NYCU | Mika Rottenberg and the Amazing Invention Factory

Artist Mika Rottenberg in her Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, home. Production still from the series New York Close Up. © Art21, Inc. 2013. Cinematography by John Marton.

The latest New York Close Up film is now available for your viewing: Mika Rottenberg and the Amazing Invention Factory.

What are the stories we tell about objects? In this film, artist Mika Rottenberg considers a survey of her videos in which women work in factory-like settings to create handmade objects. Growing up in Israel, Rottenberg recalls not being exposed to commercials on television until she was a teenager; after moving to New York City, she encountered infomercials such as Ron Popeil‘s “set it and forget it” Showtime Rotisserie chicken oven. Fascinated by the stories surrounding these inventions, Rottenberg creates her own fabricated products as well as idiosyncratic fictions about the origins of objects. Populating her videos with women who have extreme physiques and who sell their services on the Internet—such as wrestling, squashing, and photo opportunities—Rottenberg’s imaginary factories are run by people who “own the means of production.” Throughout her videos Rottenberg draws the viewer’s attention to the architecture of the body and the psychological dimensions of labor and value. This New York Close Up film features Rottenberg’s works Tropical Breeze (2004), Mary’s Cherries (2004), Dough (2005–06), and Squeeze (2010).

Mika Rottenberg (b. 1976, Bueno Aires, Argentina; raised in Tel Aviv, Israel) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Watch the full film below.

CREDITS | New York Close Up Created & Produced by: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Editor: Brad Kimbrough. Cinematography: John Marton. Sound: Eric Diebner. Associate Producer: Ian Forster. Design & Graphics: Crux Studio & Open. Artwork: Mika Rottenberg. Additional Camera & Sound: Heather Foster, Tall Kat, Ronen Nagel, Queen Raqui, Ronco, Rock Rose, Ann Rossetti, Paul Ruest, Mahyad Tousi & Aaron Young. Thanks: Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery.

New York Close Up is supported, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; Toby Devan Lewis; Lambent Foundation; the Dedalus Foundation, Inc.; and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc. Additional support provided by The 1896 Studios & Stages, and by individual contributors.