I find the use of the danceforms technology on the ballet body interesting in a number of ways here.
Firstly the conflict of tradition meeting innovation. Ballet, arguably the foundation style in western dance is inseparable from history, yet in ‘Centre Excerpts’ its connotations of institution are expressed in a medium which challenges that which has been before.
However, when considering how coded the ballet body may already be we may view its representation through danceforms as a natural progression.
Ballet steps are formalised and recorded- there is a correct and incorrect way to perform them, there are names and standardised descriptions for how each movement should be executed and the body itself strives for logic and a pleasing aesthetic- all notions we may parallel with a computer programme.
Further this, ballet values perfection in presentation while the human body must strive to overcome its inherent imperfections, something the ‘perfect’ danceforms figure has no concern with.
Could it be then that the danceforms ballet body is actually the perfect ballet body?
Almost definitely not, but perhaps one to discuss?
Tuesday 4 December 2007
Dancing Dollar
I like this little clip of DanceForms in action as it pushes what dance actually is. I always take it to be the movement of the human body, and even DanceForms, whilst an artificial reality, is modelled on the human frame. Even in this clip we can just about trace out human-like qualities in the dollar bill - arms, legs, torso, maybe a head. However, the dollar is flatter, wider and more angular than a human, and appears to have been made with an entirely different model and not just a human model with a dollar texture applied over the top.
This goes beyond making animals dance or manipulating puppets. An inanimate object is given the status of dancer, moving of its own virtual volition without any real-world strings - and therefore the uniquely human quality of dance is challenged. And that's without the apparent comment on the body as being just a part of late day capitalism symbolised by the currency. All that from
a few seconds of video.
This goes beyond making animals dance or manipulating puppets. An inanimate object is given the status of dancer, moving of its own virtual volition without any real-world strings - and therefore the uniquely human quality of dance is challenged. And that's without the apparent comment on the body as being just a part of late day capitalism symbolised by the currency. All that from
a few seconds of video.
Character in Motion piece
Hi guys,
I chose Janet Randell's piece 'Dream Fantasy'
Now this is an interesting one as I feel as the life form software is being used to show the limitations of a dancer’s environment, rather than the actual dancing. Here the performance starts as a ballet, then the environment changes to water so the dancer swims. The environment then changes to ice so the dancer is almost figure skating. It finishes with the dancer dancing in air. It demonstrates how the body reacts and uses the environment it is contained in. It is only through technology that this dance sequence could take place. It is, as the title suggests, a dream dance, as reality could never be apart of it. Janet Randell has created a dance that can only exist in this multimedia world. For me, this is the one of the most strongest aspects of life forms software.
I chose Janet Randell's piece 'Dream Fantasy'
Now this is an interesting one as I feel as the life form software is being used to show the limitations of a dancer’s environment, rather than the actual dancing. Here the performance starts as a ballet, then the environment changes to water so the dancer swims. The environment then changes to ice so the dancer is almost figure skating. It finishes with the dancer dancing in air. It demonstrates how the body reacts and uses the environment it is contained in. It is only through technology that this dance sequence could take place. It is, as the title suggests, a dream dance, as reality could never be apart of it. Janet Randell has created a dance that can only exist in this multimedia world. For me, this is the one of the most strongest aspects of life forms software.
Monday 3 December 2007
Death By A Thousand Cuts
Hey guys,
I found a great video by artist Chen Chieh-jen from Taiwan. It was part of an amazing exhibition of video artists work that dealt with working class, thirdworld and sweat shops. It is a protest against the Taiwanese sweatshops, but also looks at the history of cheap labour. It is only a short extract of the video, but I have also found another small video of the artist explaining his motives on youtube. Here is the link: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xqqca2EmXa8. It is up to your own interpretation, but I do know that to shoot the video, he got women who were released from these sweatshops seven years ago or more and helped them confront and be a part of his work. He deals with themes of abandenment and extortion. The women were fired overnight without adequate compensation or warning. Also in the footage from youtube, he incorporates clips of the sweatshops from the 60s, which relays a notion of history and the fact that this exploitation has gone on too long, or long enough. I particularly think the ending to the video is powerful, as it shows two of the women holding up a jacket they made and as the camera pans inwards it is an invitation for you, the western consumer, to try it on, or that their pain is on you shoulders perhaps. What do you think? There are loads of other greeat video artists on the first sight with videos from people like William Kentridge. Have a look and tell me what you think!
Sam
I found a great video by artist Chen Chieh-jen from Taiwan. It was part of an amazing exhibition of video artists work that dealt with working class, thirdworld and sweat shops. It is a protest against the Taiwanese sweatshops, but also looks at the history of cheap labour. It is only a short extract of the video, but I have also found another small video of the artist explaining his motives on youtube. Here is the link: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xqqca2EmXa8. It is up to your own interpretation, but I do know that to shoot the video, he got women who were released from these sweatshops seven years ago or more and helped them confront and be a part of his work. He deals with themes of abandenment and extortion. The women were fired overnight without adequate compensation or warning. Also in the footage from youtube, he incorporates clips of the sweatshops from the 60s, which relays a notion of history and the fact that this exploitation has gone on too long, or long enough. I particularly think the ending to the video is powerful, as it shows two of the women holding up a jacket they made and as the camera pans inwards it is an invitation for you, the western consumer, to try it on, or that their pain is on you shoulders perhaps. What do you think? There are loads of other greeat video artists on the first sight with videos from people like William Kentridge. Have a look and tell me what you think!
Sam
Sunday 2 December 2007
I think 'slow walk' really optimizes dance forms intention to not only act as an accurate 3D notation for a choreographer, but also to encourage the developments of new movements or choreographed dance sequences through its viewing. To slow a natural movement (like walking) to such a degree that you might then see it totally differently, that you can then rethink, and recreate from that breakdown is really interesting.
As you watch the slow steps of the 3D figure walk, you notice a shift of weight as she moves from foot to foot, her head swaying to look over the leading foot in the exact same time it takes for her to perform her next step. The slowed nature of the clip makes this noticeable, this can then be elaborated/enlarged or even totally removed by the time it is taught to the dancers. These movements and their developments may well be missed without the use of this tool.
I think this tool also saves choreographers a fair amount of time.(Even though it is initially difficult and tedious to master) Instead of having to make fast decisions in the rehearsal period that will ultimately affect the look of the piece, the choreographer can get a very precise idea of how he would like the more intricate movements and moments of the dance to be performed. This puts the choreographer in a stronger position when translating it into performance,as he really knows just what he is trying to achieve. It allows precision rather then a lax trial and error system that may waste allocated rehearsal time.
As you watch the slow steps of the 3D figure walk, you notice a shift of weight as she moves from foot to foot, her head swaying to look over the leading foot in the exact same time it takes for her to perform her next step. The slowed nature of the clip makes this noticeable, this can then be elaborated/enlarged or even totally removed by the time it is taught to the dancers. These movements and their developments may well be missed without the use of this tool.
I think this tool also saves choreographers a fair amount of time.(Even though it is initially difficult and tedious to master) Instead of having to make fast decisions in the rehearsal period that will ultimately affect the look of the piece, the choreographer can get a very precise idea of how he would like the more intricate movements and moments of the dance to be performed. This puts the choreographer in a stronger position when translating it into performance,as he really knows just what he is trying to achieve. It allows precision rather then a lax trial and error system that may waste allocated rehearsal time.
charactermotion's Cartwheel Motion (DanceForms)
The simplicity of this clip was appealing; with no other distractions, full focus was given to the image and the choreography. The cartwheel was attractive and interesting to watch, mainly due to its delicacy; Kaiser notes that an incentive for Bill T. Jones to engage with this type of work was its ability to show a more vulnerable body.
Contrastingly, Kaiser himself feels that a downside of this practice is its limitations; it is obviously artificial and only ever a substitute for a human body. It seems inevitable then that we desire the real human body, instead of a digital version; or alternatively, we ask even more of technology.
It should be noted that technology need not replicate the human body and its dance to achieve more realism however. Theodores expresses that dance developed through exploring the human body and its movement in what were seen as unnatural ways, such as cartwheeling. Technology then, has the opportunity to develop its own digital dance and choreography, other to the known and accepted dance of humans, and far beyond the restrictions of physical dance.
Contrastingly, Kaiser himself feels that a downside of this practice is its limitations; it is obviously artificial and only ever a substitute for a human body. It seems inevitable then that we desire the real human body, instead of a digital version; or alternatively, we ask even more of technology.
It should be noted that technology need not replicate the human body and its dance to achieve more realism however. Theodores expresses that dance developed through exploring the human body and its movement in what were seen as unnatural ways, such as cartwheeling. Technology then, has the opportunity to develop its own digital dance and choreography, other to the known and accepted dance of humans, and far beyond the restrictions of physical dance.
Tuesday 27 November 2007
Linkin Park - Faint
Hey guys and girls,
I had some trouble with my internet for a while so I am just appearing on this blog but am going to catch up as best as I can. My video to start with is 'Faint' by Linkin Park. Its a track from their second album 'Meteora'. It is the first video they did that showed a live performance of sorts. It was shot from behind the band on stage with a large crowd in front of them and a huge wall of lights behind the crowd. Almost the whole video is shot in siluette with the band being suddenly illuminated at the end of the song, which lets it down a little in my opinion. However, The video is fast and cuts from member to member with almost every beat. The effect to having their faces hidden for most of it, is quite refreshing and adds a different angle to the way many music videos glorify the identity and features of the artists. With the siluette effect, things beging to look differently. The water for example, being poured over the drummers head in the middle and when the lead singer sprays the water in an arch towards the end. I also like that the light intensity is dimmed and raised according to the intensity of the moment in the song. Tell me what you think and also notice the guitarist about halfway through flipping his guitar around his head!
I had some trouble with my internet for a while so I am just appearing on this blog but am going to catch up as best as I can. My video to start with is 'Faint' by Linkin Park. Its a track from their second album 'Meteora'. It is the first video they did that showed a live performance of sorts. It was shot from behind the band on stage with a large crowd in front of them and a huge wall of lights behind the crowd. Almost the whole video is shot in siluette with the band being suddenly illuminated at the end of the song, which lets it down a little in my opinion. However, The video is fast and cuts from member to member with almost every beat. The effect to having their faces hidden for most of it, is quite refreshing and adds a different angle to the way many music videos glorify the identity and features of the artists. With the siluette effect, things beging to look differently. The water for example, being poured over the drummers head in the middle and when the lead singer sprays the water in an arch towards the end. I also like that the light intensity is dimmed and raised according to the intensity of the moment in the song. Tell me what you think and also notice the guitarist about halfway through flipping his guitar around his head!
