“Process and exchange comprise the work that I make. The primary base of it is a conversation through action. Gesture determines the execution. Movement in space – social or private – is the forum.”

Mechele Manno, a video artist currently living and working in New York City, maintains a conceptual and sculptural approach to her work. The video camera plays an important role in Manno’s work as an extension of the human body and thought. Manno’s art comes to full light in post-production with a keen editing style, the use of text, a play on recognizable audio clips, and appropriation of famed films to enhance critical and conceptual commentary.

Manno draws on everyday activities related to social dynamics while creating images influenced by popular culture and political issues. Whether in the picture frame or behind the camera, her presence is distinctively real. It is not uncommon for the work to reflect a snapshot look or to have an on-location feel to intentionally relate to everyday life. Manno’s work is mixed with humor enhanced by formal concerns.

Manno has shown internationally at the Emily Carr Institute and was a participant in the London Biennale 2000. Domestic shows include such venues as, Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, CA; New Langton Arts, and ATA, San Francisco, CA; Bronx River Art Center, Bronx, NY and Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

My initial thoughts consist of comparing things to one another. Correlating the object to its origin, its relationship to its space, then gauging self to what I perceive. These contemplations are key elements to my practice as an artist. The experience of what I see is measured to my instinctual relationship to it. I never question my role as the artist. I ask, “Where am I in the process of building these relationships?” I’m not the observer, nor the narrator; I am the catalyst.

These action-based forms have resulted in a narrowing of focus into a congruent body of work: one process of interaction through intervention and discourse.

A piece is an image.
A piece is a mark.
A piece is a piece of paper.
A piece is a message.
A piece is a definition.
A piece is a word.
A piece is a record of movement.
A piece can be reciprocated.