“Trilogía en progreso”
March 2007

The trilogy you are viewing are single-channel videos that examine my observation on what is associated with a male world: war, gender oppression and sexual pleasure. I use video as a instrument for deconstruction of my own perception of reality as well as the content of the images I choose and the editing process. I chose icons such as the Danish Royal Guard, a fish dealer's family and a fisherman, and the sex industry in México. The Change of Guards functions as a mean to reflect on the current Danish withdrawal of its troops from Iraq; and by inserting footage from WWII bunkers and children playing, the history and cycle of oppressed and oppressor. The chilean family, and the roles described within their value systems. While a fishermen works on processing shark fins to be sold in China as a delicacy, served in special occasions a symbol of wealth and prestige; The family of the fin's dealer enjoys a fish stew. To conclude, footage of an 'hourly-rate' hotel suit and a brothel in México.

“Modules for Caliente Performance”
InSite 2005

The San Diego-Tijuana borderlands constitute a complex region of interactions with multiple sociological loci . Movement and flow define the image of the trans-border corridor. This elliptical, double-centered urban space, like no other location, surrenders itself to this dance of indices with athletic mobility and convertibility of opposed distant situations. Ellipsis seeks to inhabit this in-between world, linking optical/sound image with temporal space to create a temporary circuit, and produce a creative tension that gives the event momentary life. Scenarios / Live Visual and Sound Image Event / Ellipsis /

Loop #1,2,3

Magaly Ponce, Bridgewater 2005
This video is part of 'Remains' a video installation. The work explores the relationship between fear and desire. In the tradition of Lysistrata, Ponce uses some humor to reflect on love and war, wholeness and fragmentation. The artist is intrigued by how small scale 'personal moments' can have a larger and more powerful presence when grouped together, or accumulated over time. The desegregation of the body in a formal sense, allows the coverage of a bigger psychological and physical space. By this act of dispersion, transcendence is achieved.

“Micro” Collaboration with Thorsten Dennerline and
Mike Graham 2004

This video ‘zooms in’ on the variety of color, textures, shapes and transparencies of dead insects. Thorsten Dennerline photographed hundreds of insects at the Entomology Laboratory of the University of Massachusetts. This work edited with Mike Graham’s sound composition.

“Substance” Collaboration with Michael Schuh
film by Mad Dog Inc. 2003

Mad Dog Inc. Commissioned an interpretative video for a script titled: “Substance”. The script is a philosophical statement about essence and form. The finished video is part of an anthology of eleven American artists.
Producers, Directors, Editors: Magaly Ponce and Michael Schuh
Actors/Readers in order of appearance:
Host: Marland Young
Radio Museum/Store owner: Jasper Gardino
Plant Shop owner: Joseph Waeltermann
Philosophy Professor: Rachael Singpurwalla
Fruit Stand: Peter Waters

“Art is in time”
Chile 2001

This video explores concepts of permanence. We usually think of large objects, such as ocean liners, mountains, buildings (twin towers in NY), as being permanent. However, we discover that all matter is in a constant state of change, albeit in its own pace. The landscape, the lizard and the cock are intertwined forming a circle, questioning our concepts of stability and balance. All footage was recorded in Chile in 2001.

“3x30 sec.”
Chile 2000

Three thirty second videos commissioned to be included in a documentary about Valparaíso, Chile. This documentary was part of the World heritage site application to UNESCO .

“Poetry / In Transit‘99”
reedited in January 2004
“Poetry / In Transit ‘98”
Danish poets and bilingual readings in New York City.
Chile /NY/MA

Poetry/In Transit started it’s bilingual poetry readings in 1995. The idea came from Danish poet Susanne Jorn, who wanted to promote Danish poetry of international caliber in North America by inviting three poets annually in five years and publish an anthology of the fifteen readings after the final events. Each years wood cut for the postcard and poster by the visual artist Thorsten Dennerline will also appear in the anthology. For the second year in a row the video artist Magaly Ponce will make an art video of the events. Last year’s video will be shown at a sound exhibition in Copenhagen later this year. Niels Frank, Pia Tafdrup and Annemette Kure Andersen read their works in Danish at St. Mark‘s Church, the DCA Gallery, SHAdi Jazz-place and The Emily Dickinson Homestead. The Danish reading is followed by the English translation, read by acclaimed American poets chosen carefully by Susanne Jorn and Marie-Louise Rosenstand.

Contained Lines

(Based on: "Lineas Contenidas" by Anamaría Briede) Magaly Ponce,Chile 2000
The concrete poems on 'Lineas Contenidas' inspired me to create a video. They triggered a pseudoscientific explanation of reality in me. As physics, biology or chemistry, these caligrams offer an explanation on how to code reality. The word, as a cell or basic unit, is disintegrated creating new organisms that, when reproduced or multiplied, vary their shape. This metamorphosis of the metaphor evidences the fragility of life cycles, the power of language to name/rename and the relationship between chaos/order.

