with mirrored and opalescent
mylar - throwing darts performed by Lucrecia Roa, Mateo Tannatt, Lesley Moon, Jen Collins, Patrick Cates, Mariah Csepanyi, Blake Bailey and Jwest), 2010
Shred the Gnar Full Moon Film Noir (35mm film print and negative shredded and stomped on by a bunch of snowboarders and a few skiers – marked up with blue course dye - sprayed with Diet Coke, Bud Lite & Whiskey - taken hot tubbing with Epsom salts, rubbed with Arnica, K-Y Jelly, butter and Advil – full moon shot by Peter West), 2010
Topanga Beach Houses Imminent Domain Rewind Film (16mm film print rubbed with aloe vera gel, smeared with sexwax surfboard wax, butter, grass, hole punched - still photos of
the Topanga Beach community in the 1960's and 70's before the houses were bulldozed and burned with the Imminent Domain Law - movie stills from "Muscle Beach" and "Cosmic Children" - found photographs from the Int'l Surfing Magazine (Jim Fitzpatrick), Malibu Times (Gary Graham), Marlies Armand, Jeff Ort, Woody Stuart and John Clemmens), 2010
I ♥ Neutrinos: You Cant See Them but They are Everywhere (70mm Film Frames of Neutrino Movements - shot in 15 ft Bubble Chamber at Fermilab, Experiment 564 near Chicago - dunked in liquid nitrogen, neutrino movements events with invisible ink and decoder markers and highlighters, inked up by Monica Kogler and Jwest, filmstrip from Janet Conrad, MIT Professor of Physics), 2011
Neutrino, Gamma, Alpha, Quantum Dots Film (16 and 35mm film negative tangled inside darkened film tent for ten hours and exposed to: neutron, gamma and alpha sources and quantum dots in liquid scintillator - made with the assistance of Lindley Winslow and graduate student, Raspberry at MIT's Neutrino Lab), 2011
5 Hour Circular Xray Diffraction Film (16 + 35mm film negative shot with lasers through baked down substances: 5 hour Energy + Melatonin, Excedrin, Phosphorous + Salt Crystals, Metallic Eyeshadow - substance baking and laser shooting by Dr. Scott Speakman at MIT's Xray Diffraction Lab), 2011
Just Kids Film Necklace - for Patti Smith Film, 2011
Dawn Surf Jellybowl Film (16mm film negative sanded with surfboard shaping tools, sex wax melted on, squirted, dripped, splashed, sprayed and rubbed with donuts, zinc oxide, cuervo, sunscreen, hydrogen peroxide, tecate, sand, tar, scraped with a shark's tooth, edits made by the surf and a seal while film floated in waves- surfing performed by Andy Perry, Makela Moore, Alanna Moore, Zach Moore, Johnny McCann - shot by Peter West - film negative sanded by Mariah Csepanyi, Andy Perry and Jwest), 2011
Mascara Rorschach Film (35mm film leader brushed with mascara, intense black, deep purple/fascinating violet, azure blue, curling - mascara brushing by Monica Kogler and
Jwest), 2011
Heavy Metal Sharks Calming Jaws Reversal Film (faded pink super 8 film print - library copy of select scenes from Jaws - from Lorain, Ohio public library - treated with black fabric dye
enriched with heavy metals: iron and zinc vitamins, celluloid grated with stone, whipped with hair headbanging, impressed with thumb and pinky prints devil ears - head banging by Monica Kogler and Jwest), 2011
Heavy Metal Sharks Calming Jaws 2 Trailers - Jumping the Shark Film (faded pink super 16mm film prints TV spots of Jaws 2 -- treated with black fabric dye enriched with heavy
metals: iron and zinc vitamins, celluloid grated with stone, whipped with hair head banging, impressed with thumb and pinky prints devil ears - headbanging by Monica Kogler and Jwest), 2011
Drummed Rock Film, 2011
One Mile Film (5,280 feet of 35mm film negative and print taped to the mile-long High Line walk way in New York City for 17 hours on Thursday, September 13th, 2012 with 11,500 visitors - the visitors walked, wrote, jogged, signed, drew, touched, danced, parkoured, sanded, keyed, melted popsicles, spit, scratched, stomped, left shoe prints of all kinds and put gum on the filmstrip - it was driven on by baby stroller and trash can wheels and was traced by art students - people wrote messages on the film and drew animations, etched signs, symbols and words into the film emulsion lines drawn down much of the filmstrip by visitors and Jwest with highlighters and markers - the walk way surfaces of concrete, train track steel, wood, metal gratings and fountain water impressed into the film; filmed images shot by Peter West - filmed Parkour performances by Thomas Dolan and Vertical Jimenez - running on rooftops by Deb Berman and Jwest - film taped, rolled and explained on the High Line by art students and volunteers), 2012
Behind the Ivory Snow Powdered Detergent Green Door All-American Girl Film (16mm film negative strobe-light double exposed - dripped, doused, splattered, splashed