Monday 26 November 2007
'Setting a Good Corner' (Allegory and Metaphor) - Bruce Nauman
‘Setting a Good Corner’ (Allegory and Metaphor)– Bruce Nauman
I have decided to look at Bruce Nauman’s ‘Setting a Good Corner’ 1999, a piece of video art depicting the artist installing as fence post, looped repeatedly.
I feel this work is significant as it confronts the viewer with a structure which they are unaccustomed to. Everyday television provides the viewer with a narrative structure; however this piece repeats something generally seen as mundane and succeeds in entrancing the viewer, with its hypnotic quality.
Nauman himself has commented on the work, stating that he was as much interested in making a good fence, as filming the activity. This idea brings more meaning to the piece; and the viewer can look at it as a reflection of real life, essentially bordering on the idea of documentary.
Commenting on his previous work containing a built-in continuous loop ‘The Artist is an Amazing Luminous Fountain’1967, Nauman stated :-
‘You don't have to sit and watch the whole thing. You can watch for a while, leave and go have lunch or come back in a week, and it's just going on. And I really liked that idea of the thing just being there. The idea being there so that it became almost like an object that was there, that you could go back and visit whenever you wanted to.’
I feel this idea is very much carried over to ‘Setting a Good Corner’ where it is possible for the viewer to tune in and out of the piece; there is no requirement to see the whole thing. The idea that nothing much happens is significant, whilst the MTV generation looks to video to provide fast paced excitement, Nauman has used video to retaliate against this, instead depicting something slow moving with not much action or noise.
I like the idea of something so raw and simplistic becoming so fascinating through the medium of video. I like the dual purpose of the piece, firstly as a form of video art and secondly on a more basic level of a man really building a fence.
I have decided to look at Bruce Nauman’s ‘Setting a Good Corner’ 1999, a piece of video art depicting the artist installing as fence post, looped repeatedly.
I feel this work is significant as it confronts the viewer with a structure which they are unaccustomed to. Everyday television provides the viewer with a narrative structure; however this piece repeats something generally seen as mundane and succeeds in entrancing the viewer, with its hypnotic quality.
Nauman himself has commented on the work, stating that he was as much interested in making a good fence, as filming the activity. This idea brings more meaning to the piece; and the viewer can look at it as a reflection of real life, essentially bordering on the idea of documentary.
Commenting on his previous work containing a built-in continuous loop ‘The Artist is an Amazing Luminous Fountain’1967, Nauman stated :-
‘You don't have to sit and watch the whole thing. You can watch for a while, leave and go have lunch or come back in a week, and it's just going on. And I really liked that idea of the thing just being there. The idea being there so that it became almost like an object that was there, that you could go back and visit whenever you wanted to.’
I feel this idea is very much carried over to ‘Setting a Good Corner’ where it is possible for the viewer to tune in and out of the piece; there is no requirement to see the whole thing. The idea that nothing much happens is significant, whilst the MTV generation looks to video to provide fast paced excitement, Nauman has used video to retaliate against this, instead depicting something slow moving with not much action or noise.
I like the idea of something so raw and simplistic becoming so fascinating through the medium of video. I like the dual purpose of the piece, firstly as a form of video art and secondly on a more basic level of a man really building a fence.
gary hill
sorry, I don't think i posted it properly the first time..
From our readings I have decided to look at the video artist Gary Hill’s piece “Viewer” 1996, which involves 17 men (all homeless, living near Hill’s studio) doing little but standing in a line, facing forward. The non-matrix action of these 17 men, who stand still with no expression, makes the viewers attempts to enforce any supposed narrative on them redundant. By the end of the two minute piece we are forced to question who is the real participant within the piece, (the man in the line or the man watching the monitor in an art gallery) as boundaries between who is the viewer and who is viewed can no longer clearly be defined.
Stylistically within this piece we see the return to the low tech performance style of the 1970s. The line up, shot in one continuous take, in what looks like a dark studio is not a refined or polished product; whether this was Hill’s choice in order to create his effect, or merely determined by his budget. The anonymity of each of the 17 men works to question the idea of identity, and this sense of longing for identity is prevalent within many of the male video artist’s works of the 1990s.
From our readings I have decided to look at the video artist Gary Hill’s piece “Viewer” 1996, which involves 17 men (all homeless, living near Hill’s studio) doing little but standing in a line, facing forward. The non-matrix action of these 17 men, who stand still with no expression, makes the viewers attempts to enforce any supposed narrative on them redundant. By the end of the two minute piece we are forced to question who is the real participant within the piece, (the man in the line or the man watching the monitor in an art gallery) as boundaries between who is the viewer and who is viewed can no longer clearly be defined.
Stylistically within this piece we see the return to the low tech performance style of the 1970s. The line up, shot in one continuous take, in what looks like a dark studio is not a refined or polished product; whether this was Hill’s choice in order to create his effect, or merely determined by his budget. The anonymity of each of the 17 men works to question the idea of identity, and this sense of longing for identity is prevalent within many of the male video artist’s works of the 1990s.
Sunday 25 November 2007
Friday 23 November 2007
Kaiser reading
Hey Guys.
I was having trouble getting hold of the Kaiser reading on e-sources and managed to get the one and only copy in the library so have photocopied it. The copy is in the humanities building on the infamous desk, to the right of the 3rd year essay tray. Due to expenses I could only make one copy so if you could keep returning it so hopefully it can get round some of the class.
See you soon
I was having trouble getting hold of the Kaiser reading on e-sources and managed to get the one and only copy in the library so have photocopied it. The copy is in the humanities building on the infamous desk, to the right of the 3rd year essay tray. Due to expenses I could only make one copy so if you could keep returning it so hopefully it can get round some of the class.
See you soon
Tuesday 20 November 2007
Allan Kaprow
In This ground breaking piece named "Eighteen Happenings in 6 parts" Kaprow synthesized his training in action painting with his study of Cages work. Working from a carefully manipulated scripted score. This Piece is undoubtedly time based as it is durational and is also non scripted. It is also interactive as the audience were given programs and three stapled cards, which provided instructions for their participation: ‹The performance is divided into six parts...Each part contains three happenings which occur at once. The beginning and end of each will be signaled by a bell.
There is also a strong sense of documentation to the work, as there is a semse of personal expressionwithin it which comes from the refremces to his earlier work, which were painted on panals.
In contrast to Cage, whose encouragement of the participation of audience members was motivated by his desire to relinquish authorial control, audience members in many of Kaprow’s Happenings became props through which the artist’s vision was executed
Monday 19 November 2007
WEEK 8
Dear E-citizens and scholars,
thanks for the fascinating blog postings. Lets go through some of them tomorrow and don't forget we meet Tuesday at 10am in rm 19 in the Soc Sci building as per week 2 this term.
See you then
Ed
thanks for the fascinating blog postings. Lets go through some of them tomorrow and don't forget we meet Tuesday at 10am in rm 19 in the Soc Sci building as per week 2 this term.
See you then
Ed
Richard Serra - Hand Catching Lead (1968)
1968's Hand Catching Lead was Serra's first film (youtube will try and tell you it was made in 1971, but that's youtube). Serra claims it was an attempt to break into the "intimidating" medium of film, inspired by the "great freedom" he saw expressed in Warhol's work and the "tentative, experimental" nature of films like Yvonne Rainer's Hand Movie and Line.
He was originally asked to document the making of his sculpture, House of Cards, in which huge sheets of lead are balanced against one another, held up by their own weight, but decied that a traditional documentary would not be able to capture the creative process. Instead, the work is a "filmic analogy" of the construction of the sculpture: his catching of the pieces of lead is a more refined representation of months spent lugging blocks of lead around his attic with Philip Glass.
Hand Catching Lead has been described as a "non-event" by critics. The single, continuous, soundless shot of a hand catching and immediately dropping pieces of lead is almost hypnotically repetitive but has no sense of purpose or urgency. The film is not building to any kind of climax, nothing we see is explained and there is no attempt to create the impression of a seamless 'performance' which isolates the images from the world around them (in the second half of the film, another hand is visible collecting and dropping the lead, while the hand hurries it along). Part of this can be explained by the fact that the film is supposed to be a recreation of Serra's creative processes, which he describes in very abstract terms:
The visual style of the film is heavily indebted Serra's sculptures, which often use bold lines and a variety of different textures, just as high contrast lighting reduces the pieces of lead to flashes of light and dark and emphasises every crease in the palm of the hand.
The film serves as a kind of confessional documentary, chronicling a mental state in visual terms. It is interactive insofar as it was made to be watched, and the two hands play to the camera and are obviously aware of the fact that they are supposed to be creating a certain image. It is an objective action rendered subjective and expressionistic by context and authorial intent. It could be argued that the film is conceptual - the repetitive, almost hypnotic nature of the image is intended to represent the hit-and-miss struggle to create something worthwhile - but, given Serra's hatred of people judging his work based on his intentions, it is difficult to know whether people seeing it in 1968 would have been aware that it was an allegory of House of Cards, making it difficult to judge its original impact.
He was originally asked to document the making of his sculpture, House of Cards, in which huge sheets of lead are balanced against one another, held up by their own weight, but decied that a traditional documentary would not be able to capture the creative process. Instead, the work is a "filmic analogy" of the construction of the sculpture: his catching of the pieces of lead is a more refined representation of months spent lugging blocks of lead around his attic with Philip Glass.
Hand Catching Lead has been described as a "non-event" by critics. The single, continuous, soundless shot of a hand catching and immediately dropping pieces of lead is almost hypnotically repetitive but has no sense of purpose or urgency. The film is not building to any kind of climax, nothing we see is explained and there is no attempt to create the impression of a seamless 'performance' which isolates the images from the world around them (in the second half of the film, another hand is visible collecting and dropping the lead, while the hand hurries it along). Part of this can be explained by the fact that the film is supposed to be a recreation of Serra's creative processes, which he describes in very abstract terms:
If I define a work and sum it up within the boundary of a definition, given
my intentions, that seems to be a limitation on me and an imposition on other
people of how to think about the work. Finally, it has nothing to do with my
activity or art. I think the significance of the work is in its effort, not in
its intentions. And that effort is a state of mind, an activity, an interaction
with the world... The focus of art for me is the experience of living through
the pieces, and that experience may have very little to do with the physical
facts.
The visual style of the film is heavily indebted Serra's sculptures, which often use bold lines and a variety of different textures, just as high contrast lighting reduces the pieces of lead to flashes of light and dark and emphasises every crease in the palm of the hand.
