Bill Viola and Matthew Barney

Today's class we watched two documentaries on more current and influential video artists. I found Bill Viola interesting in how he integrated nature into almost all of his works. I love how he used the works of Giotto to inspire him in his works. He said in the documentary that the works of Giotto seem theatrical, which is something that I've never noticed before but after hearing him say this completely agree. The theme of life and death was emotional in the way that he brings his mother dying into his works that clearly is something extremely personal, however he uses the theme of nature and the cycle of life to show how when one leaves, another comes into the world with the display of the new baby and his mother on the same screen. Meanwhile his theme of water was interesting in the story of his he became inspired. It seems also tragic that he would be inspired by almost drowning as a child, meanwhile he used what he saw at the bottom of the lake to create a life-time of video art. I really liked how he used what we see everyday, such as landscape and water etc., to not only influence his works, but to create them also. Once again he is another artist that is contextualizing the world. For instance he contextualizes Giotto's frescos by bringing them to life.
On the other hand, Matthew Barney focuses on nature but through the human body. According to Barney in the documentary, he believes that "everything in the world is an extension of the body". His project exhibited in New York was all centered around the human reproductive systems of both males and females. The way he sees things is interesting in how he views the world as all coming from this one object. Or how a football field's shape was influence by the reproductive system. I loved how he was able to take one focus and make several different projects out of the theme that were all completely different but related. His video art was interesting with the costumes and performance art. His use of the female athlete was great in the sense that he completely contextualized her from what she would normally be assumed to do. Being a runner, no one would ever view her as an actor or piece in performance or video art.

Pipilotti Rist and Ryan Trecartin

Watching the videos of Pipilotti Rist and Ryan Trecartin gave a better insight to what video art is and how diverse it can be. The two artist are completely different in style, however fall into similar categories. Pipilotti Rist's videos were completely bizarre and often I had no idea what the video was about. Her videos were random however the technology she used in them created amazing visuals and art. In the video, You Called Me Jacky, I love how she superimposed a figure on top of a moving landscape in the background. It also looked like the figure was on a moving sidewalk in the way that Pipilotti created the video. Something else that I liked about the video was that she used black and white for the background and used color for the woman, therefore it gave a focus to the video, while giving a contrast to the art. I'm not sure if this video was used for a music video, but it definitely looks like it could be a music video. Another video of Pipilotti that I really enjoyed was the I'm Not a Victim of This Song. Here she placed a rope-like object on top on the sky to make it look as though it was floating through the air, however you can tell the object was placed onto the background. However I liked that she would fade the object out and then bring it in again keeping your interest. The blurry aspect of the video allowed the viewer to see the imperfections of the work, which I sometimes feel add to the art and makes it even better, especially in this case. Lastly I found that her integration of common, everyday people sitting in what looks to be a restaurant setting was interesting because she used technology to contextualize something that we see everyday and see no beauty in.
In contrast, Ryan Trecartin videos all had a story-line and a character to follow. I thought that his character in the Kitchen Girl and Valentines' Day Girl along with the characters in the K-Corea INC.K, videos were absolutely hilarious. The voice effects and movement of the camera added to the story, while was not as much video art in Kitchen Girl, as in Popular Sky. In Popular Sky, Trecartin had videos on top of one another, while he used several frames of the same scene at the same time. The way he changed his voices by speeding them up and slowing them down adding to the film when it was also sped up and slowed down. I also found that having several things going on at the same time really showed his video art ability. In this particular video he used many techniques of video art. One thing that connected his videos was the voices and his use of slowing the videos and speeding them up. I think that as an artist this may be a trademark of his, or a trait that you would see used in all of his video artworks.
Looking at both these video artists, they are completely different, however both use technology and even similar techniques to express their visions. Pipilotti and Trecartin used speed in their videos and voices in their video art, along with superimposing images on top of one another to create one visual. I find their videos inspiring in the way that they use the technology to contextualize what we see everyday or to combine everyday, random objects.

