Statement

Working with video, music and emerging media tools, I investigate our cultural infatuation with popular media, anxiety, and narcissism. I vacillate among forms ranging from abstraction to portraiture, documentary, and satire. I enjoy telling jokes and I try to exploit the moment just after the punchline when one is left with the lingering subtleties of social disease.

I am inspired by material that balances sarcasm and prayer, giving rise to work that examines religion, humor, politics, and mass-media. My new digital film, Thanks for Giving My Number Back (2006), explores the thin lines between love and death, fantasy and reality, hope and helplessness. Equal parts self-portraiture and science fiction, the story shapes itself into a tangle of chuckles, heartache, and anxiety. My video serial, the Untitled Book Series (2001-2004) is a non-linear suite of short videos anchored in relationships to specific books. Each video in this series is a conceptually insular packet of cultural, literary, personal, or historical information. These pieces viewed together are a self-portrait. My recent installations and video projects have incorporated superhero action figures, Zoloft pill bottles, and of course, religion.

Biographical Information

Michael Trigilio is a multimedia artist living in Oakland, CA. Born and raised in San Antonio, TX, he received his B.A. in Humanities from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His fear of religion notwithstanding, he was ordained as a lay Buddhist priest in 1997, a role from which he resigned five years later. He received his M.F.A. from Mills College in 2003. His work has been presented at the Anthology Film Archives in New York, Southern Exposure Gallery and New Langton Arts in San Francisco, and the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg. Michael is a founding member of the independent radio project Neighborhood Public Radio and a co-creator with Heike Liss of complaintproject.org. He teaches experimental video and multimedia studies at Stanford University and Diablo Valley College, respectively.

academic C.V. available here

updated July 19, 2006

b. 1975, San Antonio, TX

EDUCATION 
2003  M.F.A., Electronic Music & Recording Media (Intermedia Studies), Mills College, Oakland, CA
1999  B.A., Humanities (Art History & Criticism), University of Texas at San Antonio  

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & SCREENINGS
2006
Radio Cartography, (solo exhibit as part of Neighborhood Public Radio), Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Archive: Cross Currents, Israeli Digital Art Center, Holon, Israel
The Whole Story, Watchword Press Exhibit, Theater Artaud, San Francisco, CA upcoming in October 2006
Superordinary, (solo exhibit), Keys That Fit Gallery, Oakland, CA
International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA),Zero One Festival (as part of Neighborhood Public Radio) San Jose, CA
Stranger Than Fiction, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
Community Virology, Lobot Gallery, Oakland, CA
5th Annual 21 Grand Benefit, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
P.O.V. Animation Festival, Parkway Theater, Oakland, CA
Filthy Filthy Puppets, Artist’s Television Access, San Francisco, CA
Ghosttown Festival (as part of Neighborhood Public Radio), Portland, OR

2005
T-10 Video Festival (featured artist), 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
Michael Trigilio: Untitled Book Series, Volume 2 (solo exhibit), Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
Truth and Lies, Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Illuminated Corridor, Downtown Oakland, CA
Ebay Art Project, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
Conflict/Interview, Glass Eye series at Barbés, Brooklyn, NY
Art Attack Film Festival, Plattsburgh For Peace, Plattsburgh, NY
The Diorama Show, Mission 17 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
5th Annual 21 Grand Benefit, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
Cross Currents: Bay Area Video Art, Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, France
Cross Currents: Bay Area Video Art, Fluctuating Images, Stuttgart, Germany
Cross Cuts: Telling, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
After Hours, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
Southern Exposure 30th Anniversary Art Auction, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Version>5 Festival, Buddy Gallery, Chicago, IL
Video Time: Works in Series by Ellen Lake and Michael Trigilio, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA

