Over the past few weeks I have been watching some old and some new experimental videos. Al tough these pieces where made several years apart there are still many similarities, they also have some differences. For example Andy Huang's 'Dollface (1998' is all computer animated and John Smith's 'Girl chewing gum (1976)' is filmed out in a street with real people / surroundings. One of the big similarities between the two videos is 'lies', In 'Dollface' the TV Screen is lying to the robotic face about what real beauty, and in 'Girl chewing gum' The narrator is lying to the audience about who and where he is. Another similarity between the two pieces, is that they both show how people react to the media i.e video cameras and stuff shown on the television. For example in 'Girl chewing gum' different people are reacting differently, when they notice that they are being filmed i.e Waving, staring or hiding their faces; in 'Dollface' The robotic face is reacting to the images she sees on the TV screen, by trying to copy the faces that she sees.
Obviously one of the main differences is that, 'Dollface'is computer animated and 'Girl chewing gum' is real life with real people. The reactions on 'Girl chewing gum' are real reactions by real people, in 'Dollface' it is robot showing reactions that the creater of the film wants to show.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Monday, 5 October 2009
Chapter 6 - Audience and audience interpretation of the work
Many different people have many different ways of looking at things. Everyone perceives things in their own way. The reason this may be is different people have different back rounds that influence how they see and feel about certain things.
For example someone maybe absolutely terrified of a horror movie, whereas another person may sit unphased and amused. Different people have been exposed to certain things at different stages in their lives. For example if you have been watching horrors since the aged of 12 and is now 24 you would be less phased by it then someone who had only just started to watch them. This is because the person that has been watching the films are used to seeing gore and violence, they become immune to it in a way. Whereas the person who has only just stared to watch horrors is'nt used to seeing blood and gore and may be shocked by it. The same thing goes to people who first see a piece of art.
One person may take something entirely different from an art piece then another. For example, some people look at a skelington as a symbol of death, wheras others may see it as a symbol for death of an old way of life and new beginnings. Some people may just take a picture for how it is, i.e 40 pieces of silver that is presented in the Tate Modern as just bits of cultery hanging from a ceiling, whereas another person may read some kind of meaning behind it. This may be because they already have seen pieces by the artist, or have been brought up with different views on the world, i.e some people see a half glass of water as being half full the others will see it as being half empty.
For example someone maybe absolutely terrified of a horror movie, whereas another person may sit unphased and amused. Different people have been exposed to certain things at different stages in their lives. For example if you have been watching horrors since the aged of 12 and is now 24 you would be less phased by it then someone who had only just started to watch them. This is because the person that has been watching the films are used to seeing gore and violence, they become immune to it in a way. Whereas the person who has only just stared to watch horrors is'nt used to seeing blood and gore and may be shocked by it. The same thing goes to people who first see a piece of art.
One person may take something entirely different from an art piece then another. For example, some people look at a skelington as a symbol of death, wheras others may see it as a symbol for death of an old way of life and new beginnings. Some people may just take a picture for how it is, i.e 40 pieces of silver that is presented in the Tate Modern as just bits of cultery hanging from a ceiling, whereas another person may read some kind of meaning behind it. This may be because they already have seen pieces by the artist, or have been brought up with different views on the world, i.e some people see a half glass of water as being half full the others will see it as being half empty.
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Chapter 5 - How these works might inspire your own work (100 Words) Talk about your own ideas and how they may have been inspired by the work......
The works I viewed at the Tate Modern won't have a huge influence on my work, as I wasn't influenced directly from any of the pieces. Altough I was influenced by the Tate in itself, the way they set out certain spaces to create a certain atmosphere. 'Setting the scene' is very important for putting across certain emotions or feelings. Just like you would set the scene for a romantic evening in, with candles, dimmed lights and a bottle of wine. You do the same in video / art, you have to set the scene to generate certain feelings from your audience. If you want the audience to feel clostraphobic then you have to make the setting very cluttered and dark (closed in), If you want the audience to feel free and light, make the setting very open i.e a open field with light blue sky.
I would like my piece to put forward a mental illness using imagery, as sometimes it is hard to explain a mental illness through words, especially if you have little knowledge of it, or you have never come across anyone with a mental illness. The mental illness I will be using is Bi-Polar (Manic Depression). This is an illness where you are either manically happy or manically depressed and alone. I will use 'scene setting' to put across both emotions.
For example, with depression, I will use dark slow depressing music, dark closed in spaces, twisted images, a person in distress, maybe also involve drug and alcohol abuse. For the manically happy emotion, I will use bright colours uplifting upbeat music, a person happy (being loud laughing) with friends.
I want the two emotions to constantly conflict.One minuite you will see this person happy with friends out and about, next minuite her friends dissapear and she is on her own, in her darkness. You have to set a definate scene to seperate the two contradicting emotions.