The film serves as a kind of confessional documentary, chronicling a mental state in visual terms. It is interactive insofar as it was made to be watched, and the two hands play to the camera and are obviously aware of the fact that they are supposed to be creating a certain image. It is an objective action rendered subjective and expressionistic by context and authorial intent. It could be argued that the film is conceptual - the repetitive, almost hypnotic nature of the image is intended to represent the hit-and-miss struggle to create something worthwhile - but, given Serra's hatred of people judging his work based on his intentions, it is difficult to know whether people seeing it in 1968 would have been aware that it was an allegory of House of Cards, making it difficult to judge its original impact.
ONOchord 2004
ONOchord was created by the performance artist Yoko Ono, whose work was central to the fluxus movement. Before this module I did not know much about her work but after exploring her work on the internet I am completely intrigued! ONOchord may seem quite cringey to many but I think it is a beautiful work with a strong message and intention. I chose it because it was one of the most interactive video art that I had come across. In the documentary Yoko comments that the world is seeing a race between those who “want to destroy it and those who want to cover it with love”. She wants to cover it with love but comments that the opposition are faster. In order to beat them she encourages her audience to join her in the race, on her ‘team’. Her concept is communicated through media as well as a flashlight/torch. She does not even use her voice or facial expression just her thumb to make a huge statement. The benefit of using a torch means the message can be communicated “From ships, from buildings, using the buildings…to the sky, from the sky.” She is using the power of multimedia to win the race.
When she came to London’s Tate Gallery in 2004 she told her audience to take the flashlight home with them: “It’s nice to have a moment to think of love.” The success of her art is completely dependent on the interaction of her audience. The last few minutes of the documentary in Tokyo in October 2004, prove ONOchord to be a success. The image of all the lights flashing says such a huge statement in such a simple, unobtrusive way. Her art is not time-based but durational, so ...
I i
LOVE ii
YOU iii
"Frank Film" Frank and caroline Mouris
Frank Film is a 1973 animated short film. Co-creator Frank Mouris reads a list of words starting with the letter "f". This sound track is interwoven with the sound of his reading his autobiography. The visual is an animated collage of photos collected from magazines. Frank made the film with Caroline Mouris. The sound track was created by Tony Schwartz.
I like the layering of vocals, you can concisely tune into the two different dialogs. Mouris’s voice becomes musical due to the over-lapping of vocals, the two different rhythms work with each other. the effect of the speed in which images change makes them blend into one another with hypnotic results.
I like the layering of vocals, you can concisely tune into the two different dialogs. Mouris’s voice becomes musical due to the over-lapping of vocals, the two different rhythms work with each other. the effect of the speed in which images change makes them blend into one another with hypnotic results.
David Rokeby (2001): 'n-chant'
I came across this piece whilst looking at another David Rokeby installation on Youtube (Seen - which is also very good) as research for my practical project this year. It consists of a room a full of networked Apple Macs that use voice recognition and speech software to take audio stimulus from microphones and form a response to it. This stimulus can come from an outside source, such as the visitor, or the computers themselves. The image of an ear changes to indicate whether the computer is 'listening' or speaking (it can't do both at the same time, apparently). They fall into a chorus-like chant when left alone, and there's something inherently very sad about them that makes me really enjoy this piece. It's eerily inhuman, and yet at the same time I sympathise with the machines.
The piece is durational and has no narrative structure: visitors walk in and out whenever they like and stay for as long as they would wish. Whilst in the space the visitor is interacting with the piece: the microphones are set up to pick up speech in close-quarters with each machine, but the Macs may also respond to a visitor coughing, walking or, as shown in the video, clapping. The visitor is implicated in the performance by their presence, even if they remain completely silent: the lack of noise makes the computer network synchronise and chant chorus-like to the room. The artist's body does not make an appearance in the piece, but the body's of the spectators produce the inputs for the computers and the ears on the screens are video images of real people.
One might argue that the piece is conceptual, developing a thesis on what language, at its core, actually is by noting the differences between sentient human community and the artificial intelligence community as the two cope with language in totally different ways: the humans ask questions and use language in terms of what it denotes and connotes, whilst the machines cannot use this logic effectively (their replies are little more than paraphrases) and instead communicate most effectively (with each other) by examining the exact shape of the soundwave a word creates. Similarly therefore, one might also argue that there is a deconstructve element to the video piece in so much that its conceptual nature hangs in the balance between both an objective and subjective approach: like an experiment, the process is objective but the question is inherently formed from the personal.
However, one would struggle to find a confessional aspect to the piece. Five out of six points though, surely that makes it art???
Tuesday 13 November 2007
ALL OF MY TEXT DISAPPEARED
DONT KNOW WHY THAT HAPPENED... HERE IS THE TEXT FOR THE BELOW VIDEO!
This video by Joseph Beuys is a slow and time consuming piece that shows him performing menial and non-conformative actions in an extremely absurd way. The video begins with Beuys turning "up the bottom left corner of the felt, revealing a glimpse of the faulty TV picture. The voice of a TV reporter, who is talking about current milk and meat prices, is still audible. Beuys declares he has 'undertaken a gradual elimination' by 'filtering away' the picture first while leaving the sound, 'but when the picture has gone, the sound becomes absurd.'" http://www.ubu.com/film/beuys.html
'Filz TV' has no interactive elements with the audience HOWEVER it was performed in front of a live audience before it was adapted for television. When looking at it knowing these facts, it is quite easy to compare Beuys to a slapstick actor, not because of his own movements in particular but due to his use of the objects in the film such as the sausage, the boxing gloves and of course the television.
This piece is non-matrixed and is very simple to follow and does create a comical reaction due to Beuys' absurd use of the objects. I liked it because of its simplicity and because of its live performance background, I think that this gives it an extra dimension rather than being produced specifically as a piece of video art.
This video by Joseph Beuys is a slow and time consuming piece that shows him performing menial and non-conformative actions in an extremely absurd way. The video begins with Beuys turning "up the bottom left corner of the felt, revealing a glimpse of the faulty TV picture. The voice of a TV reporter, who is talking about current milk and meat prices, is still audible. Beuys declares he has 'undertaken a gradual elimination' by 'filtering away' the picture first while leaving the sound, 'but when the picture has gone, the sound becomes absurd.'" http://www.ubu.com/film/beuys.html
'Filz TV' has no interactive elements with the audience HOWEVER it was performed in front of a live audience before it was adapted for television. When looking at it knowing these facts, it is quite easy to compare Beuys to a slapstick actor, not because of his own movements in particular but due to his use of the objects in the film such as the sausage, the boxing gloves and of course the television.
This piece is non-matrixed and is very simple to follow and does create a comical reaction due to Beuys' absurd use of the objects. I liked it because of its simplicity and because of its live performance background, I think that this gives it an extra dimension rather than being produced specifically as a piece of video art.
Joseph Beuys - Filz TV (1970)
This video by Joseph Beuys is a slow and time consuming piece that shows him performing menial and non-conformative actions in an extremely absurd way. The video begins with Beuys turning "up the bottom left corner of the felt, revealing a glimpse of the faulty TV picture. The voice of a TV reporter, who is talking about current milk and meat prices, is still audible. Beuys declares he has 'undertaken a gradual elimination' by 'filtering away' the picture first while leaving the sound, 'but when the picture has gone, the sound becomes absurd.'" http://www.ubu.com/film/beuys.html
'Filz TV' has no interactive elements with the audience HOWEVER it was performed in front of a live audience before it was adapted for television. When looking at it knowing these facts, it is quite easy to compare Beuys to a slapstick actor, not because of his own movements in particular but due to his use of the objects in the film such as the sausage, the boxing gloves and of course the television.
This piece is non-matrixed and is very simple to follow and does create a comical reaction due to Beuys' absurd use of the objects. I liked it because of its simplicity and because of its live performance background, I think that this gives it an extra dimension rather than being produced specifically as a piece of video art.
Monday 12 November 2007
"Sleep" (1963) - Andy Warhol
NOTE: Although Michael Rush only refers to Warhol's work in passing, I'm particularly interested in his experimental films and consider them to be greatly relevant to our current focus on "video art."
'Sleep' is essentially one continuous, unbroken six hour-long filmed study of John Giorno (a poet, and supposed lover of Warhol's)... sleeping. The concept is identical to that of Sam Taylor-Wood's "video portrait" of David Beckham sleeping that we discussed in Week V's seminar. There's no doubt that Wood's piece (despite being a commission by the National Portrait Gallery) was directly inspired by Warhol's, especially given 'Sleep''s broad recognition on the video art scene.
Andy Warhol is famous (and notorious) for his lengthy, low-concept film works. You may be familiar with 'Eat' (45 minutes in length) and 'Empire,' (upwards of eight hours in length) both filmed in 1964; both similar in style to 'Sleep,' in the sense that the focus is centralised and unchanging throughout.
In order to contextualise my choice of artist and piece, I shall study sleep in line with the "video art" criteria established in the seminar:
'Sleep' is...
Sleep
(1963, Andy Warhol)
'Sleep' is essentially one continuous, unbroken six hour-long filmed study of John Giorno (a poet, and supposed lover of Warhol's)... sleeping. The concept is identical to that of Sam Taylor-Wood's "video portrait" of David Beckham sleeping that we discussed in Week V's seminar. There's no doubt that Wood's piece (despite being a commission by the National Portrait Gallery) was directly inspired by Warhol's, especially given 'Sleep''s broad recognition on the video art scene.
Andy Warhol is famous (and notorious) for his lengthy, low-concept film works. You may be familiar with 'Eat' (45 minutes in length) and 'Empire,' (upwards of eight hours in length) both filmed in 1964; both similar in style to 'Sleep,' in the sense that the focus is centralised and unchanging throughout.
In order to contextualise my choice of artist and piece, I shall study sleep in line with the "video art" criteria established in the seminar:
'Sleep' is...
- Time-based (durational, non-narrative) - six, uninterrupted hours of continuous footage.
- Confessional - Whilst John Giornio is not necessarily "confessing" anything, the act of sleeping is itself considered private. The spectator is invited to witness something that the performer would normally keep to himself, and in that sense the piece could be considered a confession of sorts.
- Interactive - In regard to the above, the private nature of the act (sleeping) depicted on screen implies that the spectator is intruding on the privacy of the filmed individual. By focusing on the image, the spectator becomes something of a voyeur (a notion addressed in Rush's chapter). Voyeurism is essentially based on the connection between the spectator, and the object of the spectator's interest. The spectator naturally empathises with what they see and mentally translates it into a form that they can utilise (in this context, utilising said product in order to develop an opinion of what they are witnessing). Whilst the viewer does not physically interact with Giorno, they unwillingly interact with him on the emotional level through natural empathy.
