Posts tagged video art
Ryan Trecartin – Video Artist
Apr 30th
Wasn’t expecting to be interested after Pippi, but Ryan Trecartin’s videos were more of a treat. Packed with crazy, bizarre, weird, uncommon, wild, and strange visuals, I was able to make something out of the one video I saw. And yes all those synonyms can describe his video art.
“A Family Finds Entertainment,” is the video I watched. Crazy crazy again, but the one element I liked was how he makes fun of the modern teenager with all the tantrums they throw.
“I’m not sixteen anymore… but I feel like I’m five! with sunglasses on…”
I feel that those words, as funny as they sound, are exactly what parents hear when their teenage child is rebelling.
“I believe somewhere, there’s something worth dying for… and I think its amaaazzziinng”
Another yet very common thing a teenager says… it makes me reminisce on when I thought I was more important than the world. But anyways, this video truly talks about what a normal family goes through in a new unconventional way. Ryan Trecartin is an interesting video artist indeed.
Pippilotti Rist – Video Artist
Apr 30th
Watching Pippilotti’s videos was the weirdest consecutive 41 minutes and 56 seconds I’ve had to endure this semester. Maybe it was an intervention from the universe the video wouldn’t play all of its 73:12 minutes, but I can say this: Technology gave this woman an interesting way of expressing herself through video art.
It started off cute and funny with “I’m not the girl who misses much.” She was playing with the speed of the video which distorted her voice to sound like a little squirrel while she was jumping up and down. It became interesting when Pippilotti played the video slow and we could feel the song as more intense rather than a comical peep show. But video art is supposed to shock. I was proved right at minute 5:59. Definitely not funny, OR CUTE… and shocking. Trying not to stand on my head to see if I could understand this better, I went on to watch a third of the entire collection.
Because it was getting very redundant and I clearly was not getting the idea, I decided to play it on the background while I read emails. After 6 minutes or so, I begin hearing a melodic guitar and the funny voice again. I switched back to the video and what do I see? I woman giving birth! Not the most welcoming sight I tell you… It shocked me enough to go back and read the title of the video. I’m not sure if this is it but when I translated it, it made the video make sense.
“Als der bruder meiner mutter geboren wurde roch es nach wilden birnenbluten vor dem braungebrannten sims”
Translated
“As the brother of my mother was born there was a smell of wild pears bleed before the tanned sims”
Yes that makes sense… and thank you Google Translator.
After this, the most interesting video came on, but I dare not comment on it. I won’t post the link to the videos either, but you have the name of the artist. So if you’re dying to see her work, go ahead and Google her. Just don’t blame it on me.
Television Delivers People – TRUE
Apr 28th
To understand my title you have to watch this video first
As a marketer, I 100% agree with what Richard Serra and Carlota Fay Schoolman say with this video art. The way TV channels make money is by selling commercial spots to advertisers. Now, how does a station charge for a slot in their airtime? It sells it by showing the advertiser how many people will be exposed to the message he or she wants to deliver. This makes us the product that TV channels sell to its customers, the advertisers. If there is more people tuned in, then the channel can charge more premium prices. This is why channels do their best effort to produce interesting content that will make people stick to the screen… Having said this, I wonder how much a commercial spot costs during LOST…
Anyways
My view was reinforced with what my professor Santiago said about how television is run in Europe in contrast to the US. For example, in the UK television belongs to the people through the government. BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation, its name makes more sense now that I know its run by the government. People actually pay a tax for TV, which makes the content different from what we are used in the US. Here we are used to see shows with that whole razzmatazz to entice people to watch because in the end that is what people want.
The power of TV is put into words with this excerpt from the video:
“There is inherent conflict between: COMMERCE, INFORMATION, ENTERTAINMENT.”
We get the news from TV, but we only get what TV shows us, and they have to have an audience in order to make money… so… the stations will only show news that will call the most of attention, in order to make money. It is a business after all. Putting biases aside, how can we rely so much on the information provided by television, if what is being shown is a lure to capture us and sell us as products.
This video art piece is one of my favorite.
In conclusion, TV produces content to be able to deliver us to their client. As an oblivious audience member, how does that make you feel?