Television Delievers People

Richard Serra in 1972 created a video art piece that resembled credits of a film. As the video played, it explained sentence after sentence that television created products out of the viewer itself rather than the programs being the products. I think that the programs are used to be influences for the viewer to be inspired to create or purchase something. Today especially it doesn't really matter what the product is or how good it works, but rather how much you can sell compared to someone else. Domination is the name of the game for television. The more money you make, the more power you have, therefore the more control you have over the programs. Like Serra said, corporations are the ones who control the networks on television. Therefore the more they program a viewer, the more money they will make and gain even more control. As viewers pay more for television or even the products featured on the tv, the bigger the corporations will grow. This makes me question how much we really even like what we see. Is it the stories or is it just the products that we like. And do we even like the products, or are corporations just that good at making us think that we need this? Serra also featured a line that the consumers are paying for what they see, therefore we are paying the corporations to decide what we should watch and what we like. Are they really that good at their jobs? Personally, I would watch the performance art videos that were created by class members on tv, however corporations would never feature projects like those because they think outside the box and break boundaries, however I think the general public would absolutely love them. Serra has a great point that corporations are running our televisions and creating products from us. It really doesn't matter what they decide to put on tv, if we're paying for it they'll continue to do whatever they want. The bold, thick but yet plain font that Serra adds to his video art adds to the art because it makes you look at it without any distractions, especially since the words in this case are the art. I really liked the music that he added to the video since it was soft and gave a happy feeling to the film with the truthful words. The music reminded much of the music in the film Casa Blanca and with the black and grey background it went perfectly.

Performance Art

So the performance art was a new art piece for me that I've never done. In the beginning I have no idea what to do, nor how to even make a video. However I figured it out using my digital camera and a friend's mac that made life so much easier. The theme for my performance art was to combine my love of chemistry and art. Creating slime was a fun way to make something easy to fit in the time constraint but also to show a great basic chemistry experiment. I filmed in rescom courtyard, and since there are two pathways, everyone avoided me. They all seemed to go the long way around and stare to try and figure out what was going on. I guess it is odd to see someone performing a science experiment in the middle of an apartment complex. Although it was intimidating at first, it was a great new experience and definitely made me think outside the box in order to complete.

Please Don't Touch The Artwork

In a recent article by the New York Times, it talks about Will Rawls who is a dancer and artist that just had a performance in a local museum. While the art was meant to be an installation-type piece where the viewer is allowed to walk around and interact in order to understand the piece, there are no excuses to disrespect the art. Apparently Rawls was touched inappropriately by a viewer. I find that although the viewers are allowed to interact with the art, however there is no excuse to invade someone's person space or in this case, touch the artwork that in such a way that is not acceptable. In most museum, you are not allowed to touch the artwork and even take pictures, therefore I can't understand why someone would think that this was okay. While in performance and installation art there is always unexpected reactions, I don't think this was one of them. Unfortunately this artist and the group he works with will now have to have more security surrounding them during their pieces in order to secure themselves and the artwork. Therefore now the artwork may be inhibited due to the added security but hopefully the group can think of new ways to prevent problems such as these, while allowing their message to get through. Here's the article for those interested: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/arts/design/16public.html

Nam June Paik and More on The Residents

Nam June Paik is an innovator and creative individual that uses old tvs to create art. I loved his robots shown in class today. They are not only adorable but are amazing artistic. While there are other artists creating actual robots that can be used for daily life, Paik's robots have no reason other than to decontexturalize and appreciate the art. Another interesting artwork by Paik is the cello performance, where he created a tv bra and a cello that allowed the viewer to see the instrument as the performers wardrobe. I found this interesting because the musician puts so much time and effort into their performances, that over time the instrument becomes part of them and their life. Although his video art was great, he is also a great performance artist. One piece that I like was how he believed you didn't have to play the violin with the bow but instead dragged it behind him and then banged it against different surfaces. Once again we see artist reinventing the idea of something by taking it out of its original context, similar to sonic youth.
On another note, The Residents were presented again, but this time we got to see a live performance. I find it extremely interesting that we don't know who these people are performing. They're outrageous costumes and performance overall keeps you watching even it you don't like the music. Although their costumes are somewhat clown-like and frightening, you can see the influence that they have on today's children's characters such as on seasame street or other tv shows. They are trying to grab your attention through the soft, cute side where they are seen as very likable characters, instead of receiving negative attention. Creating a softer image allows them to reach out to several different types of fans instead of one particular group in order to sell more albums.