- Physical - This is fairly straightforward. The film depends entirely upon the physical presence of Giorno. After all, it is study of a man in a state of sleep. Without the man (or the "star"), there is no piece; in the same sense that the characters in a film, or the narrator in a novel is required to convey the story to the consumer.
- Conceptual - 'Sleep' is considered to be Warhol's "anti-film." (another idea that Rush raises in his book) The ideas conveyed through the piece are inherently rebellious as Warhol defies the conventional norms of early to mid twentieth-century cinema, and its focus on narrative expression.
- Deconstructive (Objective/ documentary Vs Subjective/ personal expression) - Whilst we view Giorno from an objective position, 'Sleep' cannot be considered a documentary as it expresses nothing about the subject; its purpose is not to inform. However, as I mentioned before, the spectator, as a voyeur, naturally relates to the subject's position and thus experiences his slumber from within through their empathy. Added to this, Giorno is not consciously expressing, but at the same time he shares his experience with the spectator, and that in itself can be considered a form of expression. As I'm sure you can gather, the line is blurred.
Andy Warhol's films are considered by many to be pretentious, hollow, and devoid of any artistic merit. Personally I wouldn't pay to watch any of his work, but I still admire its spontaneous nature. I like 'Sleep' for the same reason that I liked the video for Bob Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' that Dean posted a few weeks back. It seems completely unplanned (or in the context of the discussion, "non-matrixed"): I can picture Warhol suddenly being hit with a flash of inspiration, popping up his camera, and just letting it roll. As a result it feels raw and immediate, and despite the fact that I view it through the restricted frame of a viewing window, it creates the illusion that it is entirely non-mediated.
Joan Jonas - "Vertical Roll"
Jonas’ piece of video art consists entirely of an interrupted electronic signal causing televised black and white images of a woman to roll relentlessly across the TV screen, whilst accompanied by the "jarring" and monotonous noise of her banging a spoon against the camera lens.
This repetitive and fragmented stream of images appears to show various parts of a female body under the scrutiny of the video, thus could be said as being deconstructive of the female form as a whole and may well be an attempt to further disorientate perceptions of the human body.
It has been said that Jonas “Constructs a theatre of female identity by deconstructing representations of the female body and the technology of video” (http://www.eai.org/eai/tape.jsp). By placing it within a new framework she is able to fracture the image and allow the spectator to discover the female form in a in a different and quite intimidating manner. This may be an attempt to encourage an interactivity between the specator and the tape to help them create individual opinions and arguements concerning the treatment of women within the media and perhaps even society today. This becomes particularly poigniant and confrontational when the female looks directlty at the viewer at the end of the sequence.
The images of the woman are also seen to be disorientated and unclear, which could be viewed by some as quite frightening and distressing. The fact that they constantly haunt the screen for the entire 19 minutes and 38 seconds, and roll to the threatening beat may frustrate and perhaps unnerve the viewer. It could even cause them to feel a sense of helplessness towards the women who appears to be trapped at the mercy of the videotape. This to me, once more reveals the instability of the female’s identity and how vulnerable she is to the manipulation of the media and its many forms.
This repetitive and fragmented stream of images appears to show various parts of a female body under the scrutiny of the video, thus could be said as being deconstructive of the female form as a whole and may well be an attempt to further disorientate perceptions of the human body.
It has been said that Jonas “Constructs a theatre of female identity by deconstructing representations of the female body and the technology of video” (http://www.eai.org/eai/tape.jsp). By placing it within a new framework she is able to fracture the image and allow the spectator to discover the female form in a in a different and quite intimidating manner. This may be an attempt to encourage an interactivity between the specator and the tape to help them create individual opinions and arguements concerning the treatment of women within the media and perhaps even society today. This becomes particularly poigniant and confrontational when the female looks directlty at the viewer at the end of the sequence.
The images of the woman are also seen to be disorientated and unclear, which could be viewed by some as quite frightening and distressing. The fact that they constantly haunt the screen for the entire 19 minutes and 38 seconds, and roll to the threatening beat may frustrate and perhaps unnerve the viewer. It could even cause them to feel a sense of helplessness towards the women who appears to be trapped at the mercy of the videotape. This to me, once more reveals the instability of the female’s identity and how vulnerable she is to the manipulation of the media and its many forms.
'I Am Making Art'- John Baldassari
John Baldassari’s ‘I Am Making Art’ exemplifies the conceptual aspect of video art. Performing with deadpan precision against a white wall, he moves his hands, arms and entire body in studied, minute motions, intoning the phrase "I am making art" with each gesture. While some commenters on the youtube clip seem to be viewing his work as entirely sincere, it can also be deduced that Baldassari wishes to point out the irony in video and body art by rendering it absurd.
‘One of the questions that I've always pursued or has pursued me is, "Why is something art, and why is something else not art?" That I always find fascinating.’ –John Baldassari
At 19 minutes long ‘I Am Making Art’ may not be ‘durational’ in the sense that it ‘lasts for a long time’ but it is repetitive and non-narrative allowing a viewer to join it at any point and experience it for the length of time they choose without altering their response.
It is of course physical (almost exclusively so) and uses the artist’s body.
Friday 9 November 2007
Favourite Video Art
In 2005 I went to the Africa Remix exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London. Although it feels like an age ago, the memory of standing amongst the huge variety of works from a continent of different countries and thinking 'this is the most exciting place I've ever been' is still vivid.
In particular, two pieces of video art stay with me. The first was my introduction to the work of the South African artist, William Kentridge (the image at the top). I don't remember the names of the particular works shown, and haven't as yet found a catalogue online, but there seems to a common style and theme through out all of his work:
'Kentridge produces works that exist somewhere between film, drawing and theater and sometimes as a combination of all three. Kentridge's drawings and stop-motion videos often have a subtle but reflectively political undertone, investigating the cultural dualities of South Africa and the artist's birth city of Johannesburg. Using the reductive medium of charcoal with only a small amount of blue or red chalk, Kentridge is effectively able to portray narratives while allowing the drawing process to be revealed by erasing and redrawing the object on the same sheet of paper.' www.dailyserving.com
What interests me about his technique is that in his charcoal animation, the ghosts of the erased images remain onscreen. In normal animation, each frame is drawn on to a fresh sheet, so that there is no real sense of the past. I think his style gives animation a heightened reflective quality.
The second was 'Tabla' by the Egyptian artist Moataz Nasr. This video installation (shown on the right) consisted of a long projected sequence of a man playing a large Indian tabla drum. On the floor in front of the projection were tabla drums of various sizes, inside of which were concealed speakers. Very simply, the drums on the floor 'attempted' to match the rhythm of the video drum with different degrees of accuracy. For me, it was an eloquent exploration authority and control; the concept of dancing to the beat of someone else's drum. In terms of multimedia, I think the interplay between art objects and video is fascinating. A useful comparison could possibly be made between 'Tabla' and Nam June Paiks 'TV-Buddha' (shown at the bottom). In 'TV-Buddha' the connection between the object and the media is through live feed. In the prerecorded 'Tabla' the connection is made through the manipulation of sound. I think that the complexities of liveness makes 'TV-Buddha' the conceptually stronger piece.
I am excited about all the video art we are covering on the course, but as favourites go, these two works from Africa Remix 2005, as part of a fantastic exhibition, will always have a privileged position.
Thursday 8 November 2007
Acconci's Video Art
Rush writes about the work of Acconci, focusing on one piece of video art in particular, where flirting with the audience is a key concept. Theme Song is 33 minutes of constant interaction and attention from Acconci to the undefined viewer. Acconci faces the viewer throughout and creates a comfortable environment, (a sofa can be distinguished behind him), aided by the music which he changes regularly. This intimacy can be too close however and borders on uncomfortable; his face is very close to the camera and on several occasions he wraps his body closer to the camera also so that even the ‘set’ behind is masked by his presence. The idea of flirting with the audience, inviting the audience to become lured into the piece and ultimately into Acconci, creates an intimacy and interaction which is crucial to video art. That the artist uses his body to flirt also, creates a physical element, another factor in claiming the piece as an example of video art.
The piece can be classed as time based, another defining factor of video art, in that there is no real narrative. Acconci uses different persuasion techniques which may be personal, accusatory or manipulative, but comes to no real conclusion in his narrative. He contradicts himself also, wanting pity from the viewer as he is lonely, but simultaneously reminding us that this type of tactic ‘won’t work’ and more importantly that we are in a different world: ‘I’m only kidding myself.. You’re not here’.
The piece is conceptual in that it intentionally engages the viewer in a personal event (Acconci constantly refers to ‘you’), of which we cannot directly participate. That Acconci implicates the innocent viewer makes the piece incredibly absorbing; whilst it is difficult to watch at times, it is more difficult not to watch. A further concept is thereby created that in the same way Acconci watches and implicates us, by our participation in watching, we directly invade upon Acconci, reinforcing the uncomfortable situation. Lines such as ‘You could be anybody out there’ take on a new, perverse meaning.
The piece can be classed as time based, another defining factor of video art, in that there is no real narrative. Acconci uses different persuasion techniques which may be personal, accusatory or manipulative, but comes to no real conclusion in his narrative. He contradicts himself also, wanting pity from the viewer as he is lonely, but simultaneously reminding us that this type of tactic ‘won’t work’ and more importantly that we are in a different world: ‘I’m only kidding myself.. You’re not here’.
The piece is conceptual in that it intentionally engages the viewer in a personal event (Acconci constantly refers to ‘you’), of which we cannot directly participate. That Acconci implicates the innocent viewer makes the piece incredibly absorbing; whilst it is difficult to watch at times, it is more difficult not to watch. A further concept is thereby created that in the same way Acconci watches and implicates us, by our participation in watching, we directly invade upon Acconci, reinforcing the uncomfortable situation. Lines such as ‘You could be anybody out there’ take on a new, perverse meaning.
Monday 29 October 2007
GORILLAZ LIVE
I know we were talking about the Gorillaz live gigs in class so I just thought that I'd post the link to one of their live performances... Enjoy
Monday 22 October 2007
Gwen Stefani
Like many others this is not my favorite song of all time but I love the video as it plays with so many aspects of Multimedia.
The video starts with Gwen stuck in a rehearsal room 'uninspired', the music starts and she is spun into a virtual world (similar to Wonderland in 'Alice in Wonderland'). The use of multimedia allows her to sing to herself dressed in array of characters including Alice, the White Queen and the Red Queen. The video shoots back to Gwen in the rehearsal room frozen in her chair where the song records itself.
One of the main reasons I like this video is the images, one of my favorite being the Giant Gwen inside the house with the lyric "Take a chance coz you might grow". The image fits perfectly to the lyric. It uses similar techniques to the 'Model 5' video we saw in class, repeating still images in different ways in time to the music.
