Featured image: Javier Téllez. Valencia, Venezuela, 1969. Letter on the Blind for the Use of Those Who See, 2007. 16mm film transferred to digital video, black and white, 5.1 dolby surround sound, 27 min 36 sec. © 2007 Javier Téllez. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich. Promised gift of Jeanne and Michael Klein, 2015
Javier Téllez’ film and installation work challenges the role of authoritative institutions and established notions of normalcy. For this black and white film transferred to video, Téllez stages an enactment of an Asian parable that recounts how six blind individuals were asked to touch an elephant and relay their experience. The title for the piece is borrowed from the name of an essay by eighteenth-century French philosopher Denis Diderot and suggests the difficulties the blind and the sighted have in understanding each other’s experience. The blind may not see the world as the sighted do, while the sighted only have a limited experience of living with blindness. This work–part scripted fiction, part documentary film–opens a path for mutual understanding through the moving acceptance of our shared humanity.
Upcoming Programs
Second Saturdays: April 2024 – Designed for April
Anni Albers-inspired talks, live music, and more!
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Program Schedule
6:00 – 7:30 pm
Weaving Demonstration with Zanny Cox
Michener Gallery Building
Join Austin-based artist Zanny Cox for an interactive weaving demonstration inspired by Anni Albers: In Thread and On Paper. In this hands-on experience, visitors will have the opportunity to contribute to a collaborative textile produced on Cox’s “community loom.” No prior weaving experience required!
About Zanny Cox: Zanny Cox is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Austin, Texas. Drawing inspiration from her Mexican, Kickapoo, and Irish ancestry, her process is inspired by ancestral knowledge and honors the voices of the past. While preserving the historical elements of handweaving and goldsmithing, her work fuses a modern aesthetic with ancient craft, crossing the boundaries of art, culture, and fashion.
Sponsored By:
Credits
Generous funding for this video installation is provided by the Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation.