video art

jim campbell

It fascinates me that Campbell studied electrical engineering and math, but clearly has an eye for composition and design.  It seems so rare the two sides of the brain intersect in such a way in a person, but when it does, the art is really interesting.  I would never think to create things the way he does, with all of the technical mechanical stuff going on.  I think my favorite works of his are his installations, especially Last Day in The Beginning of March.  Maybe I'm just drawn to things that are a bit morbid, but I really liked this piece.  I thought it especially interesting when the figure appears for a moment amidst the throbbing lights.  The piece called (I think) The End 1996 confuses me.  The statement under the work says: "This work uses a counting algorithm to generate all possible images. Any image that one can think of will eventually show up on this screen."  This baffles me.  How is that possible?  That's beyond the realm of anything I can wrap my head around.  There are so many images to think of...I don't think I understand how this piece works.  I also really like his public art; the collaborative chapel piece is beautiful, as is Scattered Light - one of his works in Madison Square Garden.  Overall I found Jim Campbell really interesting; I'd like to read an artist statement or interview or something he wrote.

piplotti rist

I'm not entirely sure how to feel about Pipilotti Rist's work.  I certainly enjoy the level of fantasy she incorporates into her short films and installations, and the vibrant colors that dominate her films - though sometimes I think this to be overpowering, which is likely the point of employing such bold images.  She is usually classified as a feminist, which I see in some of her works - like the "Open My Glade" or even "Pickelporno" but I wouldn't say she's ultra-radical or anything.  I like her earlier works better; her more recent installations are not really my cup of tea. I think that I struggle with video art because it isn't really the way my mind works, or maybe I just have a really specific aesthetic that I enjoy.  At any rate, I really do like her "Open My Glade" series - it's really interesting that it was played in Times Square, and neat to watch it switch from her smush-face to an advertisement.  I enjoy that.  There's just something about the whimsical nature and colors of her newer installations that doesn't appeal to me. I would be interested to see her feature film, though - Pepperminta.  She's one of those artists I think I need to spend more time with to really get what she's doing or have a concrete opinion about it.

performance

I wanted my performance to speak to the idea that technology - especially social technology - is consuming our lives and isolating us from others.  I wanted to represent a taking back of my life from the frivolous temptations and distractions such technology can offer. 

concrete music

As far as most of my research was concerned, a French fellow named Pierre Schaeffer pioneered the concrete music "movement".  Its public debut was in 1948 at a concert in Paris.  As a result of new technology full of possibilities, namely a tape recorder/player, though the very first concrete musicians used record players and mixing boards, people began experimenting with the ways they could use such technology to create something new.  Concrete music is not by any means restricted to the use of traditional instruments - many musicians would use common objects, like we saw in the video in class with bottles and a box of gravel.  Anything that made an interesting sound could be recorded and collaged back together with other sounds to create a song of sorts.  Some of them are more melodic than others, though it seems there is generally a pretty strong influence on some sort of rhythm, albeit an unconventional one.  Anyway, after he first played his music for the public, Schaeffer went on to form various groups focused on furthering this musical experimentation.  The longest-lasting group was called Groupe de Recherches Musicales; as far as I found, the group still exists.  Using record players, recorders, mixing boards, and microphones, these musicians experimented and refined the budding musical concept.  When magnetic tape came out, I believe in 1949, it created many new possibilities for concrete musicians.  Essentially, concrete music was the analog precursor to electronic music.  Then, musicians would have to create all of their own sounds and recordings, and today, with so many complex computer programs, musicians can search databases to find the sounds or instruments they want. 

"looks like an alien and sounds even weirder"

I've got a soft spot for that Klaus Nomi fellow, and I'm not sure why.  Perhaps it's the singing voice, maybe it's because he seems somehow a little reserved, maybe because I know how he dies in the end of his story.  But damn, talk about range.  I'm floored. I don't really think he sounds "weird" either, I just liked that quote.  Something I found that I thought was interesting was that after their SNL performance, Klaus was so taken by Bowie's funky "tuxedo" suit that he had one made for himself.  He wore it a lot, too, until he started getting sicker and went back to performing mostly operas and wearing his baroque costume. 

While Klaus was highly publicized as one of the first celebrities to die of AIDS, Bowery kept his own battle silent so that his illness didn't overshadow his work.  It seems to me like Bowery had a pretty rough go of it most of his life, despite a few bright patches here and there and some incredibly brilliant work.  He had some deeply rooted insecurities that he never really was able to shake.  The way he dealt with this was what led him to create much of what he did.  Rather than trying to hide from the world, he threw himself in its face, and used his outlandish costumes to distract from what he didn't like.  I think his costumes are pretty fantastic; really really interesting, but some of his performances are a little contrived.  I have yet to check out any of his short-lived band's music, but I intend to; I'm pretty curious.

I'm in love with Laurie Anderson.  I don't really know what else to say about her.

Joseph Beuys is seriously interesting to me.  Everything about his work is symbolic or has a personal meaning, and I like that.  With his sculptures, it's the materials he uses that have deeper meaning.  His performances are really what I enjoy, though.  Something I found interesting: we discussed in class that Beuys refused to come to America while the Vietnam war was happening, and I read that when he actually did come, he never really set foot on American soil.  He wanted it to be a totally isolated experience, and was driven in a veiled car to and from the airport directly to the gallery.  The only physical contact he had was with the coyote (which he hugged at the end of the performance).  Love it.  Really interesting guy.

xerox project