Electronic Music Continued...

Electronic music was continued today in class with features of a more array of cultural influences. I found the Colombian music from artists such as Toto La Momoposina, Sidestepper and El Savavin extremely interesting. Although I have no idea what they are saying since it is in a different language, the rhythm of the music catches your attention and involves you. The rhythms throughout different songs and groups could definitely be followed as the music progressed in age. While the artists are all creating new music from old, the influences can be strongly seen. Another interesting feature of today's class was The Residence, which was an experimental group where they never showed their faces. I love that they only made one minute videos because they felt that pop music was one minute features repeated over again, which I couldn't agree with more. What is the point of listening to something over and over again when you can just see and understand it in one short piece. Their influences could also been seen in artists like the Gorzillas which is a much more modern version. I think electronic music is totally a build up of what has been previously done but in the modern day, it sounds completely different due to its contextualization.

Electronic Music

Today begins the exploration of electronic music in class. The use of synthesizer was widely used in the 70s and 80s in order to create new music and push the boundaries of what music can be. I found it really interesting that one song could be used over and over again in order to create something completely different. For instance we watched the Rolling Stones song Satisfaction recreated by Dero, and Benny Benassi. Each creation was completely different from one another, however both influenced by the same work. Meanwhile songs that I have heard of before and like, were examined in a context that I have never thought of before. Depeche Mode and Nowell Vauge are artists that everyone has heard of before whether they realize it or not, however I never thought of them as contributors to an art movement. Although they were in a new music genre being explored at the time, it seemed that I was looking at the overall music of the decades rather than the music as an art piece that would influence the music we hear today. An artist like Lady Gaga is a just another artist pushing music to see what else can be created. Her influences can definitely be seen from the electronic music and style that developed throughout the 70s and 80s.

Crazy 80s Performance Art

Browsing though the works of 1980s performance artists, I found bizarre and completely new designs.  For instance the Squat Theater was something new where they had performances, movies, concerts etc. for the New York underground.  I love how they incorporated what was going on currently into what they were displaying.  The Black Generation movie featuring A. Poe, Blondie and the Ramones  definitely reflects the past, present and future.  Meanwhile, the Wooster group is extremely interesting seeing since it still exists today.  Seeing that it probably has only added on to its performances from those when it was just started in the 1970s.

Leigh Bowery however I find ridiculous and absolutely entertaining.  His crazy appeal, make-up and performances defy the limits and break them down.  What I find interesting though is that his clothing can actually be seen as influences of today's high fashion designers that are creating these out of the world like costumes for Vogue and other top profile magazines.  While no common person would wear these items, I find it hilarious that he does.  Each costume is bright and in  your face and always makes you turn and look.  The best part of the documentarywatched in class today, was the part where he was having tea in London at a fancy cafe where most rich, high profile people go.  Meanwhile he is standing there in this crazy dress, while everyone else is wearing suits and ties.  I find his really funny and he definitely gives you a new way to look at art.

Starlac, The Body is Obsolete

Starlac is an amazing artist who using technology to expand the use of the body and its functions. The robot-like designs model those that look to be in futurist movies and of outer-space contraptions. I love that his idea of using technology to work with the body is the same idea that is used in medicine. His creations, such as the virtual and robot arms are the exact designs and ideas that doctors and developers are using for amputees in order to give them back normal function and ability. The extent to which Starlac's art and its opportunities to give back mobility to individuals who have lost it in a variety of different ways is endless. Meanwhile such designs of Starlac's as the amplified body is overwhelming to think about, that one day walking down the street this monstrous robot/human could be next to you.
One interesting work of Starlacs that I found extremely interesting was the stomach sculpture. The designs of a camera to be able to go into the stomach and record what is going inside relates directly to procedures that are used in medicine today to diagnosis unknown ailments inside the body. His work makes you think outside the realm of function and appreciate the body as a work of art. Its ability to communicate with itself is beyond the human capacity to completely understand, yet our desire to know allows artist like Starlac to increase our knowledge by designing such art pieces that can double in meaning.