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.

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.