Jennifer & Kevin McCoy: The Allure of the Literal

The museum's first floor features five multimedia projects by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, including their acclaimed video database project, Every Anvil (2001), in which indexed shots from old Looney Toon cartoons are broken down into descriptive categories according to violence and physical extremism. Each category is contained on its own CD, which can be selected and played on a DVD player. The CD cases are labeled: EVERY FLATTENED CHARACTER; EVERY EXPLOSION; EVERY HAMMER AND HATCHET; EVERY FALL FROM A GREAT HEIGHT; and so on. By dissecting predictable storylines and reconfiguring them into non-hierarchal fragments, the McCoys emphasize alternative ways to experience conventional narratives, a strategic approach that is at the heart of their artistic practice.

In High Seas (2007), featured in the center of the museum's first floor, the McCoys turn their attention to the magic of movie-making. This kinetic sculpture includes a video camera, a single light, a mechanical wave-guide, and a five-foot model of the Titanic. As the ship model moves up and down along the wave-guide track, its movements are captured on a large screen behind the sculpture creating the illusion of an off-kilter movie in which the mighty Titanic is cast adrift upon stormy seas.

The relationship between technology, make-believe, and everyday reality are further examined in Big Box, 2007, which features a model of an American-style big box shopping mall placed on a slowly rotating turntable. In between each clean, generic store facade is either a trash-filled wasteland, or an over-grown jungle. A single camera films the scene presenting it as a drive-by view on a wall mounted video monitor.  In Double Fantasy 3 (Career), 2005, the McCoys represent their childhood dream jobs by means of a miniaturized revolving film set, lights, and a video camera.

The most recent project on view is collaboration between the McCoys and painting students from the UAlbany Master of Fine Arts program. Together they will create two new painted images based on fragmented film cells from Disney's Cinderella.