At the end of the video Gwens virtual world becomes a reality as she picks up the mic and sings to the girls. For me, the image of Gwen growing out of the house always remains in my head for days! Anyho hope you enjoy!
Prodigy - Smack my bitch up
In my view, this music video is one of the most thought provoking videos I have seen. Although on the surface it seems to be yet another depiction of a drunken and drug fueled "night out", the prodigy have succesfuly taken a cliche and turned it around to address the stereotypical view of a man and taboos around the behaviour of women.
The video takes the viewer on a night out through the eyes of what is asumed to be a man. We dont see "his" image until the end, but the assumtion is made as we experience drugs, scruffy trainers, kebabs, drunken fights and eventually ending up in a strip club and steeling a car. This behaviour is associated with a male youth, possibly early twenties. "He" takes a girl back to his flat and the song ends with a suggestive sequence depicting sex. The woman takes her clothes and leaves and suddenly a reflection of the protagonist is seen and it becomes clear that we have experienced a night out through the eyes of a woman, not a man. This is immediately shocking, but thought provoking in the sense that this is extremely unexpected. It is seen as a taboo for a woman to behave in this manner.
Aswell as addressing questions to do with behaviour, this video also is filmed very effectively. It gives the viewer a real sense of the alcohol taking control as the video goes on, and through the music becoming more and more disjointed, a sense of depression, frustration and anger is really achieved.
The video takes the viewer on a night out through the eyes of what is asumed to be a man. We dont see "his" image until the end, but the assumtion is made as we experience drugs, scruffy trainers, kebabs, drunken fights and eventually ending up in a strip club and steeling a car. This behaviour is associated with a male youth, possibly early twenties. "He" takes a girl back to his flat and the song ends with a suggestive sequence depicting sex. The woman takes her clothes and leaves and suddenly a reflection of the protagonist is seen and it becomes clear that we have experienced a night out through the eyes of a woman, not a man. This is immediately shocking, but thought provoking in the sense that this is extremely unexpected. It is seen as a taboo for a woman to behave in this manner.
Aswell as addressing questions to do with behaviour, this video also is filmed very effectively. It gives the viewer a real sense of the alcohol taking control as the video goes on, and through the music becoming more and more disjointed, a sense of depression, frustration and anger is really achieved.
Elektrons "Get up"
ok, so i hope this works, but if it doesn't i do apologise...
Right..this is the Elektrons, with "Get up", featuring Soup from Jurassic Five and the vocalist Pete Simpson. The video, much like the music, refers back to a really 'old school' style, featuring original footage from New York's breakdance and Disco scene. Much like alot of Soups work with Jurassic Five, the mc's lyrics have a positive feel, and the timing of this tracks re-release, 1st August, meant it was still in time to make an impact as a summer party anthem. The graffiti styled animation is a classical style, using well known symbols like the bombox with wings or the green robot. I especially like the way they merge the 'old school' footage with this classical style
in the disco sequence, animating original footage by highlighting several features on womens faces. This gives the old footage a new feel.
I think the real reason I enjoy watching it is because its just nice to see footage I have seen before transformed into something totally different and freshly inspiring.
I hope you all enjoy it, I just think it is very cool. :)
Right..this is the Elektrons, with "Get up", featuring Soup from Jurassic Five and the vocalist Pete Simpson. The video, much like the music, refers back to a really 'old school' style, featuring original footage from New York's breakdance and Disco scene. Much like alot of Soups work with Jurassic Five, the mc's lyrics have a positive feel, and the timing of this tracks re-release, 1st August, meant it was still in time to make an impact as a summer party anthem. The graffiti styled animation is a classical style, using well known symbols like the bombox with wings or the green robot. I especially like the way they merge the 'old school' footage with this classical style
in the disco sequence, animating original footage by highlighting several features on womens faces. This gives the old footage a new feel.
I think the real reason I enjoy watching it is because its just nice to see footage I have seen before transformed into something totally different and freshly inspiring.
I hope you all enjoy it, I just think it is very cool. :)
Sunday 21 October 2007
Blur
Whilst the song is by no means exciting, this video really livens the mood of it, due to its cute, unexpected nature. The video finds us sympathising with the inanimate object of a milk carton, who goes in search of Blur’s guitarist, Graham Coxon. The video itself is a tale of child-like innocence, as the milk carton takes its steps out of the fridge, and into the big bad world.
Whilst on his journey, the milk carton sees the harsh reality of life, he falls in love, only to see her perish, he sees that ‘Big Suzy’ (who claims to make all his dreams come true) isn’t quite the angelic oracle that he anticipates, as he is greeted by a hooker at the door. The video itself is very clever, as the interaction between the Ray Harry-Hausen esque stop-motion carton and the live action is seamless, and this owes itself to Jim Henson’s genius.
The fact that the carton ‘dies’ at the end of the film demonstrates a reflection on society, that you don’t always get the rewards that you deserve for undertaking selfless acts. Through the course of the video, the viewer is drawn to care for the carton, and even the hardiest of Blur fans will feel more than just a little resentment towards Coxon for drinking, and killing the carton at the end of the video.
Whilst on his journey, the milk carton sees the harsh reality of life, he falls in love, only to see her perish, he sees that ‘Big Suzy’ (who claims to make all his dreams come true) isn’t quite the angelic oracle that he anticipates, as he is greeted by a hooker at the door. The video itself is very clever, as the interaction between the Ray Harry-Hausen esque stop-motion carton and the live action is seamless, and this owes itself to Jim Henson’s genius.
The fact that the carton ‘dies’ at the end of the film demonstrates a reflection on society, that you don’t always get the rewards that you deserve for undertaking selfless acts. Through the course of the video, the viewer is drawn to care for the carton, and even the hardiest of Blur fans will feel more than just a little resentment towards Coxon for drinking, and killing the carton at the end of the video.
Sigur Ros
untitled #1 (Vaka)
Directed by Floria Sigismondi (2003)
I would like to say that as with their music, Sigur Ros videos exhibit a fascination with childhood, slowed moments of time and emotional fragility. However, my interpretation of their music is drawn mostly from the imagery (from cd covers to the videos) which accompanies their work. This especially the case with Untitled #1, which is from the album ( ) which, yes, was released without titles for the album or the songs it contained. In addition all the lyrics in ( ) are in Hopelandic, the band's made up language which resembles the sounds of Icelandic words but has no literal translation. The idea is that the listener should be able to draw their own meaning.
In the face of this, Sigismondi's video presents a strong narratisation of the song. The image of the children in gas masks (an image that is reminiscent of Banksy’s little girls hugging bombs) portentously creates a pop culture statement about the world our children might inherit. A little pretentious perhaps but it is also non-representational, which works for a video that is trying to evoke something profound. If the band appeared, looking po-faced, then it would be on the cusp of the perilous slope which takes us to Michael Jackson’s Earth Song.
I like the fact that the video starts with abstract images, a colour, a texture, and a quality of movement. It is like a title board which suggests that this is one visual interpretation of a sound which could be taken in many directions. I like the contrast between the home video realism of the first scenes in the school and the post-apocalyptic grandeur of the playground because it matches the musical style of the band, that signature slow build up to a dramatic burst which elicits an emotional response. The way Sigismondi’s jittery camera style catches those slowed moments- a widening eye behind the glass of a mask- is fantastic.
Directed by Floria Sigismondi (2003)
I would like to say that as with their music, Sigur Ros videos exhibit a fascination with childhood, slowed moments of time and emotional fragility. However, my interpretation of their music is drawn mostly from the imagery (from cd covers to the videos) which accompanies their work. This especially the case with Untitled #1, which is from the album ( ) which, yes, was released without titles for the album or the songs it contained. In addition all the lyrics in ( ) are in Hopelandic, the band's made up language which resembles the sounds of Icelandic words but has no literal translation. The idea is that the listener should be able to draw their own meaning.
In the face of this, Sigismondi's video presents a strong narratisation of the song. The image of the children in gas masks (an image that is reminiscent of Banksy’s little girls hugging bombs) portentously creates a pop culture statement about the world our children might inherit. A little pretentious perhaps but it is also non-representational, which works for a video that is trying to evoke something profound. If the band appeared, looking po-faced, then it would be on the cusp of the perilous slope which takes us to Michael Jackson’s Earth Song.
I like the fact that the video starts with abstract images, a colour, a texture, and a quality of movement. It is like a title board which suggests that this is one visual interpretation of a sound which could be taken in many directions. I like the contrast between the home video realism of the first scenes in the school and the post-apocalyptic grandeur of the playground because it matches the musical style of the band, that signature slow build up to a dramatic burst which elicits an emotional response. The way Sigismondi’s jittery camera style catches those slowed moments- a widening eye behind the glass of a mask- is fantastic.
A-Ha "Take On Me"
It may be a favourite in top 100 lists, countdown TV shows, 80’s compilations and consequently a cliché choice but I love it. A mixture, (like Justice’s ‘D.A.N.C.E.’,) of live action and animation which perhaps works most effectively when combined in the same frame. Of course in this output from 1985, computer generated graphics are not in use.
A technique called rotoscoping is employed, whereby the action is shot on ordinary film then each frame is traced over by hand to produce the animation. This decision creates a work that over twenty years later is still visually impressive.
In terms of remediation this video is a palimpsest- remediating the actors' original performance to film, remediating film to animation then layering the two to create a third medium, that of celluloid and cartoon combined.
Aesthetically it couldn’t be any more of its time- the clothes, the hair, the melodrama, the synth driven pop, the sidestepping dance moves, even the sketchy cartoon style seems inseparable from what we retrospectively consider to be ‘the 80’s.’ Combined with a strangely compelling (if not bizarre) plot, this video stands up as a classic.
A technique called rotoscoping is employed, whereby the action is shot on ordinary film then each frame is traced over by hand to produce the animation. This decision creates a work that over twenty years later is still visually impressive.
In terms of remediation this video is a palimpsest- remediating the actors' original performance to film, remediating film to animation then layering the two to create a third medium, that of celluloid and cartoon combined.
Aesthetically it couldn’t be any more of its time- the clothes, the hair, the melodrama, the synth driven pop, the sidestepping dance moves, even the sketchy cartoon style seems inseparable from what we retrospectively consider to be ‘the 80’s.’ Combined with a strangely compelling (if not bizarre) plot, this video stands up as a classic.
Saturday 20 October 2007
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood
Zombies, monkeys, and kung-fu.
...
Uh, fine.
From the first handful of bars evoking 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly's theme (from which the song's title is derived) in combination with the subtitle lifted from the original (read 'good') Dawn of the Dead's dialogue, the video is playing with the viewer's sensibilities as an intrepid pop-culturenaut.
