Eteam: Home, Home on the Range

There's nothing more conceptual than actually getting something done. Eteam-Franziska Lamprecht and Hajoe Moderegger, two German artists living in the United States-has turned practicality into an aesthetic absurdum by pursuing odd tasks to their outlandish conclusions. Eteam's finest moment of home improvement can be found in the wonky work 1.1 Acre Flat Screen (2004, 45 mins). This is a precise, detailed, and riotous account of their purchase of a small tract of dusty acreage through an eBay auction. Eteam tracks their acquisition to a sagebrush-laden void in southwestern Utah whose indistinguishable expanse makes it the perfect foil for fantasizing. As if upon the more familiar flat screen of their computer, the artists begin to project a domesticated mirage atop their slab of high desert. “Surrounded by big dreams,” they offer, “the lot was perfect as it was.” Happy times for Conceptual Art; a grave defeat for Home Depot. As a warm-up, we'll prime the practicality pump with a series of eteam's short “How-To” hooters (made with Dan Seiple): How to Clean the Bottom of a Refrigerator (2001, 5:40 mins), How to Cut a Fence Straight (2002, 7 mins), and How to Catch a Millionaire (2001, 4:32 mins).

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