@Work
Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy
Presented by Basement Films
Exhibition: April 21 – 27, 2024
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 21 5-8pm
Artist Talk: Wednesday, April 24, 11:30-1pm during Experiments in Cinema v19.8
Sanitary Tortilla Factory and Basement Films is pleased to present @WORK, a documentary public art project by Zoe Beloff and Eric Muzzy that was created to celebrate the working people of New York. The project gives workers a platform to share their thoughts about their work, their world and their dreams for the future. The project takes on multiple forms of portraiture. From the start Zoe and Eric saw themselves as facilitators. Their first step was to interview each worker. They began the conversation with the words, “we are here for you…”. Subsequently they build the interviews into short films both serious and playful that situates the subject in place and time. Each worker was invited to choose a song that energized them. This exhibition is presented as part of Experiments in Cinema v19.8, Basement Film’s annual international experimental film festival.
The project includes fourteen life size portrait banners. QR codes link the banners to the films. The final part of the project was a large-scale wall mural and installation at the Electrical Workers Training Center (IBEW Local #3) in New York City.
During the process of interviewing an incredibly diverse group of workers they learned a lot. For one thing if it were not for the contribution of immigrant women, the city would rapidly grind to a halt. This work is inspired by photographs of workers by Walker Evans and Alan Sekula, painted murals by Ben Shahn and the vernacular style of fairground banners. At the same time, they wanted to take these inspirations into the twenty-first century. They hope these images will travel far and inspire new oral histories.
Artists bios
Zoe Beloff is a visual artist and filmmaker. With a focus on social justice, she draws timelines between past and present to imagine a more egalitarian future. Zoe’s work has been featured in international exhibitions and screenings including the Whitney Museum, Site Santa Fe, the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and the Pompidou Center in Paris. However, she particularly enjoys working in alternative venues that are free and open to the community. She is a Professor at Queens College.
@zoebeloff
Eric Muzzy studied documentary filmmaking at Temple University though he started his young professional life peripatetically in a series of pursuits including factory worker, cabinet maker, house builder, deckhand and cameraman. He has worked in the film industry as well as acting as director of photography on independent films. He regularly collaborates with two New York artists, Zoe Beloff and composer and singer Shelley Hirsch. He is also engaged in still photography.
@ecplenair
Experiments in Cinema is an annual production of Albuquerque non-profit Basement Films. The annual festival festival, now in its 19th year, showcases artist films from around the world in a week-long festival in April. More at www.experimentsincinema.org
Experiments in Cinema v19.8 is made possible by support from New Mexico Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, New Mexico Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Central New Mexico Community College, The Albuquerque Film Office. @Work was created with support from New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Artist Corp, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Social Practice CUNY and The Center for the Humanities at the CUNY Graduate Center.