The bold, clean style of the visuals, pitched roughly halfway between the punk chic of Hewlett's Tank Girl and the hyperactive brightness of a Tartakovsky Saturday-morning cartoon brings a unique style to the table: a world, and consequentially a music video, where anything is possible. As newly created cartoons however, the Gorillaz are to begin with in statis: the white room so often represented by television and film as Limbo. This all changes, of course, when drummer Russel's frazzled id decides to go for a shuffle.
The representation of Del tha Funkee Homosapien as a sputtering, poor-quality television transmission again nudges knowingly at one's cultural awareness, and his joyful awakening of the graveyard introduces another genre trope into the cultural mélange -- the realistic appearance of the cenotaphs giving the whole video a tinge of Gothic pedigree.
Other moments to draw attention to: the hilariously realised dancing zombie gorillas, slamming the kitschy Thriller shtick back into the cartoon world where it belongs; the kung-fu hijinks of the Martial Arts Prodigy in all her technophile otaku-drool-inducing glory; and the Genie-esque manner in which Del is sucked back into Russel's head, owing as much to Disney's Aladdin as Ghostbusters.
As I said, this is my favourite music video because it has zombies, monkeys and kung-fu. The team behind Gorillaz, like us, have grown up on music videos, trashy pop-culture and cartoons. They know what they like, they know what people like and they know what to do with it.
...
Uh, fine.
From the first handful of bars evoking 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly's theme (from which the song's title is derived) in combination with the subtitle lifted from the original (read 'good') Dawn of the Dead's dialogue, the video is playing with the viewer's sensibilities as an intrepid pop-culturenaut.
The bold, clean style of the visuals, pitched roughly halfway between the punk chic of Hewlett's Tank Girl and the hyperactive brightness of a Tartakovsky Saturday-morning cartoon brings a unique style to the table: a world, and consequentially a music video, where anything is possible. As newly created cartoons however, the Gorillaz are to begin with in statis: the white room so often represented by television and film as Limbo. This all changes, of course, when drummer Russel's frazzled id decides to go for a shuffle.
The representation of Del tha Funkee Homosapien as a sputtering, poor-quality television transmission again nudges knowingly at one's cultural awareness, and his joyful awakening of the graveyard introduces another genre trope into the cultural mélange -- the realistic appearance of the cenotaphs giving the whole video a tinge of Gothic pedigree.
Other moments to draw attention to: the hilariously realised dancing zombie gorillas, slamming the kitschy Thriller shtick back into the cartoon world where it belongs; the kung-fu hijinks of the Martial Arts Prodigy in all her technophile otaku-drool-inducing glory; and the Genie-esque manner in which Del is sucked back into Russel's head, owing as much to Disney's Aladdin as Ghostbusters.
As I said, this is my favourite music video because it has zombies, monkeys and kung-fu. The team behind Gorillaz, like us, have grown up on music videos, trashy pop-culture and cartoons. They know what they like, they know what people like and they know what to do with it.
Friday 19 October 2007
'Bedshaped' by Keane
Right, the song's not my favourite but the video is. Its use of stop-motion and animation is beatiful, and arguably implies that Keane put as much thought, effort and artistry into the creation of their music as an animator does with a plasticine model, an idea imperative to sustaining the image they attempt to put forward of themselves as independent artists - although, ironically, the fact that the band are only ever represented in the video through drawings of themselves suggests the idea that they are somewhat manufactured themselves.
Bedshaped is, according to the band, a song about feeling left behind by a former friend or lover and the hope that in the distant future they will be reunited. This sentiment is well conveyed by the lonely, tramp like plasticine figure who seems daunted by the grim, urban environment he inhabits and whose only friend seems to be a kindly cat. The tramp figure himself is visually grotesque, perhaps reflecting the idea of a person becoming literally 'bedshaped' through illness and age.
The stop-motion animation has an urban-gothic aesthetic to it (resemblant of Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride at times) and the band appear as graffiti-esque animations within the walls of the tramp's world along with the lyrics of the song. As the band sing to him from the buildings and walls, the tramp seems to find his only solace from the construct of the city itself, including his resourceful cat friend, as opposed to the people who occupy it.
The lyrics and the band finally break out of the walls in the 'white light' of the song and the tramp finds himself within a white room surrounded by 3D renderings of the lyrics (that he himself has been reading and writing) and the bandmembers who are now drawn in a rougher, more energetic style. The implication is that he has either died or that the city itself has saved him.
I think I enjoy the video because it's just very aesthetically pleasing and it complements the sentiment of the song well, if not its exact meaning. I believe however that the representation of the song here was much less important than the representation of Keane as artists rather than a pop act. Whether it succeeds or not is, of course, debateable.
Smashing Pumpkins - Ava Adore
Smashing Pumpkins - Ava Adore
This was the lead single from the Pumpkins' "techno" album. They fired their drummer, replaced him with a machine and announced to the critics that they were now an electro outfit. Just in case some people hadn't got the message, they then released this video, which features no instruments, no live performance and only a half-hearted attempt to lip-sync. Filmed in one continuous take, the video sees the nearly-unrecognisable band dance through a series of cliched music video settings peopled with extras who might be mannequins and mannequins that might be extras. The camera repeatedly swings round to show the track and crew, emphasising that the video is a technological illusion, while the band often miss cues or disappear and reappear from shots at random as the music carries on without them. While the one-shot conceit and the sets themselves are impressive and Romanek plays interesting in-camera tricks with time and space, what I really like about this video is that it is such a blatant, knowing exercise in rebranding.
This was the lead single from the Pumpkins' "techno" album. They fired their drummer, replaced him with a machine and announced to the critics that they were now an electro outfit. Just in case some people hadn't got the message, they then released this video, which features no instruments, no live performance and only a half-hearted attempt to lip-sync. Filmed in one continuous take, the video sees the nearly-unrecognisable band dance through a series of cliched music video settings peopled with extras who might be mannequins and mannequins that might be extras. The camera repeatedly swings round to show the track and crew, emphasising that the video is a technological illusion, while the band often miss cues or disappear and reappear from shots at random as the music carries on without them. While the one-shot conceit and the sets themselves are impressive and Romanek plays interesting in-camera tricks with time and space, what I really like about this video is that it is such a blatant, knowing exercise in rebranding.
Coldplay - The Scientist
I particularly like the way this video plays the protagonists narrative in reverse, allowing us to see the effects before we witness what actually caused them. The director is able to convey what we discover to be a very traumatic event in a slow, trance like manner communicating the initial disbelief that you may actually feel if you were in that situation. I feel this also reflects the sad and sombre nature of the song perfectly. The first time we watch the video and follow Chris Martin’s journey “back to the start” is extremely compelling, as the viewer is almost discovering what happened as Chris replays it. This gives the video a unique quality as when you have watched it through once and found out about the car accident, the video will never again offer you the same sort of suspense initially felt when you didn’t know what had happened.
Once again, this can be seen as a mediated piece of art in the sense that its video documentation has been manipulated after the live filming. However, the video (a basic level) has only been played backwards, with a few special effects added. So in a way it could still be interpreted as showing a live set of events but instead focusing on the how the smallest of movements appear backwards.
Once again, this can be seen as a mediated piece of art in the sense that its video documentation has been manipulated after the live filming. However, the video (a basic level) has only been played backwards, with a few special effects added. So in a way it could still be interpreted as showing a live set of events but instead focusing on the how the smallest of movements appear backwards.
Wednesday 17 October 2007
Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)
A Street Spirit (Fade Out) is reflected in that the spirit of a community, represented by caravans here, fades out continuously throughout the video. This is made possible by the use of black and white, which allows, through a brilliant manipulation of lighting and great editing, people to apparently disappear and reappear. The fading effect is also aided by the variations in the timing of shots. For example, early on figures move at different paces in front of the caravan; a constant pace set in the centre by Thom, and an exaggerated escape from the caravan behind, slowed to accentuate each point of the descent. Whilst this does not fade that character out, they are almost alienated from the action in the shot, and that the frames are still shots throughout, alienates the characters from the viewer all the more, reinforcing the fading theme of the video.
I particularly like the aesthetics of the video; some of the images such as the slow movement of feathers to suggest a weight to them followed by a rapid fall create interest in their peculiarity. Everything seems emphasised and studied, helped by the fact that the images are repeated and developed. An interest is then created in the narrative of the images and the video as a whole, as well as the narrative of the video against the song.
Radiohead are at times a quietly explosive band and this tension is not only heard through the lyrics, but also seen, an example here being Thom’s violence with the hammer in shattering the glass, but that the glass is then held and suspended. The video ends where it started but in reverse; that Thom eventually refuses to fade out and rises instead of falls, creates another level of tension and reflects the contradictions, confusion and the overall style of the band.
I particularly like the aesthetics of the video; some of the images such as the slow movement of feathers to suggest a weight to them followed by a rapid fall create interest in their peculiarity. Everything seems emphasised and studied, helped by the fact that the images are repeated and developed. An interest is then created in the narrative of the images and the video as a whole, as well as the narrative of the video against the song.
Radiohead are at times a quietly explosive band and this tension is not only heard through the lyrics, but also seen, an example here being Thom’s violence with the hammer in shattering the glass, but that the glass is then held and suspended. The video ends where it started but in reverse; that Thom eventually refuses to fade out and rises instead of falls, creates another level of tension and reflects the contradictions, confusion and the overall style of the band.
"D.A.N.C.E" by 'Justice'
Some of you may remember 'Justice' from the collaboration they did with 'Simian' (now 'Simian Mobile Disco,' or at least some of the original group are) in Summer '06 with "We Are Your Friends." Here's a track, and its accompanying video, from their recently-released debut album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo_QVq2lGMs
What I love about this video is paradoxically both its simplicity and its visual complexity (in regard to the animation). Whilst the art is monochromatic and fairly basic in style, the implementation of it into the video as part of a continuous animated piece is what really makes this baby feel fresh.
Not only does the animation provide the viewer with what is essentially a Disney-style sing-along option, but it also keeps pace, visually, with the track itself. It's a synchronization of numerous 'mediated' components:
- The original track, which itself has been electronically modified in the studio.
- The original footage, which has clearly been altered from its original colour to black and white in post-production.
- The animated effects, which were most likely drawn digitally, then applied to a computer model, generating the illusion of the animation being one with the performers' clothing (there are three obvious 'remediations', as it were, in this process alone).
Enjoy!
I would go into an conversation I had post-seminar yesterday morning regarding computer-generated animation and imagery, but I'll save that for a later post.