2004
By Any Means UnNecessary, Mission 17, San Francisco, CA
T-10 Video Festival, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
Monumental, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Secede or Celebrate, Punch Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Seattle, WA
In Troubled Times (film series), SUDAC, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
VICE: The Exploration of Non-Virtuous Qualities, The B Complex, Atlanta, GA
Relative: Photographing Domesticity, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Athens, GA
The Way We Work, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Politics, Diablo Valley College Art Gallery, Pleasant Hill, CA
Arizona State University Short Film & Video Festival in Santa Ana, Rat Powered Films, Santa Ana, CA
DIGit Media Exposition, Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, Narrowsburg, NY
ASU Art Museum Short Film & Video Festival, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
How-To Intensive, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
Empire Ultra, The Lab, San Francisco, CA
Neighborhood Public Radio, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
New Filmmakers Series, Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY

2003
Open Zone, Ocularis Gallery, New York, NY
Crash, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Videomixtape3, Lucky Tackle, Oakland, CA
Videomixtape3, Pond, San Francisco, CA
Thursday Night Special, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Video Works: Heike Liss, Nomi Talisman, & Michael Trigilio, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA

2002 
Rotterdam VHS Festival, Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Thesis Screening, Danforth Hall, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Thursday Night Special, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 
Signal Flow, Mills College, Oakland, CA 

2001  
Witness, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA  
Think Again, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Blown Circuits, CCAC, San Francisco, CA  
Student Exchange exhibit, SFAI, San Francisco, CA
Video Pieces, Mills College, Oakland, CA  

2000  
Salon, CCAC, San Francisco, CA  
Edible Material, University of Texas at San Antonio Satellite Gallery  

1998  
Parallels, Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX  

SELECTED PERFORMANCES 
2006 Three Religions, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA (upcoming August 2006)
2006 Emcee, Southern Exposure Gallery Auction, San Francisco, CA
2005 Pocket Full of Horses, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2005 Neighborhood Public Radio Anniversary, 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2004   The Starve Zone with Michael Starve, Neighborhood Public Radio, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004   The Starve Zone with Michael Starve, Neighborhood Public Radio, 21 Grand, Oakland, CA
2003   The Spring Has Sprung ("Comfort Song")
           With the Contemporary Performance Ensemble, Mills College, Oakland
2001   Starve Moe’s, Moe’s Books, Berkeley, CA
2001   Starve Prince (Live), Telegraph & Dwight, Berkeley, CA
1998   Starve Performance, Blue Star Artspace, San Antonio, TX
1997   Starve Performance, Clipper Ship Bookstore & Performance Space, San Antonio, TX
1997   Starve Performance, Cabeza de Piedra Gallery, San Antonio, TX
1997   Hospice 1, Wong Spot Gallery, San Antonio, TX
1996   Archipelago, Pt.1, Jump Start Performance Space, San Antonio, TX
1995   Archipelago, Pt.1, 1203 Artspace, San Antonio, TX
1995   Archipelago, Pt.1, Jump Start Performance Space, San Antonio, TX

PUBLICATIONS & BROADCASTS
Kitchen Sink Magazine, "Seasonal Cinema," by Michael Trigilio, Issue KS12, Fall 2005
The Starve Zone on Amandla, KALX 90.7 FM, Berkeley, CA, monthly, January 2004- present
Interviewed by Lee Baby Sims on KALX 90.7 FM, Berkeley, CA, November 2003
Crack O'Dawn . Interviewed by Barbara Golden on KPFA 94.1 FM, Berkeley, CA, August 2003
Pop Abstraction, Humor, Narcissism, and God (Not God Really, It’s just that when I say “God” what I Really Mean is “Sex” and/or “Death.” MFA Thesis, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Turning Wheel, "No Taxes For Torture," by Michael Trigilio, October 2000
Street Spirit Magazine, "Thich Nhat Hanh" by Michael Trigilio, September 2000
Musica Nova, Texas Public Radio, 88.3 FM, San Antonio, TX. December 30, 1994

