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Press Release

Friedrich Petzel gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of Seth Price.

In Seth Price’s third show with Friedrich Petzel Gallery he screens music videos made to accompany two upcoming vinyl records, one of which debuts this January (Honesty, from AVA Records).

The music was recorded by the artist, and includes ghost stories just recently written and narrated by Mr. Price, tracks originally included in videos by the artist from as far back as 2000, and pop songs from many years between. The music videos were originally posted to Youtube this past fall.

One of the earliest ways to watch movies was individually, by stepping up to peer into devices like Edison’s Kinetoscope. Acknowledging this history as well as the fact that, a century’s worth of cinema later, computers have returned much of our viewing to a solitary pursuit, Mr. Price has installed his videos in individual viewing booths so that a person may enter, press play, and watch a piece in its entirety.

Mr. Price has worked with music and music video before, most prominently with his ongoing Title Variable project of mix-tapes and essays (2001—), and in the 2001 video lecture New York Woman, which considered the role of producers and production technology in electronic pop music.

Edison has also been a preoccupation; the inventor’s patents on electric, telephone, and movie equipment (all necessary ingredients for a web-distributed video) have appeared on Mr. Price’s sculptures, and in his video Redistribution (2007—). A metal plaque in the current exhibition, mounted by the light switch, features Edison’s patent on the electric bulb: don’t forget who copyrighted the power!

A record release party for Honesty will take place at Audio Visual Arts (AVA - info@audiovisualarts.org) on January 14th from 6-8pm.

Friedrich Petzel Gallery is located at 535 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011. For further information, please contact the gallery at info@petzel.com, or call (212) 680-9467.