Faithless - Insomnia
This Video completely captures the mood of the song, there is a real sense of isolation. This is created not only through the empty streets, but also through the fact that the director has chosen to shoot the video in black and white. when the music becomes more frantic and the protagonists inner devil is seen in flashes, the colour used is even more poignant, adding to the intensity of the song. This video never ceases to send chills down my spine!!
Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srgi2DkDbPU
This video is a black and white minimalist piece without any editing whatsoever. Dylan holds up placards containing words and phrases from "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and discards them as the song progresses. Throughout the piece, many of the placards are deliberately spelt wrongly and phrases and words appear on the placards that aren't even in the lyrics (maybe to create comedy or puzzlement for the audience). The end of the video is particularly entertaining. Dylans final card simply reads "WHAT??" possibly to show that the presentation may have even left himself confused.
This video is a black and white minimalist piece without any editing whatsoever. Dylan holds up placards containing words and phrases from "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and discards them as the song progresses. Throughout the piece, many of the placards are deliberately spelt wrongly and phrases and words appear on the placards that aren't even in the lyrics (maybe to create comedy or puzzlement for the audience). The end of the video is particularly entertaining. Dylans final card simply reads "WHAT??" possibly to show that the presentation may have even left himself confused.
E-40, Tell me when to go
Think the video captures the energy of the track and 'hyphy' hip hop sub-culture. It portrays the animated car culture and community aspect of scene really well. Between the artists performing, the shots of the street party aids the music giving it a clear context rather that people dancing around in some club or on a yacht somewhere.
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Homework Week 4
Hi everyone,
please remember to post yr link to yr favourite music video and a par about the reasons for your choice
to get things rolling here is mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjAoBKagWQA
Björk··All is Full of Love
released April 1999
commissioner Paul McKee at One Little Indian, UK
PRODUCTION
company Black Dog Films
director Chris Cunningham
producer Cindy Burnay
director of photography John Lynch
production designers Chris Cunningham, Julian Caldow
art director Chris Oddy
model effects Mattes & Miniatures
robot design Chris Cunningham
robot builder Paul Catling
robot model assistants James McKeown, Liam Williams
I like the way that the performance of the robot captures the key tropes of Bjork's persona: cool, high tech, experimental but also infused with an odd sense of pathos and a real vulnerability. Its one of Chris Cunningham's most eloquent music video conceptions and is far clearer than his own statements about it eg:
"When I first heard the track I wrote down the words 'sexual,' 'milk,' 'white porcelain,' 'surgery.' [The video]'s a combination of several fetishes: industrial robotics, female anatomy, and fluorescent light in that order." (Dazed and Confused)
"I think I mentioned that I think it should be ... something that's white and frozen, and then it sort of melts, because of love, and making love."
Chris Cunningham
http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/bjork.html
please remember to post yr link to yr favourite music video and a par about the reasons for your choice
to get things rolling here is mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjAoBKagWQA
Björk··All is Full of Love
released April 1999
commissioner Paul McKee at One Little Indian, UK
PRODUCTION
company Black Dog Films
director Chris Cunningham
producer Cindy Burnay
director of photography John Lynch
production designers Chris Cunningham, Julian Caldow
art director Chris Oddy
model effects Mattes & Miniatures
robot design Chris Cunningham
robot builder Paul Catling
robot model assistants James McKeown, Liam Williams
I like the way that the performance of the robot captures the key tropes of Bjork's persona: cool, high tech, experimental but also infused with an odd sense of pathos and a real vulnerability. Its one of Chris Cunningham's most eloquent music video conceptions and is far clearer than his own statements about it eg:
"When I first heard the track I wrote down the words 'sexual,' 'milk,' 'white porcelain,' 'surgery.' [The video]'s a combination of several fetishes: industrial robotics, female anatomy, and fluorescent light in that order." (Dazed and Confused)
"I think I mentioned that I think it should be ... something that's white and frozen, and then it sort of melts, because of love, and making love."
Chris Cunningham
http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/bjork.html
Monday 15 October 2007
MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE 2007/08
School of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policy Studies
Autumn/Spring Term Module 2007/08
Convenor: Dr. Edward Scheer (e.scheer@warwick.ac.uk)
Timetable and Room: Tue 11.00-1.00 G56
Introduction
This subject examines the places of technology in contemporary performance culture from MTV to performance art. It considers the rise of video literacy and the expanding field of digital culture in terms of the ways in which such technologies have shifted the parameters of performance and representation. It looks at questions of the convergence of performance genres and the remediation of art works and theoretical concepts such as posthumanism and cybernetics. It develops the argument that live performance forms are also mediated and therefore connected to contemporary cultural and technological change. This is a level 3 course which enables a more focussed and theoretically intensive discussion than first and second year courses. It also brings the new developments in the field of performance studies into contact with issues in media studies and reflects an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning.
COURSE OUTLINE
Part I. Autumn Term
Week 1. Introduction
- course particulars
Week 2. From slide shows to pomo.
- Performance theory reviewed
- genealogy I: early media/art experiments
- Debates in culture and technology.
- Theories of Multimedia.
Reading:
- Michael Rush ‘Media and performance’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 36-77, 78-115
- Randall Packer and Ken Jordan (2001) ‘Overture’ in Multimedia: From Wagner To Virtual Reality, New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Ltd (xii-xxxi)
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Introduction’ Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
Week 3. Liveness
- Live V Mediated performance
- Remediation and simulation
- Performance documentation
- Mediatised culture
- Marina Abramovic’s Seven Easy Pieces
Reading:
- Philip Auslander from Liveness. Performance in a Mediatized Culture, (extract of Chapter 2).
- Philip Auslander. ‘The Performativity of Performance Documentation’, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 84 Vol 28.3 (2006) 1-10.
Week 4 The Performativity of Music Video
- the emergence of music video
- the influence of music video on other performance styles in other media
- MTV and postmodernism
Reading:
- Will Straw, ‘Popular Music and Postmodernism in the 1980s’, in Sound and Vision: the Music Video Reader, eds. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 3-21.
Week 5 The Evolution of Multimedia Performance I
- genealogy II: happenings, John Cage and time-based art
- fluxus and performance art
- integration and interactivity in multimedia
Reading:
- Michael Rush ‘Video Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 78-115
Week 6 Reading week
Week 7 The theatre of images revisited
Screening: Einstein on the Beach (Robert Wilson) and Home of the Brave (Laurie Anderson)
Week 8 The new theatre of images
- Laurie Anderson, The Builders Association
- Postmodernism reviewed
Reading:
- Jon McKenzie, ‘Laurie Anderson for Dummies’ (TDR v41 #2 1997)
- Maria Shevstova from Robert Wilson Routledge 2007-09-27
- Connor, Steven. “Postmodern Performance.” Postmodernist Culture. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1989. 141-175 (141- 163)
Week 9 Dance + Virtual = …?
- the stage as screen and vice versa
- Merce Cunningham Biped with Paul Kaiser.
- Ghostcatching with Paul Kaiser and Bill T Jones
- Choreography ‘Dance Forms’ and ‘Life Forms’
Screening: Biped
Reading:
- Paul Kaiser, ‘Frequently Pondered Questions’ in Envisioning Dance on Film and Video, ed. Judy Mitoma, Routledge Press, 2002. See Paul Kaiser's website http://www.openendedgroup.com/
Week 10. Digital Dance in Australia
- Chunky Move Glow
- Company in Space Escape Velocity
Screening: Glow
Reading:
Johannes Birringer ‘Contemporary Performance/Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 361-381
****
Part II. Spring Term
Week 1. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance I
- contemporary Japanese video performance, Kyupi Kyupi, Dumb Type PH, OR and S/N
Reading:
- http://dumbtype.com/
- Cynthia Gedrich and Woodrow Hood, ‘Noise and Nudity: Kyoto’s Dumb Type’ Theatre Forum #18 (Winter/Spring 2001), 3-11.
Week 2. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance II
- Blast Theory: Kidnap, Desert Rain
Reading:
- http://www.blasttheory.co.uk
- Matthew Causey ‘The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 383-394
Week 3. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance III
- New Australian performance
- Artspace and P Space
- Monica Tikachek, The King Pins, Tony Schwensen
Reading:
- http://www.performancespace.com.au/
- Scheer, E. (2006) ‘Documents of Paradox: Negotiating Liveness in Video Art’ The Ends of the 60s. Performance, Media and Contemporary Culture, Peter Eckersall and E. Scheer eds., Sydney: Performance Paradigm. 128-35
Week 4. Video Installation and time-based art
- Bill Viola confessional video,
- Martin Arnold, Cinemnesis
- Guillermo Gomez-Pena
Reading:
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Towards an Aesthetic of Virtual Reality’ in Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
- Michael Rush ‘Video Installation Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 116-167
Week 5. New cultural media
- Hacktivism and digital politics, activist sites, flashmobs
- Digital performance
- The production of identity in Blogs and Myspace
Reading:
- Rebecca Schneider, ‘Nomadmedia: On Critical Art Ensemble’
TDR: The Drama Review - Volume 44, Number 4 (T 168), Winter 2000
- Jon McKenzie, ‘Hacktivism and Machinic Performance’ in Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture #1 March 2005 http://www.performanceparadigm.net/
- Michael Rush ‘Digital Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 168-217.
- John Potts and Andrew Murphie from ‘Digital Aesthetics’ in Culture and Technology, 66-83.
Week 6. Reading week
Week 7. Towards a posthuman performance
- Stelarc: Movatar and other actions
- Critical Art Ensemble
- What is post-humanism?
- Cybernetics
Reading:
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Cyborg Theatre’ in Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
- Edward Scheer ‘Performing Indifference, An Interview With Stelarc’ Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture. #1, (March 2005) www.performanceparadigm.net
Week 8. Performative Architectures
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. UnderScan and BodyMovies
- Diller and Scofidio: ‘The Blur Building’ 2002
- Krzysztof Wodiczko ‘Projections’ various 1991
Reading:
- Nick Kaye, from Site-Specific Art. Performance, Place and Documentation, 33-41.
- http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Krzysztof/krzy.htm
- http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/dillerscofidio.html
Weeks 9,10. Powerpoint presentations
- Individual and small group consultations with lecturer (summaries due)
- rehearsals
- Presentations and discussion
Assessment
(1) Exam (50%).
(2) Individual or Small Group Research Projects (30%)
Part I. Tuesday 15th January 2008 (Week 2, Spring Term)
Part II. Tuesday 29th April 2008 (Week 2, Summer Term)
(3) Class/blog participation (20%). This grade assesses contribution to the subject in terms of levels of preparedness and approach to activities and discussions. It includes the quality and cogency of blog postings.
Essential Reading
Philip Auslander Liveness. Performance in a Mediatized Culture
Will Straw, ‘Popular Music and Postmodernism in the 1980s’, in Sound and Vision: the Music Video Reader, eds. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 3-21.