Magnetic Balance

(Balance Magnético) Magaly Ponce, USA 1998
Through the eyes of a 'child of Pinochet', the generation raised under the dictatorship in Chile, history is revisited. After residing abroad a new perspective of events is achieved.
The image of the reasembly of an audio tape opens up a subjective space, where the reconstruction of memory and relative truth takes place. Personal and historical memories blur in a stream of time and audio manipulation. Layered bilingual narratives contrast circumstances surrounding the execution of an engineer with values of political loyalty and religious faith.
"Magnetic Balance" references the equilibrium of our minds in times of fear, sexual repression and propaganda.

Iron Seam

(Costura de Acero) Magaly Ponce, USA 1998
This video locates the viewer in a nonlinear narrative, where time and space are flexible. The narrative articulates a present tense and an inner vision of the character's own death and revival through technology. 'Iron Seam' revolves around death as the ultimate static stage. The text is typed on 'real time' on the screen, using first person narrative. The use of a text processor produces a sound that helps

Gringolandia

Magaly Ponce, USA 1998
This is a political videotape, which raises the issue of the misrepresentation of latinos in US media. Clips from films and TV commercials are mixed with the enactment of a latino female stereotype.
The 'confessional' aspect of the performance mocks the structures of media representation as well as the work of Latino artists. The reason behind criticizing the work of artist like Gomez Peña, is that they assume their 'minority' role, and make work that comes from embracing a multicultural point of view.
The emphasis on celebrating diversity creates uninformed divisions that trap artists into categories of 'latino' or 'Latin-American' art makers.

M1

Magaly Ponce, USA 1997
The intention of this video is to explore 'direction and speed' as elements of the video aesthetic. The scrolling landscapes displace images of myself, breaking my body into disjointed parts. The text evokes sensations, memories and experiences.
The displacement and fragmentation of the visual and sound, questions female identity. The displacement of the body is reinforced by a kitsch romantic soundtrack interrupted by static. The video evokes feelings of unification and rupture while in love.

Alchemy

(Alquimia) Magaly Ponce, USA 1997
This video is inspired on Gaudi's labyrinths, as a metaphor for the fear of creation.The structure of the tape is symmetrical in space and time. The camera descends and ascends the Sagrada Familia' s stairs. At the central moment of the video, a women is mysteriously regurgitating an egg.
Alchemy is an analogy about woman's biological and artistic creative cycles.

The Wind's Retirement

(La Jubilación del Rey de los Vientos) Magaly Ponce, USA 1996
This project is motivated by the contrast between tradition and progress on the city of Valparaiso, Chile. The poetic translation of is: Va al Paraiso? or Go to Paradise?. The project resulted on a 2D animation and two six minutes videos. This tape shows the poetic evolution of technology from wind mills to the space technology. The wind is the main character who gets old and cannot keep up with technology.
This project was possible thanks to the 'Creative Video Grant' by Andes Foundation, Chile.

Porcelain Flowers

(Flores de Porcelana) Magaly Ponce, Chile 1995-1996.
This project is inspired on the life of nitrate mining towns in the Atacama Desert on the early twentieth century. The discovery of artificial nitrate by Germans, starts the collapse of Chilean industries, creating despair among workers.
Even though the Atacama desert was the largest nitrate producer (natural fertilizer) of the world, workers had to create paper or metal flowers to bury their dead. The absence of vegetation forced the privileged european immigrants to import porcelain flowers from France. This contradiction sets the pivot point of the tape.
'Porcelain Flowers' criticizes colonialism through a context of beauty and fantasy. The visual language of the tape is based on my great-grandmother's tales. The oral tradition allows for an alternative historical reconstruction.
All funding provided by the MacArthur, Rockefeller, Lampadia foundations.

Dry Town

(Ley Seca) Magaly Ponce, Chile 1995.
This video is an exploration of the documentary format. The event is a religious festivity called 'La Tirana', in northern Chile. The festival lasts officially one week, and it is strictly prohibited to drink alcohol.
The video is centered at a Down Syndrome dancer, who has been part of a dancing academy for twelve years. His presence on the video comes to evidence the religious values of Chilean society.

Altazor:Video-Poem

(Altazor: Videopoema) Magaly Ponce, Chile 1994.
Vicente Huidobro is consider Chile's first anti-poet. His epic poem "Altazor", is structured by the metaphor: 'Life is a free fall', [only poetry or love can make one transcend].
The tape "Altazor: Video-Poema" is a free interpretation of its source, and collages 2D and 3D animation, new and appropriated video footage. The intention of the work is to apply Huidobro's creative concepts to audiovisual technology, as well as familiarize chileans with Huidobro's poetry.
Thanks to Professor Allan Browne for his guidance.