The Critiques

Now onto the second video...I missed the first one while trying to do something on my own computer...

I couldn't hear what the artist said but I do remember the original video where I believe it was a couple drawing on the man's back then the man tries to redraw everything back onto the paper..

In one of my classmate's version, instead of using actual straight lines the girl had incorporated more curves and points. Though what the girl had drawn did not exactly look the same as the guy's there were similar structure. There is also no biological connection, a lack of communication between both the performers, and I too agree with the artist that it initially does look easier than being done. The girl actually rather paid attention to her own drawing than the guy's, most likely because she herself was trying to create a piece of artwork. While in the original video, it was more like she had to draw the lines that lead to somewhere and it wasn't an actual art piece she was trying to recreate/create on his back. In other words, she was plainly trying to go from point A to B vs point A to B then to C and to many other ending points...

Now to the third video, an interesting piece where he filmed himself first then created a script upon watching himself ponder into space. Actually there wasn't even a script, the artist said he just watched and said what he thought instantly at the moment. To my surprise as much rambling as he had said, whatever he said seem to fit well into the motions and facial expression (if any).

Not sure which video we're on now but all I know is that What he has to say is (apparently) important. It starts off with the sentence "What I have to say is important". For sure it's important, and I definitely thought so but after a while it was literally the same thing over and over again. During each time he says his line, a different facial expression or even hand gesture of movement is different. The tone changes as time passes, which in the end creates this endless cycle of something important. Though overall, it becomes really unimportant as to what he has to say to us. He uses different way to get his point across, finger motion, some sighing within his lines to show perhaps how frustrated or even important it is for what he has to say.

...got side tracked but, finally paying attention. Shereen's video where she is redrawing this eye on paper with a tutorial playing at the same time with probably a YouTube video. Skipping on ahead, with the 2010 version of EAT originally by Andy Warhol...the artist decided to film his girlfriend eating. Except even though within our 2010 year, most of us have cellphones with cameras or whatever technology that shows that we are updated to...There's this private space invasion that she gets from an inhuman object. I wonder what happened if the camera was hidden? Or perhaps he asked beforehand and that it was really for a project. Would she question while being filmed? Will she be more cautious how she eats?...anyway the video ended up having the couple get into a fight and the girlfriend tried to grab the iPhone...

The (Semi) Open Book?

For the final project #2, I decided to remake Vito Acconci's Open Book. This was also the piece where I was originally going to use for my presentation..

I thought of different concepts or ideas that could enhance the meaning or even change the meaning of the original.

One was to speak with my mouth clenched together. Not only that, I was planning to speak to the viewers in a way where I would not want to be friends with them. Trying to seclude myself from the camera/viewer. Similarly, I felt that if I was to use such an idea I thought it could create a rather opposite effect. Instead of being entirely "open" it's semi open where I try to project the same thing as Acconci did.

The second idea was to again clench my teeth together or you could even say it is semi opened/closed. I was contemplating whether my speech could be clear or fuzzy like the original...Clear would for sure give off a more open invitation vs Acconci's 'open invitation'. However, there is one problem that if I leave my mouth semi opened/closed it doesn't really show the opposite effect to be "closed". It's a rather mere wording of the video's title and literally what I am doing rather than it actually being a "closed book".

In the end, I ended up doing the initial idea to try to repeat and imitate his speech if I remember any at all and project it through the semi-opened/closed mouth of mine. I think the clenching of my teeth is in fact effective to still give off an uninviting welcoming even though I want to be friends with whoever watches my video..

So a horse walks into a bar...

So as I looked through my blog today after posting, I decided to click on one of the real-time twitter search for the 'videoart'.

I clicked the first one on the list:



To be more specific, it is this link

After watching the vimeo video in the link above, I definitely did hear the "There is much more in heaven and earth" part when the video sped up and some words gradually became so minuscule it would just skip onto the next word. I still wasn't sure what it meant, so I scrolled down below the video. I read something about a horse walks into a bar exhibition and clicked the link. Read the article and decided to look at what was so humorous about the video of "a horse walks into a bar". Originally it was about a man walking into a bar and throwing his hat up, followed by two other men who did the same, then 25 men coming in and again throwing their hats up. I was curious to see rather than to read about it, so I tried to look through YouTube for the video and instead I came to a Family Guy video . I figured, perhaps it was more about the joke itself where it has been said many times, and there are so many variations to how it could be said or what could be said.