Randall Packer and Ken Jordan (2001) ‘Overture’ in Multimedia: From Wagner To Virtual Reality, New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Ltd
Hans Thiess Lehmann ‘Robert Wilson Scenographer’ Parkett #16 1988, 44-50.
Jon McKenzie, ‘Laurie Anderson for Dummies’ (TDR v41 #2 1997).
Cynthia Gedrich and Woodrow Hood, ‘Noise and Nudity: Kyoto’s Dumb Type’ Theatre Forum #18 (Winter/Spring 2001), 3-11.
Paul Kaiser, ‘Frequently Pondered Questions’ in Envisioning Dance on Film and Video, ed. Judy Mitoma, Routledge Press, 2002.
Johannes Birringer ‘Contemporary Performance/Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 361-381.
Matthew Causey ‘The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 383-394
John Potts and Andrew Murphie from ‘Digital Aesthetics’ in Culture and Technology, 66-83.
Rebecca Schneider, ‘Nomadmedia: On Critical Art Ensemble’
TDR: The Drama Review - Volume 44, Number 4 (T 168), Winter 2000.
Nick Kaye, from Site-Specific Art. Performance, Place and Documentation
Gabriella Giannachi, Virtual Theatres: an Introduction London: Routledge, 2004
FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
- Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture http://www.performanceparadigm.net/
- http://www.realtimearts.net/
- http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/
- http://www.billviola.com/
- http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/toc/tj51.4.html
Back issues of the following journals can sometimes provide some interesting essays on specific artists and their work:
High Performance
TDR: The Drama Review
Performance Research
PAJ Performing Arts Journal
Theatre Journal
New Theatre Quarterly
Theatre Research International
Autumn/Spring Term Module 2007/08
Convenor: Dr. Edward Scheer (e.scheer@warwick.ac.uk)
Timetable and Room: Tue 11.00-1.00 G56
Introduction
This subject examines the places of technology in contemporary performance culture from MTV to performance art. It considers the rise of video literacy and the expanding field of digital culture in terms of the ways in which such technologies have shifted the parameters of performance and representation. It looks at questions of the convergence of performance genres and the remediation of art works and theoretical concepts such as posthumanism and cybernetics. It develops the argument that live performance forms are also mediated and therefore connected to contemporary cultural and technological change. This is a level 3 course which enables a more focussed and theoretically intensive discussion than first and second year courses. It also brings the new developments in the field of performance studies into contact with issues in media studies and reflects an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning.
COURSE OUTLINE
Part I. Autumn Term
Week 1. Introduction
- course particulars
Week 2. From slide shows to pomo.
- Performance theory reviewed
- genealogy I: early media/art experiments
- Debates in culture and technology.
- Theories of Multimedia.
Reading:
- Michael Rush ‘Media and performance’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 36-77, 78-115
- Randall Packer and Ken Jordan (2001) ‘Overture’ in Multimedia: From Wagner To Virtual Reality, New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Ltd (xii-xxxi)
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Introduction’ Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
Week 3. Liveness
- Live V Mediated performance
- Remediation and simulation
- Performance documentation
- Mediatised culture
- Marina Abramovic’s Seven Easy Pieces
Reading:
- Philip Auslander from Liveness. Performance in a Mediatized Culture, (extract of Chapter 2).
- Philip Auslander. ‘The Performativity of Performance Documentation’, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 84 Vol 28.3 (2006) 1-10.
Week 4 The Performativity of Music Video
- the emergence of music video
- the influence of music video on other performance styles in other media
- MTV and postmodernism
Reading:
- Will Straw, ‘Popular Music and Postmodernism in the 1980s’, in Sound and Vision: the Music Video Reader, eds. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 3-21.
Week 5 The Evolution of Multimedia Performance I
- genealogy II: happenings, John Cage and time-based art
- fluxus and performance art
- integration and interactivity in multimedia
Reading:
- Michael Rush ‘Video Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 78-115
Week 6 Reading week
Week 7 The theatre of images revisited
Screening: Einstein on the Beach (Robert Wilson) and Home of the Brave (Laurie Anderson)
Week 8 The new theatre of images
- Laurie Anderson, The Builders Association
- Postmodernism reviewed
Reading:
- Jon McKenzie, ‘Laurie Anderson for Dummies’ (TDR v41 #2 1997)
- Maria Shevstova from Robert Wilson Routledge 2007-09-27
- Connor, Steven. “Postmodern Performance.” Postmodernist Culture. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1989. 141-175 (141- 163)
Week 9 Dance + Virtual = …?
- the stage as screen and vice versa
- Merce Cunningham Biped with Paul Kaiser.
- Ghostcatching with Paul Kaiser and Bill T Jones
- Choreography ‘Dance Forms’ and ‘Life Forms’
Screening: Biped
Reading:
- Paul Kaiser, ‘Frequently Pondered Questions’ in Envisioning Dance on Film and Video, ed. Judy Mitoma, Routledge Press, 2002. See Paul Kaiser's website http://www.openendedgroup.com/
Week 10. Digital Dance in Australia
- Chunky Move Glow
- Company in Space Escape Velocity
Screening: Glow
Reading:
Johannes Birringer ‘Contemporary Performance/Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 361-381
****
Part II. Spring Term
Week 1. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance I
- contemporary Japanese video performance, Kyupi Kyupi, Dumb Type PH, OR and S/N
Reading:
- http://dumbtype.com/
- Cynthia Gedrich and Woodrow Hood, ‘Noise and Nudity: Kyoto’s Dumb Type’ Theatre Forum #18 (Winter/Spring 2001), 3-11.
Week 2. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance II
- Blast Theory: Kidnap, Desert Rain
Reading:
- http://www.blasttheory.co.uk
- Matthew Causey ‘The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 383-394
Week 3. Case Studies in Contemporary Multimedia Performance III
- New Australian performance
- Artspace and P Space
- Monica Tikachek, The King Pins, Tony Schwensen
Reading:
- http://www.performancespace.com.au/
- Scheer, E. (2006) ‘Documents of Paradox: Negotiating Liveness in Video Art’ The Ends of the 60s. Performance, Media and Contemporary Culture, Peter Eckersall and E. Scheer eds., Sydney: Performance Paradigm. 128-35
Week 4. Video Installation and time-based art
- Bill Viola confessional video,
- Martin Arnold, Cinemnesis
- Guillermo Gomez-Pena
Reading:
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Towards an Aesthetic of Virtual Reality’ in Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
- Michael Rush ‘Video Installation Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 116-167
Week 5. New cultural media
- Hacktivism and digital politics, activist sites, flashmobs
- Digital performance
- The production of identity in Blogs and Myspace
Reading:
- Rebecca Schneider, ‘Nomadmedia: On Critical Art Ensemble’
TDR: The Drama Review - Volume 44, Number 4 (T 168), Winter 2000
- Jon McKenzie, ‘Hacktivism and Machinic Performance’ in Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture #1 March 2005 http://www.performanceparadigm.net/
- Michael Rush ‘Digital Art’ in New Media in Late 20th Century Art, 168-217.
- John Potts and Andrew Murphie from ‘Digital Aesthetics’ in Culture and Technology, 66-83.
Week 6. Reading week
Week 7. Towards a posthuman performance
- Stelarc: Movatar and other actions
- Critical Art Ensemble
- What is post-humanism?
- Cybernetics
Reading:
- Gabriella Giannachi, ‘Cyborg Theatre’ in Virtual Theatres: an Introduction
- Edward Scheer ‘Performing Indifference, An Interview With Stelarc’ Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture. #1, (March 2005) www.performanceparadigm.net
Week 8. Performative Architectures
- Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. UnderScan and BodyMovies
- Diller and Scofidio: ‘The Blur Building’ 2002
- Krzysztof Wodiczko ‘Projections’ various 1991
Reading:
- Nick Kaye, from Site-Specific Art. Performance, Place and Documentation, 33-41.
- http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Krzysztof/krzy.htm
- http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/dillerscofidio.html
Weeks 9,10. Powerpoint presentations
- Individual and small group consultations with lecturer (summaries due)
- rehearsals
- Presentations and discussion
Assessment
(1) Exam (50%).
(2) Individual or Small Group Research Projects (30%)
Part I. Tuesday 15th January 2008 (Week 2, Spring Term)
Part II. Tuesday 29th April 2008 (Week 2, Summer Term)
(3) Class/blog participation (20%). This grade assesses contribution to the subject in terms of levels of preparedness and approach to activities and discussions. It includes the quality and cogency of blog postings.
Essential Reading
Philip Auslander Liveness. Performance in a Mediatized Culture
Will Straw, ‘Popular Music and Postmodernism in the 1980s’, in Sound and Vision: the Music Video Reader, eds. Simon Frith, Andrew Goodwin and Lawrence Grossberg, 3-21.
Randall Packer and Ken Jordan (2001) ‘Overture’ in Multimedia: From Wagner To Virtual Reality, New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Ltd
Hans Thiess Lehmann ‘Robert Wilson Scenographer’ Parkett #16 1988, 44-50.
Jon McKenzie, ‘Laurie Anderson for Dummies’ (TDR v41 #2 1997).
Cynthia Gedrich and Woodrow Hood, ‘Noise and Nudity: Kyoto’s Dumb Type’ Theatre Forum #18 (Winter/Spring 2001), 3-11.
Paul Kaiser, ‘Frequently Pondered Questions’ in Envisioning Dance on Film and Video, ed. Judy Mitoma, Routledge Press, 2002.
Johannes Birringer ‘Contemporary Performance/Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 361-381.
Matthew Causey ‘The Screen Test of the Double: The Uncanny Performer in the Space of Technology’ Theatre Journal 51.4 (1999) 383-394
John Potts and Andrew Murphie from ‘Digital Aesthetics’ in Culture and Technology, 66-83.
Rebecca Schneider, ‘Nomadmedia: On Critical Art Ensemble’
TDR: The Drama Review - Volume 44, Number 4 (T 168), Winter 2000.
Nick Kaye, from Site-Specific Art. Performance, Place and Documentation
Gabriella Giannachi, Virtual Theatres: an Introduction London: Routledge, 2004
FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
- Performance Paradigm Journal of Performance and Contemporary Culture http://www.performanceparadigm.net/
- http://www.realtimearts.net/
- http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/
- http://www.billviola.com/
- http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/toc/tj51.4.html
Back issues of the following journals can sometimes provide some interesting essays on specific artists and their work:
High Performance
TDR: The Drama Review
Performance Research
PAJ Performing Arts Journal
Theatre Journal
New Theatre Quarterly
Theatre Research International
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