with green, chartreuse and pink dyes and food coloring mixed with ivory snow powdered detergent - strobe lights performed by Jwest, shot by Peter West) , 2012
Spiral of Time Documentary Film (16mm negative strobe-light double and triple exposed - painted with brine shrimp - dripped, splattered and sprayed with salted liquids: balsamic and
red wine vinegar, lemon and lime juice, temporary fluorescent hair dyes - photos from friends Mark Titchner, Karen Russo, Aaron Moulton and Ignacio Uriarte and some google maps- texts by Jwest and Chris Markers' Sans Soleil script -shot by Peter West, strobed by Jwest, hands by Ariel West, telecine by Tom Sartori), 2013
Salt Crystals Spiral Jetty Dead Sea Five Year Film (70mm film negative floated in the Dead Sea and given a healing clay bath in extreme heat in 2008 - stuffed in a suitcase, placed in
studio buckets, covered in clay and salt for five years - dragged along the salt encrusted rocks of the Spiral Jetty and thrown in the pink waters in 2013 in below 10 degree weather - Dead Sea floating and mud baths by Mark Titchner, Karen Russo and Jwest - Spiral Jetty dragging and rolling by Aaron Moulton, Ignacio Uriarte and Jwest - DIY telecine frame by frame of salt covered film by Chris Hanke), 2013
Arrid Extra Dry 1965 TV Commercial Film (16mm film print painted with birth control pills, writing inks and sweat - bought from a Brooklyn, New York street vendor), 2013
44 Mile Film (35mm print, negative and 70mm film leader scanned by hand and re-photographed on 16mm negative collaged with animation, phone videos and stills, googlemaps and scrolling website videos - 16mm double-exposed with flowing water over glass - 35mm negative and print dragged through a 44-mile slot canyon between Utah and Arizona and rubbed on Wrather Arch, filmstrips imprinted into primordial mud next to large mountain lion paw prints - 16mm dripped with river water and watercolor inks laced with electrolytes - 16mm and 35mm moon shot by Peter West - hand-scanning by Chris Hanke - animation by Daylen Chiang - "scratch film" Snickers candy bar filmstrip from Christy's Editorial - digital photos and videos by Peter West, Chris Hanke and Jwest), 2014
Terrazzo Floor Spiral Film (16mm negative filmstrips taped to tables at Casal Solleric in Mallorca, Spain - where visitors melted candle wax, wrote, scratched, smeared lipstick, rubbed soppressata, crumbled cookies, made marks with beer bottles and spilled wine on the filmstrips - double exposed images of mosaic floors and telecine machines of Fotokem
labs in Los Angeles shot by Peter West), 2014
Film Title Poem, 2016
Zines
West often produces Zines for her exhibitions and performances. Early Zines were made with black and white production stills from the making of her films. They have been given away at her exhibitions for free. Most zines have been published in editions of 500.
Zines to date
Movie Memories. 2016. Color xerox. Published by ICA London on the occasion of the 2016 Art Night London. 6 pages.
Spirals of Time. 2013. Two-color risograph. Published by Golden Spike Press. 28 pages. Edition of 500.
Accordion Zine. 2011. Hand-taped. Produced by Jennifer West in conjunction with "Heavy Metals: Iron and Zinc" at Vilma Gold, London.
Smoke, Mirrors, Darts and Lavender Mist. 2010. Produced by the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, Texas in conjunction with Perspectives 176: Jennifer West. Curated by Valerie Cassel Oliver.
Shred the Gnar Full Moon Film Noir. 2010. Produced by the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado in conjunction with performance and exhibitions, Shred the Gnar Full Moon Noir. Curated by Matthew Thompson.
Wheels Ink Ho-ho's and Melon, Skate the Sky Film Production Stills. 2009. Produced by Vilma Gold and Marc Foxx Gallery in conjunction with performance and screening at Tate Modern, London, UK. Curated by Stuart Comer.
Pomegranate Juice and Pepper Spray Production Stills. 2009. Produced by Jennifer West and Marc Foxx Gallery in conjunction with "Pomegranate and Pepper Spray" solo exhibition at Marc Foxx Gallery , Los Angeles.
Electric Kool-aid and the Mezcal Worm Production Stills. 2008. Produced by Jennifer West in conjunction with solo exhibition, "Electric Kool-aid and the Mezcal Worm" at Vilma Gold, London.
Jennifer West. Production Stills 2008. Produced by Vilma Gold in conjunction with Jennifer West's Statements Presentation at Art Basel 30, Switzerland.
The W.C. #19 (Volume 2 Number 7) Jennifer West Production Stills (AKA Jwest). 2007. Produced by White Columns. Curated by Matthew Higgs.