Relating back to the video though, I guess it is that repetitive change and hearing of a joke that gets us laughing? Perhaps the idea of cannibalism is so surreal (as it does not often happen) it becomes nothing but a joke? Or maybe I should watch the original video of what the politician said regarding cannibalism...that will be after the break or whenever I get time after work during this week

Update V2 & Readings

So week 11 just passed and unfortunately I couldn't attend class because I am in no shape physically nor wholly able to go. Well not that I cannot walk, but I would be coughing after every other word I say. Even now if I talk I have trouble giving complete full sentences.

Nonetheless, as I continue to get better (asap) I do my best to go through readings and keep myself up-to-date with the classwork. Probably a bit late to read these pdf file from week 10 as it is week 11...it's better to go through them than skip them.

Right now in the middle of reading David Joeselit's Feedback. One big thing that appeared to me was with the whole idea of tv becoming a tool to categorize, mentally (or subliminally almost) change a person's thought/idea of something. I don't know whether I am taking it too seriously, though I know for sure that it created an impact towards the society of the 1970's to 1980's. To be able to adjust what we think about the status quo, skin colour of all kind and who is more dominant, or the idea of having more money means you have higher status, etc. Then comes the by-product that in a way is for the industry but became available to the consumers where we were able to record what was seen on the screen for our own usage (watching, remixing (if you know how), etc).

Back to the one thing that really appeared to me...

Is this one picture that showed a tv screen within the article, it says:

You are the product of t.v.

You are delivered to the advertiser who is the customer

I feel and believe that it makes sense in many ways. It is true that television is a way to communicate, it is a product that we buy to watch others, but at the same time we become the product of t.v. We become a part of a system where, most families would have a television, then from that point on the television will broadcast/view certain things that we are inclined to maybe purchase. It is like a cycle:

1. turn on tv
2. moving images and sound of commercials is viewed through the television
3. we are tested subconsciously or consciously (either or works)
4. we either make the move to change channels, ignore the commercial, or gain interest and eventually we give in

Through this cycle, we ourselves become products. We are tested to see if are tempted to know more or want more about what is shown on the television screen. We are delivered to the advertiser who is charge of handling our needs, wants, and do not wants. They control what is shown and if we as human get tempted to buy the product then the advertiser just bought our attention. They bought our needs, wants, and hopes. Wow that is a pretty scary scene. I actually always had interest in advertisements, how things are designed in a certain way to spark the human eye. It is always nice to see how it could work the other way around.

Thankfully, I do not always end up getting tempted by television. I don't watch a lot of t.v. cause instead it's all being seen online (which unfortunately is another way to advertise)...however I think I can say I see through a lot of the marketing strategies or what not...

Quick Update and Week 10

I know I haven't written much in the journal blog vs the google doc that I started sharing and using other peoples' thoughts upon the presentations, projects and videos we have been seeing in class. I think though that I will probably pause on the google doc for now and refocus back on the blog to speak my thoughts into text.

Now into Week 10.

At this moment, while class is starting and in session I am compressing my phenomenal experiment video because I figured it's way too big (12 GB) for transferring to the main mac where Marc can check the videos out...

Video: Vito ACCONCI - Prying
Guy trying to open the eyes of a woman. However, the woman is resisting the power of the man. Looking back in the past, women were seen less compared to now. Showing resistance, the woman shows how she can be in control as she looks calmer compared to the man. The man is just using so much physical force it personally for me makes me feel some pity for the man rather than the woman. Perhaps, this somewhat shows the history of what woman have gone through before the feminist movement came to life. They have been resisting, shows it is not pointless to go against the way of what was culturally seen because it shows how hard men would have to try to gain control over (what they see women as, aka objects).

