London’s First Streaming-On-Demand Exhibition Explores Technological Change, Mass Media, and the Universality of Moving Images in Contemporary Art.
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) is pleased to present Perpetual Motion, a PAMMTV exhibition curated by Barbara London, opening December 6, 2023. Perpetual Motion is the first streaming-on demand exhibition by foundational media art curator Barbara London and features ten moving-image artists exploring the transforming discipline of video art. Participating artists include Kamari Carter, Richard Garet, Bang Geul Han, Cornelia Parker, Wong Ping, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Aki Sasamoto, Joey Skaggs, Federico Solmi, and Claudix Vanesix.
Since the early 1970s, London has played a key role in situating media art in contemporary discourse. Notable for founding the video exhibition and collection programs at The Museum of Modern Art as well as authoring Video Art: The First Fifty Years published by Phaidon in 2020, London’s work catalyzes discussion around media, installation, and sound art produced internationally. For her PAMMTV exhibition, London brings together a global selection of video works confronting how technological change, mass media, and the universality of moving images affect the activity of contemporary artists from South Florida to Hong Kong, Peru, South Korea, and beyond.
“For her entire career Barbara has been on the leading edge of video curation,” said PAMM Director of Digital Engagement Jay Mollica. “So, it is meaningful to have her curate an exhibition for our streaming gallery, PAMMTV, and acknowledge the shifting expectations of museums in the 21st century.”
Drawn from the ever evolving, inventive field of media art, each of the videos engages and inspires. In this continuously transforming domain where interdisciplinary crossovers occur within the fields of film, video, music, sound, and performance, innovative use of the latest audiovisual tools is the new normal. Moreover, the moving image is one of the most vital art forms, and has become ubiquitous on smartphones, viewed in compressed durations, in tandem with shortened attention spans. Ranging between two and 11 minutes in length, the 10 moving image works featured in Perpetual Motion will be available for streaming on PAMMTV where viewers around the world will be able to access London’s exhibition through their web browsers, mobile phones, tablets, or Apple TV.
“My curatorial career began in the early 1970s when artists mailed their experimental video work on analog cassette, which I would preview once the package arrived. Today I preview artists’ video the moment they share a link. Perpetual Motion gives viewers everywhere the same instantaneous experience of exploring the current trajectory of a vital form of contemporary art practice.” said Barbara London.
To commemorate the launch of Perpetual Motion, the museum will host an event on December 6, 2023, from 2–3pm during Miami Art Week. Audiences can participate as London provides live commentary over the video art from her PAMMTV exhibition. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in American Sign Language (ASL), Haitian Creole, and Spanish.
ABOUT BARBARA LONDON
Barbara London is an internationally acclaimed curator and writer with a practice that revolves around media, installation, and sound art produced internationally. Recent projects include the survey exhibition Dara Birnbaum, curated for the Prada Foundation, Milan (2023); Seeing Sound (Independent Curators International, 2020-26); the podcast series, Barbara London Calling, 2020-2024; and Video Art: The First Fifty Years, published by Phaidon in 2020.
London joined the curatorial staff at The Museum of Modern Art in the early 1970s, where she founded the video exhibition and collection programs. While at MoMA, she organized numerous media exhibitions and one-person shows, and led the acquisition of works by such artists as Laurie Anderson, Nam June Paik, Sondra Perry, Zhang Peili, and many others. Her thematic shows included Soundings: A Contemporary Score, Music Video: The Industry and Its Fringes, Looking at Music, and Video from Tokyo to Fukui and Kyoto. Her writing has appeared in numerous catalogues and publications. She was the first to integrate the Internet as part of curatorial practice, with Stir-fry (1994), adaweb.com/context/stir-fry/; Internyet (1998); and dot.jp. (1999.) She has taught in the sound art department at Columbia University, and in the graduate art department at Yale, from 2014-2019.
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ABOUT PAMMTV
PAMMTV is a first-of-its-kind streaming service that delivers video art from our museum to wherever you are. Discover a free array of cutting-edge, international video art from Pérez Art Museum Miami’s collection, alongside selections from film festivals, guest curators, and regional filmmakers. With a focus on boundary-pushing artists across South Florida, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the African Diaspora, PAMMTV showcases the dynamic media ecosystem throughout the Global South. All videos and exhibitions on PAMMTV are free to watch. PAMMTV is also available on Apple TV+. Create an account and watch today.
ABOUT PAMM
Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), led by Director Franklin Sirmans, promotes artistic expression and the exchange of ideas, advancing public knowledge and appreciation of art, architecture, and design, and reflecting the diverse community of its pivotal geographic location at the crossroads of the Americas. The nearly 40-year-old South Florida institution, formerly known as Miami Art Museum (MAM), opened a new building, designed by world-renowned architects Herzog & de Meuron, on December 4, 2013 in Downtown Miami’s Maurice A. Ferré Park. The facility is a state-of-the-art model for sustainable museum design and progressive programming and features 200,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor program space with flexible galleries; shaded outdoor verandas; a waterfront restaurant and bar; a museum shop; and an education center with a library, media lab, and classroom spaces.
