Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Art as a Performative Act/ The Fantasy Beyond Control Response (Sean Strelow)
The part that
really stuck out to me in The Fantasy
Beyond Control reading is when Lynn Herchann mentions how “because
viewer/participants use a nearly identical unit to direct action, a metaphoric
link or point of identification is established between the viewer and the
referent” (269). I feel like this really connects to the act of Play, something
that Klemm purports in his piece Art as a
Performative Act. It makes me think of developments in video games such as
the Wii, or arcade racing games. The objects used to input are meant to
resemble the things the characters in the game are using. So in the arcade
racing game example, the person playing the game presses a pedal for gas and
turns a wheel for direction, much like a regular car that can be seen and controlled
in the game. This provides the “metaphoric link” that Herchann references,
“between the viewer and the referent” (269). This begs the question: Are video
games, then, performance art? It seems to me like they are.
This section
also reminded me of films where we see the character on screen watching
someone, sometimes through a camera but even without, perhaps through a window
or from afar. Often, filmmakers will give us point-of-view shots to align us
with the person observing, which distance us from the person being observed. It
makes us voyeurs, much as the characters in the film are. These POV shots give
us that same metaphoric link with the character that the filmmakers want us to
be aligned with, an affect that helps shape our emotional connections within
the film. It also makes the characters more like us, the viewers; the entire
movie, we enjoy an entirely voyeuristic experience of observing people who
cannot see us. When the character does this, they enter our role. And when we
take their POV, we feel a resonance based on assuming our role as voyeur in a
more pointed sense. For example, take this clip from Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ez6dw3ywcc.
The majority of the shots are from main character L.B. Jeffries’ point-of-view,
and when he takes out his camera to zoom in, we see the blackness surrounding
the circle of his view. When the villain, Thorwald, sees Jeffries, he looks
directly into the camera, breaking the fourth wall, and thus confronting us for
our voyeurism as well as Jeffries for his. The audience and Jeffries are
aligned in their embarrassment at being caught and subsequent nervousness for
Lisa, Jeffries’ lady friend.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Artist Presentation
The artist presentation will be presented in much the same fashion as the blog posts. Each individual student will be responsible for becoming the authority on one artist. The blog post should be approximately 4 paragraphs long, including but not limited to:
1. )Background information: Facts about that artist that pertains to how and why they are currently making art. Where they grew up. What their childhood was like. Some artists have more of this info then others. Find what you can!
2.) Their origin story: How did they start off in the art world. This should pertain specifically to their artistic education - whether formal or not. Did they start off in painting then migrate to video? How did they progress.
3.) Conceptual underpinnings: What is this artist preoccupied with. What are their frequent themes and how do they explore.
4.) Progression: Talk about how far they've come. What are they doing now? Where do they show their work? How is their audience.
5.) Choose two pieces to link in your blog - an early piece and a late piece. I want you to discuss the evolution. This will mean looking at a lot of this persons work. So pick someone who has a lot of online and that you like!
Potential artist:
Marina Abramovic
Vito Acconci
John Baldassari
Pipilotti Rist
Laurel Nakadate
Bas Jan Ader
William Wegman
Kate Gilmore
Matthew Barney
Candice Brietz
Yoko Ono
Bruce Naumann
Hans Breder
Joan Jonas
Andy Warhol
Bill Viola (Sean)
Naim June Paik
David Hall
William Kentridge
Gary Hill
Carol Schneeman
Michael Snow
Valerie Export
This is not a comprehensive list of artist. In fact, this barely scratches the surface, but it's a good start. All of your research can be conducted from internet sources. Please be sure to compile a list of link for your fellow students to browse and enjoy. Please include no less then 6 links.
1. )Background information: Facts about that artist that pertains to how and why they are currently making art. Where they grew up. What their childhood was like. Some artists have more of this info then others. Find what you can!
2.) Their origin story: How did they start off in the art world. This should pertain specifically to their artistic education - whether formal or not. Did they start off in painting then migrate to video? How did they progress.
3.) Conceptual underpinnings: What is this artist preoccupied with. What are their frequent themes and how do they explore.
4.) Progression: Talk about how far they've come. What are they doing now? Where do they show their work? How is their audience.
5.) Choose two pieces to link in your blog - an early piece and a late piece. I want you to discuss the evolution. This will mean looking at a lot of this persons work. So pick someone who has a lot of online and that you like!
Potential artist:
Marina Abramovic
Vito Acconci
John Baldassari
Pipilotti Rist
Laurel Nakadate
Bas Jan Ader
William Wegman
Kate Gilmore
Matthew Barney
Candice Brietz
Yoko Ono
Bruce Naumann
Hans Breder
Joan Jonas
Andy Warhol
Bill Viola (Sean)
Naim June Paik
David Hall
William Kentridge
Gary Hill
Carol Schneeman
Michael Snow
Valerie Export
This is not a comprehensive list of artist. In fact, this barely scratches the surface, but it's a good start. All of your research can be conducted from internet sources. Please be sure to compile a list of link for your fellow students to browse and enjoy. Please include no less then 6 links.
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