In conjunction with Jae Hi Ann’s Ahn’s environments are films by JESSICA LAURETTI, REBECCA CONROY and MARIAM GHANI which create individualized compositions of sensual, personal and serene nature. JESSICA LAURETTI For the Longing in My Heart, 2007 19:00 min For the Longing in My Heart is a self portrait of an individual restless with wonder, wandering through the woods trying to recover what has been lost. Shot on Super 8mm all across the United States, this film juxtaposes the isolation of the natural world with the natural tendency of humanity to desire that which we don’t have. The lack of human interaction leaves the viewer with a mournful sense of what the discovery of a new landscape can realistically provide.

“Discover in that distance what it is you are longing for and you’ll find yourself lost still.”- J. Lauretti

Lauretti is Brooklyn based filmmaker and musician. In 2005, Lauretti curated, “Shoot” an exhibit of video shorts at Dam, Stuhltrager which went on to represent American film at an international show at Circulo de Bella Artes Museum in Madrid, Spain.

REBECCA CONROY Ribbon Trap, 2007 12:00 min The collaboration of cognitive, linear scenery with subconscious actions gives rise to an unpredictable symbolism. By merging staged movements with visual stimuli documented from reality, a tantalizing landscape is created for the viewer. Installation art within the realms of this landscape uncovers another world; major themes in this work are femininity, boundaries, nature, and the isolation of any individual.

Conroy received her B.A. in Film from Hampshire College and is now attending the M.F.A. program at Columbia University’s Film Division.

MARIAM GHANI & ERIN ELLEN KELLY Fugitive Refrains, 2006-7 26:10 min Fugitive Refrains juxtaposes ornate imitations of nature from the Rococo interiors of Stuttgart’s Solitude palace with a series of site-specific performances staged in the Solitude Rotwildpark forest. The performances in this present-day public park excavate traces of its original design as a pastoral playground for aristocrats from the palace. The interplay between the two settings in the video creates a Rococo game played between forest and palace, nature and artifice, movement and landscape, dance and architecture, figure and ground, mirrors and echoes, and display and concealment.

Ghani’s work in video, installation, photography, performance, text and public dialogue has been screened, exhibited and published widely in the US, Europe, Asia and South America. Erin Ellen Kelly’s work as a dancer, choreographer, solo performer and founding member of the multimedia collective RansomCorp has been presented at venues across the US, Europe, and Thailand.

OPENING NITE EVENT Just as any Fantasia needs an explosion of drama, Mark Esper takes over the Sculpture Garden with a flying, twirling orb world of flashing LED lights that returns to its cradle only to rest before taking off again. The newest of Esper’s kinetic sculptures, “Its In The Air” sounds as good (and as loud) as it looks