PRESS
Sfweekly.com, “Don’t Start Believin’” by Hiya Swanhuyser, December 2005.
Punk Planet, "Neighborhood Public Radio," by Roman Mars, issues PP69, September 2005.
San Francisco Magazine. “Best of Arts and Entertainment: Super Local Radio Station,” July 2005.
SF Gate (Culture Blog), "Friday night art opening: The Diorama Show," by Matt Petty, June 27, 2005.
Sfist.”Bay Blogger Thursday Interview”. Jackson West, June 2005.
San Francisco Bay Guardian. "Critic's Choice - 'Cross Cuts,'" by Clark Buckner, June 1, 2005
Danas. “Neighborhood Public Radio U Novi Sadum”.M.J., June 2005
Chicago Reader. NPR at Version>5, April 2005
Chicagoist.com.”Cos Da Fat Cats Don't Own Dem Airwaves”. Sam Bakken., April 2005
East Bay Express. "Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by NPR at 21 Grand," January 12, 2005
SF Gate, "By Any Means UnNecessary," Alison Bing, January 2005
Artforum. Pamela M. Lee's Top Ten of 2004. "The Way We Work," at Southern Exposure. December, 2004.
Wirednews.com. "Boomboxes Are Hip Again," Elizabeth Biddlecombe, October 27th, 2004
East Bay Express. Review of "The Way We Work" 2004.
SF Weekly, Review of "The Way We Work" 2004.
Switch, “ASU Art Museum Creates a Beach-Blanket Film Festival,” Billy Cioffi, April 2004
East Valley Tribune, “The Skinny on Short Films,” Jennifer Wood, April 23, 2004.
The State Press Magazine, “The Reel Deal” Kathleen Neil, April 22, 2004
Mills Weekly, "Surreal show awakens senses" by Corinne Slar, November 21, 2002
The Dallas Morning News, "Gene map may force tough calls" By Jeffrey Weiss, July 2, 2000

SELECTED GRANTS & AWARDS 
2006 Creative Workfund Grant for Neighborhood Public Radio and Southern Exposure Gallery
2006 ISEA: Zero One Festival – Community Domain Commission for Neighborhood Public Radio

SELECTED RECORDINGS & AUDIO PRODUCTIONS
Surface and Time
videos by Heike Liss with music by Fred Frith
2004 – 2005
Music recording engineer

Neighborhood Public Radio promotional CD
Released April, 2005
Editor, co-producer with LeE Montgomery, narrator.

Contempt for Music by Michael Trigilio
Released Winter 2005
Producer, songwriter, performer.

Decorum (dance by Lesley Braithwaite )
8th Street Studio Theater, Berkeley, CA
August 27-28, 2004
Composer and sound designer.

AXIS & Other Works by Philip Krumm
For release Fall 2006- release date TBA
Published by IDEA Records, San Antonio, TX
Remastering producer and engineer.

"M - 7/21 - 1" by Brett Larner
Pieces for Guitar by Brett Larner, Burkhard Strangl, and Taku Sugimoto
Released August 2003
Published by Bruit Secret, Metz, France
Recording engineer.

"M - 7/7 - 5" by Brett Larner
CD published in journal Improvised Music from Japan 2002-2003
Published January 2003
Published by Improvised Music from Japan, Tokyo, Japan

LECTURES
March 14, 2006
Guest Artist Lecture, University of California Berkeley, CA
Lecture: "Untitled Book Series and Serial Methodology"

May 10, 2005
Guest Artist Lecture, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Lecture: "Untitled Book Series and Serial Methodology"

May 6, 2005
Given with Neighborhood Public Radio
Artist's Television Access, San Francisco, CA
Lecture & Presentation from the "Version >05 Festival."

April 28th, 2005
Guest Artist Lecture, Columbia College, Chicago, IL
Lecture: "The Untitled Book Series and Visual Language"

February 2, 2005
Guest Artist Lecture, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Lecture: "Animation and Interactivity in Flash MX"

January 21, 2004
Given with Heike Liss
New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
Lecture: "The Complaint Project"

November 5, 2003
Guest Artist Lecture, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Lecture: "Narcissism in the Untitled Book Series"

September 18, 2003
Guest Artist Lecture, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Lecture: "About the Untitled Book Series"

April 8, 2003
Guest Artist Lecturer, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Lecture: "Pop Abstraction and DVD"