Fundamental Motions: Recent Titles in Distribution

Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) presents a selection of works recently added to our distribution catalogue by Michael Bell-Smith and Sara Magenheimer, Zoe Beloff, Michael Smith, and Sophie Breer with David Wojnarowicz. The evening takes its title from Zoe Beloff’s The Infernal Dream (2011), which invokes Frank and Lillian Gilbreth’s time-motion studies aimed at maximizing workplace efficiency.

In this program, artists subvert systems of bodily control. Utilizing a range of ubiquitous communication formats including childrens’ television shows, Zoom calls, and industrial films, they highlight the absurdity of bureaucracy and technological optimization. Beloff’s single-channel piece—adapted from the artist’s 2011 installation, The Infernal Dream of Mutt and Jeff—reanimates two midcentury industrial films focused on maximizing productivity in the workplace through the visual language of slapstick, envisioning how metaphysically unruly objects can subvert capitalism's ideal of seamless labor protocols. Bell-Smith and Magenheimer's Acetone Reality (2025) uses computer-generated voices, animations, and found images to present a cascading meditation on the nature of meaning making. Breer’s Waje’s Cockabunnies (1981) showcases Wojnarowicz’s “cock-a-bunnies,” live cockroaches adorned with paper bunny ears and cotton tails, through the instructional format of the classic children’s television show Romper Room. Smith’s Zoom Room (2022) depicts Mike Smith, the artist’s Everyman alter-ego, as he attempts to lead a Zoom meeting with his less-than-enthusiastic staff.

An informal conversation with Beloff will follow the screening.

Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI)’s venue is located at 264 Canal Street, 3W, near several Canal Street subway stations. Our floor is accessible by elevator (63" × 60" car, 31" door) and stairway. Due to the age and other characteristics of the building, our bathrooms are not ADA-accessible, though several such bathrooms are located nearby. If you have questions about access, please contact in advance of the event.

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