Spin Cycle Video at Maxwell Gallery
"It's enough to make your head spin!" "Stop the world, I want to get offf' If you've ever uttered these phrases then perhaps you will identify with Peekskill AudioNisual Artist Gene Panczenko's short video, Spin Cycle currently on exhibition at Maxwell's Gallery through June 29, 2002. The video starts with the image of a bearded man with a dead-pan expression, standing in a cluttered room. This, in fact, is the Artist in his studio. Suddenly, the room appears to start spinning, slowly at first, and then picking up speed. Bright flashes of light illuminate the scene, accompanied by sounds effects reminiscent of Saturday-morning cartoons and 1950's science-fiction movies. The flashes lead to distortions of the man, making him appear as a pencil-necked caricature, sometimes bugeyed, sometimes one-eyed. The screen appears to warp open, revealing an alternate reality. The background has changed and the distortions become more severe, accompanied by bizzarre whooshing sounds. The screens warps again and we are back to the original room, still spinning. The spinning room starts to slow down as the viewer's point-of-view spirals into the body of the man and fades to black.
Spin CycIe humorously illustrates what many people feel is an overly fast-paced and complex world. Too much stimulous and information, in this individual anyway, leads to a distortion of reality. His expression never changes, but we get the sense that everything is getting internalized. Either he is taking it all in stride and is bored by the experience or is numbed by it to the point of near-catatonia. The viewer is invited to make their own judgment.
Gene Panczenko has a degree in Film from Binghamton University and works in the professional AV industry. His photographs, films, videos, and multi-image slide projections have been exhibited recently in Peekskill, Beacon, and Poughkeepsie..
