A Celebration of Public Space
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009Link to PDF: Celebration Public Space
assignment 5
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
This time I kept the idea of an awkward moment feeling like a long time but with a different scene and more use of short cuts.
Chantal Ackerman & Me
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
Chantal Ackerman was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1950, but now lives in Paris. Ackerman’s first film, “Saute Ma Ville” (1968), pictured a domestic scene and was her debut as a feminist film maker. Ackerman is aware of the viewpoint of the spectator and the passage of time. She uses time to create a sense of monotony and routine. She uses the camera angle to manipulate the way in which a viewer sees a scene.
Ackerman’s film “Hotel Monterey” (1972) particularly intrigues me. “Hôtel Monterey – is the idea that something is about to happen, or is happening just out of sight…Back and forth the camera goes, a silent walker, a leading character in a movie without a plot.” Ackerman uses the camera to create the motion of the viewer. She moves one through the space of her film — through doorways, hallways, and into rooms to observe. The film is silent. There is no plot, but rather a focus on observation of both people and the architecture and arrangement of objects in a space. Also, an acknowledgement of what cannot be observed–that which is behind the closed doors.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/jul/15/art.film)
Ackerman Photo: http://www.deutsches-filminstitut.de/f_films/fotos/fp3602_06.jpg
Hotel Monterey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2F9T7IdfiM
Ackerman’s filming techniques are relevant to my own work. Her use of the camera as the main character is reminiscent of my use of the camera. Motion is key in both of our films. I also admire her composition and hope to emulate it more in future films. “Wake Up Swing” is an expansion of my film “Swing”. In this film, my concept is similar to that of Ackerman’s Hotel Monterey: I want to lead the spectator through the park as if the camera is their person, physically moving through the scene. However, my film has more plot than Ackerman’s. I seek to show the life given to inanimate objects by motion–the life of motion. My film also uses many short cuts in opposition to Ackerman’s use of a fewer, longer cuts.
Assignment #5
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Paul McCarthy - Born 1945, Salt Lake City, USA.
Cover of Lisa Phillips’ biography, “Paul McCarthy”
An artist relevant to my work is Paul McCarthy, a contemporary artist, from Los Angeles, California. This painter, sculptor, video, performance and multi-media artist often uses the body as a paintbrush or canvas. McCarthy explores themes of family, childhood, violence and dysfunction, as he incorporates bodily fluids and food into his pieces to create elaborate and grotesque critiques of cultural icons. (www.vdb.org/)
McCarthy aimed to test the limits of the viewer, and ultimately wants to repulse them. In a 1974 video, Painting, “Wall Whip”, he painted with his head and face, “smearing his body with paint and then with ketchup, mayonnaise or raw meat and, in one case, feces.” (Roberta Smith, May 1998, The New York Times Art Review). Another video of his in this vein is “Class Fool,” his 1976 piece in which he throws himself around a classroom splattered in ketchup until he becomes dizzy and vomits. He then inserts a Barbie doll into his rectum.
“My work is more about being a clown than a shaman”- Paul McCarthy (Petersen, Magnus “Head Shop/Shop Head”, Steidl Verlag, Göttingen, 2006, p.20)
My video, “Chewing 2.0”, relates to McCarthy’s work. My concept is to create a video where time appears to be changing. “Chewing”, or eating in general, can be a leisurely activity or a rushed necessity. Food is needed to be consumed in order to live, and needs to be included on a daily basis, whether one appreciates it, or dreads it. “Chewing 2.0” is a second version of the concept. I used the same idea of filming people chewing, but added a few elements. Like McCarthy, I decided to make it more graphic and grotesque, to highlight the inherent barbaric and gluttonous nature of eating. This time, I both sped up and slowed down the footage. I also decided to focus on sound, as I added the ugly sounds of chewing and swallowing. The eaters listen to Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” to highlight the significance of food as a means of attaining a sense of fullness, pleasure, and fullness (physically and mentally).
La Iglesia
Monday, March 2nd, 2009This video deals with my perception of a church as a child. I try to portray how I felt and how I saw things when I was taken to church. I remember feeling surrounded and overwhelmed by all the statues of saints and the old architecture. Those visual components and the echoing voice of the priest and the people praying in the background made time feel slow and distressing.