WHITE BOX is pleased to present SCUM at THE ANNEX. This solo exhibition by Polish, New York-based artist Wojtek Ulrich consists of a three-channel film projection, a video sculpture, and a series of large-format digital photographs. The three-channel film, titled Scumdance, was shot in a cavernous underground complex called Der Riese located in Poland’s Sowie Mountains. Construction of the massive tunnels began a few years before World War II, but it was with the Nazi invasion of Poland that Der Riese acquired its sinister infamy as a place where thousands of prisoners met horrific deaths. This atrocious, historical backdrop becomes an apt setting for Ulrich’s 18-minute cinematic tour-de-force, projected on three nine-foot screens and accompanied by a mesmerizing soundtrack.

Along with Scumdance, a video sculpture consisting of 48 monitors in the shape of a crucifix hung from the ceiling will be exhibited. The monitors are connected to an antenna receiving television programs from around the world. The visual, audio, linguistic and cultural cacophony created from simultaneous transmission include Al-Jeezera, pornography, Disney Channel, religious channels of all denominations, HAMA Television, ESPN, BBC, Televisa, NRK ad infinitum. SCUM is both primal and of the moment: one work speaks of man’s inhumanity and existential condition within a filmic setting that is concomitantly futuristic and archetypal, while the other work resides somewhere between Baudrillard’s “ecstasy of communication” and the Tower of Babel.

A full-color catalog including an essay by the curator will accompany the exhibition.