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.

"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

(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.

whoops! Tried to post a picture and a video in last blog but it didnt work. Here are some pictures now hopefully but you'l have to follow a link to the video as i cant seem to save it...

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.

'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.

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.