With this, I will use two humans to represent both emotions, i'e, manic depression will be dressed in black and scarlet, holding a bottle of booze with a ciggerette, she will constantly being trying to seduce the sufferer to her darkness whilst she is happy. Manic happyness will be dressed in light colours with light hair holding flowers and a gift of love/heart she will constantly be tempting the sufferer out of depression .... at the end depression and Happyness will fight eachother, which will inevitably lead to one over ruling and taking over the sufferers mind.
I would like my piece to put forward a mental illness using imagery, as sometimes it is hard to explain a mental illness through words, especially if you have little knowledge of it, or you have never come across anyone with a mental illness. The mental illness I will be using is Bi-Polar (Manic Depression). This is an illness where you are either manically happy or manically depressed and alone. I will use 'scene setting' to put across both emotions.
For example, with depression, I will use dark slow depressing music, dark closed in spaces, twisted images, a person in distress, maybe also involve drug and alcohol abuse. For the manically happy emotion, I will use bright colours uplifting upbeat music, a person happy (being loud laughing) with friends.
I want the two emotions to constantly conflict.One minuite you will see this person happy with friends out and about, next minuite her friends dissapear and she is on her own, in her darkness. You have to set a definate scene to seperate the two contradicting emotions.
With this, I will use two humans to represent both emotions, i'e, manic depression will be dressed in black and scarlet, holding a bottle of booze with a ciggerette, she will constantly being trying to seduce the sufferer to her darkness whilst she is happy. Manic happyness will be dressed in light colours with light hair holding flowers and a gift of love/heart she will constantly be tempting the sufferer out of depression .... at the end depression and Happyness will fight eachother, which will inevitably lead to one over ruling and taking over the sufferers mind.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
On wed's 23rd September I visited The Tate Modern in London, I was expecting to bring something back with me from this experience, but I left feeling guilty as I didnt draw any emotions or feelings from any of the pieces. Obviously there were one or two that stuck out due to the size and weirdness. For example one of the pieces was an oversized table and chair set that took up all of the space in the room, I felt that this piece didn't require a creative mind, anyone can make an oversized piece of furniture and its not original it has been done before, to be honest the whole exhibition bored me. I was constantly looking for something to draw me in but unfortunatly there was nothing.
Im thinking the reason that nothing drew me in is because I have a very closed mind when it comes to art, I love dark disturbing pieces, I can't get my head around how a badly drawn multi coloured lady is art, I don't get anything from it. I did try to open my mind when it came to one or two pieces, I stod and tried to really take it in and figure out a meaning, but there really was nothing that shouted out to me. One of my favorite artists is HR Giger,he is a very talented man, all his pieces have a very clear meaning whilst at the same time they are twisted and complex/complicated. I feel that art is created with someone with a creative talent, someone that can paint, draw, and put across there point in a piece. In the Tate there were an awful lot of pieces that weren't created with talent as I see it,I think maybe this mental block stopped me from taking anything for this exhibit.
I feel that the space within the Tate couldv'e been used alot better, I found it very crowded and messy, I didn't feel that there was a proper lay out, all different types of pieces where mixed in together, it was too much, also I found it quite hard to find certain exhibitions, it was also very easy to get lost with no clear pathways or markings, which made me feel very closed in and needing to get out. Perhaps the artwork was placed like this to make the audience feel this way, the paintings where all 'hicildy piccildy' there was no distinct lines or free space. It was alot to take in all at once. The paintings may have been placed like this to overpower the audience to drag them in. to keep then in ore of the artwork. To put across how great these pieces are. I personally think that the Tate definatly does try to force you to percieve the artwork in a certain way. The fact that you walk in expecting to bring something out back with you, may make people over think a piece or perhaps not get it atall.
Im sure someone with a more modern sense of art would enjoy this alot more, but unfortunatly this wasn't for me.
Monday, 28 September 2009
Koyanisquatsi (life out of Balance)
Today I watched a piece called Koyanisquatsi, This was an experimental piece made in 1982/83, which is 1hour 23mins long This is an experimental piece, which I feel is very 'in your face'.
I feel that there is a very strong message in this video, the images used are very prominent, you can't really look away. The film starts off with old cave buildings and finishes with a rocket at the end, in the middle section there are old buildings being replaced with brand new buildings and skyscrapers, I believe the buildings used in this image, were especially chosen to make a point and make the viewer feel a certain emotion. For example, there is a clip of a delabated buiding with with broken bricks and deb re from where the building is falling apart, this brings across the feeling of darkness, destruction and even loneliness. Another clip used is a huge contrast to this, its a huge skyscraper glistening in the sun, the angle used to film this was a low angle shot looking up at the building, this puts across the feeling of 'newness', power and change.
The audio used for this piece fits in really well with the imagery, it is non diagetic, this means it was chosed especially to be put on top of the imagery to put across a certain emotion with the viewer. The music alone portrays very strong emotions i.e happiness, busyness and destruction/sadness. This put together with the Strong imagery, put across a very powerful piece. For example when there is a clip of several business men rushing to catch a lift, the music is very fast pace, which puts across the feeling of busyness. Another clip compared to this, I feel is one of the most poinient, scenes in this film, it is a rocket taking off then imploding on itself, the music alongside this is very slow with very deep vocals going over the top, this puts across a very strong feeling of sadness, depression and even to some degree even calmness.
