Life After Love, 2007, 3 Minutes DVD Video,
Bryan Zanisnik
"The Meadowlands"
July 31 –September 1
Opening Reception: Friday, August 3, 7 - 9 P.M.
In 1991, a train derailed in a Northern New Jersey swamp known as the Meadowlands. Unable to find a detailed map of the landscape, the local police flew helicopters over the swamp in order to determine a drivable route. Bryan Zanisniks work examines this marginalized New Jersey landscape, and its underlying socio-political and geographic implications. Working with photography, video and performance, Zanisnik uses humor and narrative as a means to critiquing the landscapes dual role as both a garbage dump and an ecological habitat. This dialectic and marginalized landscape is then made more so by its relationship to the surrounding suburbs, and likewise, to New York City, a mere five miles away.
The exhibition consists of three video pieces, and one photo installation. The Great Fish-Human is a two-channel video that presupposes the existence of a swamp monster in the Meadowlands. Hole in One is a single-channel video in which Zanisnik golfs in the middle of the swamp. Life after Love is an examination of metaphorical death, and ones own personal relationship to the natural landscape. Bogged Down is a series of documentary Meadowlands photographs combined with satellite maps and factitious map keys.
Bryan Zanisnik was born and raised in New Jersey, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn. He holds a BA in Art History from Drew University, NJ, and is an MFA Candidate in Combined Media at Hunter College, NY. He has shown his work at diverse institutions, including The Jersey City Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts at Florida State University, and Exit Art, NY. Most recently, he participated in First Look II at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill, NY
Bryan Zanisnik: The Meadowlands will be on view at domogallery, 447 Springfield Avenue, Summit, New Jersey 07901, 908-608-0079, July 31 through September 1, 2007. Hours: Tuesday through Friday 12 6 PM and Saturday 12 5 PM.