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Stephen Rife

Portrait Biographie

 
Presentations: 

The jpeg file titled "Smoking Word" is from a spoken word performance in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the Summer of 2002. The photo is by Osla Kuster. (A barbeque grill was used as a podium for public speech. Participants were allowed to wear protective boots and stand on the grill/stage to address the audience. The fuel for the fire consisted of written words read by participants).

-The jpeg file titled "Firefilm" is from a performance at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in the Spring of 2002. The photo is by Don Lee (A screen of nitrocellulose flashpaper was constructed and ignited by a 16mm projector fitted with spark-throwing fireworks).

-The Portrait is from 1999, by Chantal Gatsby

STATEMENT: Stephen Rife

My work courts the enigmatic in nature, and attempts to incorporate it by employing chemicals, conditions, and phenomena that I struggle to understand along with my viewers. I enjoy creating scenarios in which viewers are compelled by fascination to become collaborators.

For most humans, the enigma of fire commands a deep fascination. This is due to several factors, not least of which is fire's animal quality and our seemingly innate facility for tending and controlling it. The imagination plays a significant role in this interaction, because in order to control fire we must keep in mind an image of fire in its natural state, without human stricture. Having chosen to feature combustion in my work, I have imagined (and continue to imagine, for safety's sake) fire's dangerous appetite and destructive potential. Even so, it has proven itself a rich and workable medium, valuable as a means of self-expression while at the same time fully capable of speaking for itself, especially when given the proper stage.

Name:  Stephen Rife
Actual User Status: Offline

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