News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Steve Christensen
LUMA
312.915.6164
schris6@luc.edu

CHICAGO, January 17, 2012 - The Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) presents its first online exhibition, a video project entitled Closer by the Minute by San Francisco Bay-Area filmmakers David and Hi-Jin Hodge. This nine-segment online exhibition, on display now, runs through December 30, 2012. Each of the nine segments will be presented consecutively over 12 months, with a new segment added every month until September. All nine segments will be available for viewing by September 2012.

The observation of time is a key discipline for a videographer, and in Closer by the Minute the Hodges use digital technology to show the depth and power of exploring a subject in a careful, methodical way. The works in this collection of films range from straight documentary to fine art and address issues of interpersonal, metaphysical, and societal interest. Specific themes include the impermanence in human life and affairs, a meditative study of the ocean, the exploration of what people leave behind when life ends, and the role of memory in our perceptions of others and ourselves.

Typically, the Hodges' video work brings many perspectives together to tell a compelling story about life and change. The artists reveal their subjects in surprising ways, building reactions that increase in intensity and meaning the longer a viewer experiences them. Pamela Ambrose, director of cultural affairs at LUMA, who has been working with the Hodges since they exhibited in The Missing Peace in 2006, explains how deeply moving this exhibition can be as the viewer listens to the words of strangers reflecting on many of the enduring questions of life.

"We do not know these people, but their words show us the doubts, hopes, fears, reconciliation, and ultimately, the peace of mind gained through the realization that life is a continuum of balancing posterity and impermanence," Ambrose says. "The Hodges place us in touch with our own individual answers to life's major questions."

The presentation of Closer by the Minute online, rather than in a museum installation, is clearly the best way to reach as many people as possible. Ambrose explains, "The Hodges and I looked carefully at the content and possible means of delivery and discovered that the immediacy of viewing online, and the ability to revisit the nine segments at leisure, was to the ultimate advantage of the exhibition, as it offers the films to the greatest possible and diverse audience."

Closer by the Minute may be viewed online at LUC.edu/closerbytheminute, which is linked to the museum's main website, LUC.edu/luma.

2012 Closer by the Minute Online Viewing Schedule

How We Met (January)
Explore the different ways couples meet, fall in love, and live their lives together. Thirty couples, interviewed in various stages of their relationships, offer insight and provide snapshots of relationships in progress. 

I Win (February) 
Exploring the satisfaction we get from even the smallest victories is this work's focus. Whether smug, self-congratulatory, or rooted in self-preservation, winning can evoke the feeling of a pre-adolescent standoff, conveyed through the artists' declarations of victory. 

7 Days w/ Clifford (March)
This work asks the question, "What do we know about our next-door neighbors?" The answer is almost nothing. In this installation, Clifford, neighbor of the Hodges, tells seven stories in seven days, revealing a far more complex and interesting life than imagined. 

Legacy (April)
In some measure, we all leave something behind us, and this work is a response to the enduring question of what we hope to leave behind when we leave this world. The Hodges use new cinematic portraiture techniques to draw viewers deep into issues of life, lifestyle, and one's contribution to the future. 

Why Not Me? (May)
One woman's struggle with terminal illness takes center stage. Dianne's monologue outlines the strategies that enabled her, and others, to deal with disease. We are able to experience the full scope of Dianne's journey from disbelief to resolution in a compressed period as she talks about her illness. 

Watertime (June) 
This work captures the sea, both as a metaphor and as a force of nature. David and Hi-Jin Hodge filmed the continuum of wave action at the same stretch of ocean in northern California every day, at the same time, for an entire year. The footage captures the changing colors, wave patterns, and reflections of a year of the ocean. Note: This video will also be installed in the LUMA lobby in June 2012.

Reticulum (July)
Explore memory through fragmentary insights into a woman's life as part of July's work. Viewers connect to her experiences and reflect on their own life experiences and selective memories.

Niagara Falling (August) 
This work is a moving artistic investigation of the rapid decline of the city of Niagara Falls, New York. Interviews from members of several generations are blended with pictorial and historical material to capture the essence of a once thriving, and much changed city, and why the memories of a former thriving town keep residents hopeful of the city's rebirth.

Life on Wheels (September)
This final month's work focuses on the American automobile, so familiar and so entwined in American life that it is not merely an indispensable tool, but an inextricable feature of our cultural history. This project was partially sponsored by the Mattel Company.

About LUMA
Opened in 2005, the Loyola University Museum of Art is dedicated to exploring, promoting, and understanding art and artistic expression that illuminates the enduring spiritual questions of all cultures and societies. As a museum with an interest in education and educational programming, LUMA reflects the University’s Jesuit mission and is dedicated to helping people of all creeds explore the roots of their faith and spiritual quests. Located at Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus, the museum occupies the first three floors of the University’s historic Lewis Towers on Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue. For more information, visit the museum’s website at LUC.edu/luma.

Art illuminating the spirit!

-LUMA-