{"id":7340,"date":"2017-04-05T13:16:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T13:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.saic.edu\/cate\/?p=7340"},"modified":"2025-01-09T18:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T00:40:27","slug":"april-6-melika-bass-devotional-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/2017\/04\/05\/april-6-melika-bass-devotional-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"April 6 – Melika Bass: Devotional Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Melika Bass, still from Creature Companions, 2017. Image courtesy of the artist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Richly atmospheric, the films and installations of Chicago-based artist Melika Bass (MFA 2007) are populated by elusive figures whose enigmatic behavior suggest dark and troubling lives just beyond the screen. Working with a recurring group of performers, some of whom reappear as the same character in multiple films, Bass has developed an expansive approach to narrative:\u00a0<\/span>stories arc, abstract, and twist through different projects, revealing and complicating characters, relationships, and themes. She presents a selection of work from two recent and evolving projects, including <\/span>Creature Companion<\/em><\/i>, which features Selma Banich and Penelope Hearne engaged in a mysterious and sensual <\/span>pas de deux <\/em><\/i>inspired by the teachings of radical psychotherapist Wilhelm Reich. Bass also introduces a new episode in her ongoing project <\/span>The Latest Sun<\/em><\/i> is Sinking Fast<\/em><\/i><\/span>, revisiting three isolated characters (Sarah Stambaugh, Bryan Saner, and Matthew Goulish) whose solitary habits slowly entwine.<\/span><\/p>\n

2015-2017, USA, digital file, ca 60 min + discussion<\/span><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n

Melika Bass in person<\/span><\/em><\/i><\/p>\n

Melika Bass<\/strong><\/b><\/a> is a filmmaker and installation artist. Solo exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2011); Comfort Station, Chicago (2012); Iceberg Projects, Chicago (2013); and the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago (2015). International screenings and exhibitions include BFI London Film Festival; Kino der Kunst, Munich; Torino Film Festival; CPH Dox Film Festival, Copenhagen. Other screenings include the Ann Arbor Film Festival; the Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York; and Anthology Film Archives, New York. She is a recipient of an Artadia Award, Ann Arbor Film Festival’s Kodak\/Filmcraft Award, an Experimental Film Prize from the Athens International Film Festival, and two Media Arts Fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council. Bass was one of a dozen international filmmakers commissioned by Icelandic band Sigur Ros to create an original film for their Valtari Mystery Film Experiment<\/em><\/i>. \u00a0She is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation at SAIC.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richly atmospheric, the films and installations of Chicago-based artist Melika Bass (MFA 2007) are populated by elusive figures whose enigmatic behavior suggest dark and troubling lives just beyond the screen. Working with a recurring group of performers, some of whom reappear as the same character in multiple films, Bass has developed an expansive approach to […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from April 6 – Melika Bass: Devotional Animals<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":7181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[115,217,409,516,518],"class_list":["post-7340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-22","tag-chicago","tag-experimental-narrative","tag-melika-bass","tag-saic-alumni","tag-saic-faculty"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7340"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9817,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7340\/revisions\/9817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.saic.edu\/cate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}