Not Quite Myself Today
Video Works by Eight Artists

Arizona State University Art Museum
at the Nelson Fine Arts Center

December 15, 2001 - March 3, 2002

S.E. Barnet

S.E.Barnet
Mary Shelley's Daughter, 1999
Video installation
5 x 10 x 12 feet
Courtesy of the artist, Los Angeles, CA
and the Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA

S.E. Barnet
Lives and works in Los Angeles

Mary Shelley's Daughter

Manipulation plays a large role in both the making of art and the art world itself. Whether through the manipulation of perspective or the alteration of reality, artists strive to change the way in which we see and think. In much the same way, outside forces often pressure artists to change their work to more easily fit into an exhibition or new art moment, to make work more commercially marketable, or even to change the medium in which they work.

In Mary Shelley's Daughter, S.E. Barnet casts the viewer in the role of creator/artist. On multiple monitors, the artist is displayed in fragmented body parts which, if pieced together, form a human figure. Museumgoers are invited to play Mary Shelley's famous character, Dr. Frankenstein, and alter the artist's real appearance by selecting imagery from multiple VHS tapes to construct their personal vision of the artist. The result of this experiment is much the same as the monster created by Shelley's Frankenstein - a conglomeration of body parts created by an individual with all the best of intentions, but perhaps without a knowledge of or appreciation for the final outcome.

About the Artist

S.E.Barnet received a BA from the University of Southern California and went on to receive a MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Her work has been included in the exhibitions: Untitled (Deep Throat) - collaboration with Martin Durazo, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; New Visions: Video 1999, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Mary Shelley's Daughter, Sweeney Art Gallery, University of California Riverside, CA; Trouble, The Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Canada; Signal Box - collaboration with Jenny Michals, Marilyn's Studio, Los Angeles, CA; Cyborg Manifesto, or The Joy of Artifice, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA; Shifters, Artplace, Venice, CA; No Live Girls, Nada Show World, New York, NY; Self-Service, Five Years, London, England; Scamdance, Park City, UT; Alchemy, SBS, Melbourne, Australia; Rare and Peculiar Visions Museu Brasileiro de Escultura, San Paulo, Brazil; The DNC Show, Democratic National Convention HQ, Los Angeles, CA; Dreamhouse, Miller Durazo, Los Angeles, CA; re:Moved, The Brewery Project, Los Angeles, CA; 2nd Annual Film Festival, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA; Macadam FilmFest, NewTown Pasadena, Pasadena, CA; shopping, Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Canada; The White Cube at the Final Frontier, Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University, Orange, CA; Dishman Art Gallery, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX; Moving Toward the Millennium: 1999 Los Angeles Juried Exhibition, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; New Visions: Video 1999, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; Skin Deep, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; LACPS 1999 Annual, Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies, Los Angeles, CA; Projections: Intermission Images, Leammle Grande 4plex/Side Street Projects, Los Angeles, CA; One Night Stand, Park Plaza Lodge, Los Angeles, CA; Synopticon, Action Space/Foundation for Art Resources, Los Angeles, CA; All Over the Map, The Museum of Contemporary Art, L.A. Freewaves Festival, Los Angeles, CA; Breaking Boundaries, Disney Gallery, Marlborough School, Los Angeles, CA; New Windows at One Colorado, NewTown Pasadena Foundation, Pasadena, CA; L.A. Artexhibition, Luchman Fine Arts Gallery, California State University at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; One Night Stand 9, The Farmer's Daughter Motel, Los Angeles, CA; Tweeners, Spanish Kitchen, Los Angeles, CA; Journey to Freedom, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA; Video Living Room 2, Long Beach, CA; In The Pocket 3, Random Gallery, Highland Park, CA; Subliminal Fictions, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA; 1997 Annuale, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (L.A.C.E.), Los Angeles, CA; Skin Deep: Beauty, Displeasure, Agency, L.A.C.E./S.P.E., Los Angeles, CA; Splice, Side Street Projects, Santa Monica, CA; Shelter, The Brandeis-Barden Institute, Brandeis, CA; Safari, FAR Bazaar at the Old L.A. Zoo, Los Angeles, CA; Just A Minute, L.A.C.P.S., Los Angeles, CA; 50 Posters About Souled American, Greenwich Village, New York, NY; Private TV Public Living Rooms, The Geffen Contemporary at The Museum of Contemporary Art/L.A. Freewaves, Los Angeles, CA; Sonando A Colorer/Dreaming in Colors, La Galeria de la Ciudad, Tijuana, Mexico; Foundation for Art Resources, Full Moon Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Cookin' at the Spanish Kitchen, Spanish Kitchen Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Inside the Exterior, L.A.C.E./LA Freewaves Festival, Los Angeles, CA; Gallery 825 1996 Open, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA; "Dear CMJ, We left the coliseum discouraged... Posters from the CMJoy Gang; Open Letters Hung in Lower Manhattan, September 4-7, 1996", New York, NY; Jack of Hearts International Film Festival, Albany, NY; New Frontiers Film Festival, University of Ottawa Alumni Theater, Ontario, Canada; Baltimore Independent Film and Video Makers Competition, Baltimore Museum of Modern Art, Baltimore, MD; The Orpheum Cinema Independent Film Festival, Baltimore, MD; California Institute of the Arts Showcase '93, Academy Plaza Theater, Los Angeles, CA; Seattle International Film Festival, The Egyptian Theater, Seattle, WA; L.A. Access/Open Festival, The Onyx Cafe, Los Angeles, CA; and the Freewaves Video Festival, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.

S.E. Barnet has curated the exhibitions: Short Cuts, Video Bus Tour for L.A. Freewaves, Los Angeles, CA; Summer's Over, Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA; Erika Sunderburg, A three night retrospective program for Filmforum at L.A.C.E. and The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; and Collective Noise - Co-curated with Joseph Santarromana, Collective Noise Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

John D. Spiak
Curatorial Museum Specialist
Arizona State University Art Museum

For more information contact John Spiak at spiak@asu.edu.

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