‘Promiseland’ brings the Wild West to Kipp as video installation

The Wild West will be featured in an artistic video installation series called “Promiseland,” beginning with a 6 p.m.

opening Feb. 21, in Kipp Gallery in Sprowls Hall. The exhibit will be open to the public Tuesday through Thursday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Everything from rodeos to
cowboy culture to the rituals
performed before bull riding will be
featured in a series of video installations by Chele Isaac, a multimedia artist from Madison, Wis.

Three distinct installations will be featured: “Promiseland,” “Wanderlust” and “8 Seconds.”

“Promiseland” follows a narrative
surrounding a reoccurring character known only as the Orange Gringham Man.

“This enigmatic figure– costumed in a mis-matched orange gingham
suit and played by a woman – never speaks, is never seen in close-up
and is unhindered by the usual
constraints of an ‘if/then’ binary,” Chris McGinnis, director of Kipp Gallery said. “Indeed, the OGM is
characterized by an unsettled equation
of ‘and/and’ in a series of linkages that usually
operate in opposition – pathetic/heroic; male/female; average/supernatural; historic/futuristic.”

“Wanderlust” also highlights the OGM’s travels, although through
different protagonists and their
entrapment in diverse landscapes.

“8 Seconds” examines the masculinity within bull riding and the differences between ranching and the rodeo, two separate aspects found within cowboy culture.

“Isaac utilizes multi-channel video projections,” McGinnis said, “sound as environment, photography and
sculpture.”

Her short films have been featured
in various film screenings, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Additionally, Isaac will talk with
the public at 5 p.m. Feb 21, he and will answer any questions surrounding the exhibit.

The exhibit came to Indiana University of Pennsylvania through submitted proposal, which took into account Isaac’s upbringing in
western Pennsylvania.