The concept of this piece is quite prominent, it has a defiant middle, beginning and end. At the start it has images of ancient cave buildings, this moves on to people rushing around and old buildings being knocked down to make room for brand new ones, it then ends with a rocket imploding after take off. I feel the main concept for this film is about evolution/change and the modern world. There is alot of footage of humans rushing around in crowded spaces and footage of lots of new buildings being made, this shows us the modern world as it is , cramped/running out of space. it finishes with a rocket (one of the main simples of modern technology) imploding on itself. I think he is trying to show if we evolving and changing, the world will destroy itself, and it would be our fault.
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Experimantal Video 'Doll Face' by Andy Huang
Yesturday I watched a piece called 'Doll Face' by Andy Huang. Unknowingly to me, this wasn't the first time that I had watched this piece. Before I had seen the original piece with the original music, I had seen the video with a song called 'Illusion' by a band called 'VNV Nation. So I have seen Doll Face in two differen't ways.
The original piece has alot of passion and emotion, you can really tell the artist is trying to put across a very important point, possibly something that is close to his heart. I feel the context of this piece is simple, Andy is trying to put across his point in a very artistic manner. He puts across what he wants you to feel and think in this piece by using music and art. The art is in the form of the Doll, The Doll's face is very human and emits human emotions, the viewer can tell what the 'Doll' is feeling by its expressions and the way it moves.
This piece has alot of craft put into it, the skill used to create this computer animated piece is harder then one would think. He is obviously very talented in putting what he see's in his head into animation. This animation is very complex, it has movement, emotion and flickering images. All this put together puts across a certain feeling/emotion to the viewer.
The concept of this piece I feel is very indepth, he is obviously very passionate about this piece, the music the emotion the movement everything, just puts certain emotions across to the viewer, I thought that this was a beautiful piece. When I watched 'Doll Face' I thought that Andy was trying to put across the 'price of beauty' that sometimes people try too hard to achieve perfection, but fail. For example plastic surgery, some people take it too far ruin their body's and relationships around them. Another thing this piece made me feel was that everyone puts on a certain mask everyday to try and achive a certain look, to make other percieve them in a certain way ; but inevitably everyone is all the same, everyone will pass away and everyone breaks. The Doll, starts of dull and 'ugly' then she sees an image of a pretty person on her TV, she sets out to create this look, she achieves it and is happy; She then see's a more beautiful 'more human' image she sets out to achieve this look, she then craves more and more images of perfection. When so over streaches to reach perfection, she breaks. She didn't realise she could've just achieved happyness in her first look, she took it to far and reached beyond her limits, this broke her. As what she was reaching for was unobtainable.
I loved this piece as it has so many layers to and makes you think alot, It brings up so many emotions. I personally think this piece is beautiful.
The original piece has alot of passion and emotion, you can really tell the artist is trying to put across a very important point, possibly something that is close to his heart. I feel the context of this piece is simple, Andy is trying to put across his point in a very artistic manner. He puts across what he wants you to feel and think in this piece by using music and art. The art is in the form of the Doll, The Doll's face is very human and emits human emotions, the viewer can tell what the 'Doll' is feeling by its expressions and the way it moves.
This piece has alot of craft put into it, the skill used to create this computer animated piece is harder then one would think. He is obviously very talented in putting what he see's in his head into animation. This animation is very complex, it has movement, emotion and flickering images. All this put together puts across a certain feeling/emotion to the viewer.
The concept of this piece I feel is very indepth, he is obviously very passionate about this piece, the music the emotion the movement everything, just puts certain emotions across to the viewer, I thought that this was a beautiful piece. When I watched 'Doll Face' I thought that Andy was trying to put across the 'price of beauty' that sometimes people try too hard to achieve perfection, but fail. For example plastic surgery, some people take it too far ruin their body's and relationships around them. Another thing this piece made me feel was that everyone puts on a certain mask everyday to try and achive a certain look, to make other percieve them in a certain way ; but inevitably everyone is all the same, everyone will pass away and everyone breaks. The Doll, starts of dull and 'ugly' then she sees an image of a pretty person on her TV, she sets out to create this look, she achieves it and is happy; She then see's a more beautiful 'more human' image she sets out to achieve this look, she then craves more and more images of perfection. When so over streaches to reach perfection, she breaks. She didn't realise she could've just achieved happyness in her first look, she took it to far and reached beyond her limits, this broke her. As what she was reaching for was unobtainable.
I loved this piece as it has so many layers to and makes you think alot, It brings up so many emotions. I personally think this piece is beautiful.
Doll Face by Andy Huang / (VNV Nation Illusion) version
I found a differn't version of Andy Huang's 'Doll Face', This piece has a song called Illusion by the industrial band VNV Nation, it makes you look at the piece in a completly differen't way, but at the same time I feel the song with its lyrics fits in really well with Andy Huang's piece.
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
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