No voice were used in this performance as well. Neither male or female spoke to show the struggle they are having to either pry open the eyes or to keep the eyes shut. At the same time, neither used their voice to show resistance or to overpower to other. There is an quality here that somewhat shows between the male and female as neither of them use their voices to have more control. The way the artist filmed too was important because if it was focused more on the man than woman then it would actually feel like the woman has less power. The focus emphasizes the gender's power rather than struggle, and within the past and probably even now it would make more sense to focus it on the female since it still happens now.

Video: Martha ROSLER - Secrets From the Street: No Disclosure

Probably a video that didn't interest me as much or maybe I just didn't understand too well about what it was about. All I have is that it's about graffiti within San Francisco. Of course not just about that, but how it is being seen with other people and other artists. About society, how we view each other, what represents the place (like Toronto has graffiti walls as well that are remade or made for an actual graffiti festival), the race of humans expressed (especially in the video shown as it showed stories? Pictures?) some sort of meaning.

Random notes I took during this time:
- How is art seen within the society?
- Make art that could actively resist to some big meaning...
- With capitalism expanding, in some ways it lessens our ways of creating or spreading art even within the digital world
- Such as copyrights, creative commons, etc.

Phenomenal Experiments (P.E): John Lilly
- filming someone painting
- there's a subjective/bias feel from the camera even though you are trying to view someone making a piece of art
- the person behind the camera is a piece of art as well?
- adjusting focus, frames, etc.
- I understand what the artist (him and not his sister) is trying to do and does take away the idea of how it is subjective on the painter. The motion or adjustment one makes with the camera, it becomes more about the filmer than the filmist (if that made any sense whatsoever)

P.E: Adam Brandon
- filming the area of his house?
- same atmospheric noise, sounds like something is hovering
- Shows the history/past of the artist through the awards/certificates
- noise in the background (most of the time), oh and right at this moment he films outside
- Perhaps the everyday life of this artist? The kitchen, the living room, tv, outside...
- a shot was filmed right by the window where it showed a reflection of the inner area, a space that composited of both the outer and inner vicinity. Creating extra space, or to dream/hope to have that space?
- Looks like a surveillance camera during partway too...
- losing track of space

P.E: Romaine Loftman
*will be filled out when I get home*

P.E: Stefania Medryk
- filming herself (directed at her face) drawing/sketching
- distracted by people around her even though she secluded herself within her own world already with music in her head
- two performances at the same time
- distress shown through several moments during the two performances collide each other in real time
- hard to see emotions shown through facial expression as he head is down
- some body/head motion is made though that shows distress (slouching back, looking to the side, away from her sketches)
-

The Eating Utensils

During week 2's class we looked at several videos but the ones I remembered the most was the knife and the one where there's like a spoon balanced on something or whatever. Ironic how I said the ones I remembered... In the videos, all camera angles/views were pretty much stationary and one other that included some simple zooming of in and out. They were focused on more of the performance that was/is suppose to happen than as if it was a first person view of someone's or what not.

I don't remember the particular order of when it was shown but I guess starting with the knife will do:
- a stationary knife
- colour of the knife would change from time to time like a magic trick
- most likely the colours were produced by light shining onto it
- it felt like I was watching a sort of a magic trick as each colour would drain in and out instead of just 'disappearing'
- a feeling of expanded/extended time was added onto it because of the repetitive motions of the colour change
- at the same time, it felt like it was suspenseful because you didn't know what colour it would become and when it would change
- the change was made behind the camera as the object remained stagnent as the focus was on about the change of colours instead

The second video had a name but I don't really remember. In short, I guess about household items:
- the most memorable clip though was the ice on the spoon I believe
- ice was melting, causing the spoon to lose balance on like an edge of some sort
- water would drip down to the center bottom of the spoon in an intriguing way
- it was very suspenseful as it played with the simplicity of the objects
- from what I remembered, at the end the spoon lost balanced and dropped as the ice turned into water
- the simple play of household items were the focus
- everything was actually in front of the camera vs the above video where everything was performed behind

Just remembered another video while typing...
The one where it pans slowly in a hallway forward into the end. People were eating but in a really slow motion because it was filmed where I believe some of the frames were skipped or repeated. It gave off a very hallow atmosphere, it was super slow with it's motion. Perhaps to some point even unbearable with it's speed as it was not exactly synced with my own expectation of what the reality time was like. It also showed some people in it eating lunch, very slowly and they did not look too happy. A weary environment the workers were in especially showed/seen by the long duration.

