Press
[Freewaves] remains true to the original spirit of independence… Fearlessly taking risks, the artists showcased throughout the festival celebrate new ways of seeing… The result is truly visionary. – The Independent
Great… The shows are eclectic but unified thematically and they bring the best of the wild world of video art here to Los Angeles. – LA Weekly
…this high-stakes cultural drama perched on the thin blurred line between commerce and creative independence. – Los Angeles Times
- View Coverage in The New York Times
- Download the Freewaves Fact Sheet
>>“A Massive Multi-Faceted Screening Room”: LA Freewaves Curates Hollywood Boulevard by Matt Reynolds June 2012 (.pdf)
Reynold’s article on Freewaves’ 11th festival titled HollyWould argues that the curatorial strategies of HollyWould produced a creative and critical pillaging of the commercial spectacle of Hollywood Boulevard. As a purposefully evocative and playful turn on Hollywood, HollyWould engaged a captive audience accustomed to passive entertainment with issue-oriented art by asking viewers to think critically about their immediate surroundings and the ever-shifting urban environments in and around Los Angeles. He Reynolds states that even the title HollyWould raises questions about art’s relationship with its context and its capacity to produce social awareness.
>> Pixels and Places “Media for Visual Critique” by Catrien Schreuder February 2010 (.pdf)
Art historian Catrien Schreuder offers a theoretical approach to study the growing appearance of video art in the public space and the aims of moving images to directly react to commercial messages on the street by transforming, masking or enriching public space. Schreuder says that in the public realm “video art is employed as a means for critical reflection, as an injection of creativity in an environment dominated by commerce or political power structures.” Presenting more than 80 video works, initiatives, organizations and artists from the Netherlands and abroad, Pixels and Places is the first international survey of public video art projects.
>> Public Art Review “A Plea for the Media Arts” by Mirjam Struppek Fall/Winter 2009 (.pdf)
Public Art Review highlights new and innotivative media art projects that have altered the experience of urban spaces across the globe. “Media art presents fresh new opportunity to reach completely new audiences,” says Struppek, “redefining urban communities [and] mobilizing citizens to take part in actively shaping the public space and its urban interactions.” Freewaves and other media artists have developed interactive and public works, allowing shared experience and dialogue on community-building between members of our diverse urban societies.
>> Artillery Vol 6 Issue 3 “Moving Videos” by Eve Wood February/March 2012 (.pdf)
In this article published on Artillery, the LA-based alternative contemporary art publication, Wood praises Freewaves’ achievements in “pioneering user-friendly interfaces between creativity and information super highway” and describes our Out the Window project as innovative and community-driven.
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