Monday 12 November 2007
'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.
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1 comment:
It's interesting reading those Youtube comments you mentioned, comments either support or condemn the piece entirely, and are extreme in their tone. Despite the hostility however, Youtube seems an ideal home for Baldessari's piece. That quote of his you included, ('..."Why is something art, and why is something else not art?" That I always find fascinating.’), applies more than ever in an era when anyone with a camera and access to the internet can be a video artist.
Regarding the piece itself, I like it's tongue-in-cheek approach to the question of what constitutes art because it confronts the question head on - it looks like what we popularly conceive as 'arty' (maybe because it's in black and white but equipment in existence at the time meant it didn't have to be?) and yet on initial inspection it lacks the 'depth' the public expect of art. It clearly has the desired provocative effect judging from the response by Youtube's generic angry commentators.
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