Synchronism

When thinking about the word synchronism, I think about the syncing process of my iPod while connecting to my MacBook. Synchronism, to sync and to make sure it matches with both parties (in this case the iPod and my MacBook).

In a more conceptual way that perhaps is less of the physical form, I think the way we interact in life with others create synchronism. Similar to my post before, about the way how I think a lot of us are "programmed" like. We are synced in the same ways, to study, get good grades, graduate and head into our career, then repeat process if job has not been found. We seem to get our of sync when we lose balance with life and studies, either or takes over and everything just becomes a chaos.

I often get a sort of synchronism with the world around me. My senses reassures that I am in the real world, in the same time, alive and well. Though there are times when I feel awfully out of sync. It happens when I stare at a screen for too long and suddenly when changing my view away from the screen everything just seems really far away. I honestly don't know what it is, whether it is more of a mental reaction that triggers such an image be seen and experienced through my eyes then to brain or really a hint that I have been spending too much time on my MacBook. It is the weirdest feeling, because when trying to grasp something that is actually really close, I feel even farther away from it.

The sync could be part of the sound and video. Where sound does not sync with the video, like watching a poorly uploaded video on YouTube or perhaps the videoart intentionally created the feel of non-synced narrative. The story rarely to no longer matches the video or sounds. There is an inconsistent flow of development in both video and sound that gives you the thought of whether everything is synchronized right.

Synchronism: the development of something that goes accordingly to the same universal scale or measurement whether it is sound/video, life/time, or senses/reality. All counts, all are inclusive, all syncs.

The Extended Duration

Week 1 has passed and looking through for what I should be doing next week... Time flew really quickly from week 1 and already week 2 is heading my way. The duration feels shorter when you first experience a new progress or schedule in your life, or maybe that's just me. Then probably after a few more weeks, it'll just feel repetitive with the same classes and similar coursework. It's like we were programmed to become uncanny, going through school like it is a must, study, eat, then sleep. Do we have control or does the whole education bounded world we seem to live in (well for those who do go to school)?

Long durations is really both mind and body compelling. Not that I yearn for long durations in my life, but there are times when things just carried away for too long. Whether it's just a simple panning within a movie or video and nothing really changes in the scene or an actual video art where everything is very settle, it creates this subtly emotionless atmosphere. Eyes perhaps get too deep into the scene and somehow it is like as if I was in a trance. Or somehow the repetitive scenes will cause my body to fiddle around, to gain some attention to something at least versus nothing. The mind would wander if there was no focus in the scene or the focused was just too stable, little to no progress where thoughts become sluggish in speed. I believe we all have limits to long duration, we are all capable of withstanding it. It just depends on the situation, the initial mindset of it all to be able to have limits or endless limitations.

I think the fact that a lot of us depend on senses to perceive (hence perception haha...), we lack the idea of what if we were to perceive our own state without the senses (which is hard). The reason is because, from baby till now we hav been using our five senses everyday of our lives. See, hear, smell, taste, and touch. All are important in the collection of being able to feel and understand the world around us. I think the time when we are most vulnerable, is when we think about the perception of our state. A time when we could be alone, silence generates around us, and our senses of the solitude or lonesome perception grasps onto us. During those times I don't think attention spans are shrinking but perhaps expanding I think. Only because the fact that there are so many things around us that becomes a distraction in our lives.

A boredom state is like when a person has no focus, sleep comes into place (aka the dozing off), or the mind has no interests in whatever that is going on in the world that surrounds us. I guess if boredom was in place, the goal expectation or narrative of something is either not interesting or it is losing the focus where it no longer becomes important or suspenseful for us to continue to watch and sense what is going on.