Look Out for the Swamp Zombie Mama!
Meet Emerging Artist Ali Prosch
By Nadia Joseph
"MoCA and Miami" is an exhibition that explores the parallel rise of the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Miami art community through the works of local, MoCA-featured artists since 1996. One of those artists is MoCA's very own Ali Prosch, and emerging filmmaker who works at the membership department.
A dynamic young artist, whose short-form videos have been featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art's Optic Nerve competition, Ms. Prosch's work titled "Not My Mama" was recently purchased for the MoCA permanent collection. She says that childrenıs fairy tales and fantasies influence her work although there are no princesses and flying carpets in "Not My Mama." I got a chance to ask her these few questions so that you can get a better taste of this California native.
Q: How long have you lived in Miami?
A: 5 years.
Q: Where did you go to art school?
A: New World School of the Arts College.
Q: Why do you like to make videos?
A: It's an outlet for my aggressions. Also, it is affordable and fun.
Q: When do you work on your filmmaking?
A: Just about everyday. Not necessarily editing all the time, but I write a lot to develop my ideas and work on story boarding, finding costumes, searching for good sites to shoot footage.
Q: Describe the piece that MOCA bought.
A: "Not My Mama" depicts a fast paced, campy encounter with a manic monster that takes the viewer on a mission of annihilation. It is a troubling yet humorous narrative of a violent and desperate swamp zombie mother whose instinct is to destroy. Not My Mama references old black and white movies and uses classic filming techniques such as rapid, choppy editing. It explores female aggression, struggles, and the psychological states found in nature. The work questions the widely held ideal of "mother nature" as an innately nurturing force.
Q: How long did it take to make it?
A: 2 months.
Q: How important is it for your career to have a museum, like MoCA, purchase your work?
A: It is very important. MoCA is a major art institution and to be included in the collection is a perfect step forward in my career.
Q: How has living in Miami influenced your work?
A: The landscape here in South Florida plays a major role in my work.
Q: Can I say that you're Independent Film Maker?
A: I would prefer to be called an artist who uses video as a medium. I make other things besides video.
Q: What do you call your work-- experimental, animation, documentary, narrative?
A: My videos are often strange and fantastical narratives with some sort of destructive element.
Q: Are you trying to make a statement?
A: I'm always trying to make a statement. Do I always succeed in making a clear statement? Probably not.
Q: Are you trying to create a new kind of art?
A: 'ım more concerned with making work that is honest and visually compelling than trying to create a new style or movement. If it happens on its own that's great but it's not my mission.
Q: Are you using old art forms to make new art?
A: I reference history to help make sense of what is happening currently. I am definitely inspired by art works that have been done in the past.
Q: Do you feel that someone has just recognized your talent or have you've already been recognized for it and didn't know how to go farther?
A: I hope I will continuously be recognized for my talent, I think it's an ongoing process.
Ali Prosch's work is included in the current group show of Miami-based artists, "MoCA and Miami," on view until October 30. For more information, visit our website: www.mocanomi.org.
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