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video and intermedia: remarks on their relationship

When reading Foster's article, the concept that resonated with me the most was how video is an extension of ourselves. As human beings, emotion is elicited easiest when we are watching things that relate most directly to ourselves. This is demonstrated when studying the difference between watching a film in which a group of aliens or other creatures is destroyed vs. watching a movie about the Holocaust or a different human to human genocide. We clearly care much more and are much more emotional about the latter. Foster claims that video "has been characterized as an extension of the nervous system," and that "if one uses an extension of one's self rather than as an extension of one's notion of art, cannot avoid confronting problems in areas in communication, information, and meaning." I took this to mean that a big part of the power of video is that it's similarity to our everyday lives makes it relatable on both an artistic an non-artistic level, to people with all types of artistic backgrounds. I can stare at a work by Jackson Pollock for hours and derive little to no meaning, but when watching a film with real life emotion and characters, it is nearly impossible to get absolutely nothing out of it.

Negatively, use of video in society is changing our perceptions on what normal life is, and raising our expectations. This reminded me of a quote from a novel I read recently, which I posted below.


"We were the first human beings who would never see see anything for the first time. We stare at the wonders of the world, dull-eyed, underwhelmed. Mona Lisa, the Pyramids, the Empire State Building. Jungle animals on attack, ancient icebergs collapsing, volcanoes erupting. I can't recall a single amazing thing I have seen firsthand that I didn't immediately reference to a movie or TV show. A commercial. You know the awful singsong of blase: Seen it. I've literally seen it all, and the worst thing, the thing that makes me want to blow my brains out, is: The secondhand experience is always better. The image is crisper, the view is keener, the camera angle and soundtrack manipulate my emotions in a way reality really can't anymore. I don't know that we are actually human at this point, those of us who are like most of us, who grew up with TV and movies and now the Internet. If we are betrayed, we know the words to say; when a loved one dies, we know the words to say. If we want to play the stud or the smart-ass or the fool, we know the words to say. We are all working from the same dog-eared scripted. It's a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless automat of characters. And if all of us are play-acting, there can be no such thing as a soul mate, because we don't have genuine souls.” 

― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl"


Yes, I am overreaching a bit by taking the article in this direction, and I most certainly think that the author of the novel was taking things a bit too far as well in the excerpt above, but the idea is something to consider. Foster mentions it in the article as well, when he talks about the fact that we can "no longer distinguish between ourselves and TV-type technology. This to me is both a positive and negative effect of the medium. The negative parts were discussed above and as far as the positive attributes go, yes it is much easier for an artist to assure emotion will be elicited from video, but is "art" supposed to be easy?


- Cara Kessler

Breanna's Response to Foster Reading

One thing that stood out to me in Foster's reading is his emphasis on "generic intentions" that can be found under the broad use of "intermedia."  When looking at film specifically, I've always found the most challenging part of analysis was to understand why the director gave me this shot versus that other potential shot, or why did the director zoom in here or pan out there--all of which are indeed "generic intentions" to help guide us through the film's underlying message.  And although heavy speculation can never lead to one correct answer to what an artist's intention is, I think Foster makes an interesting point that art should never be considered random at all.

However, below I've posted images of pieces of art where I have had trouble finding any "generic intention" Foster speaks of...images in which I have found it easy to call attention to its unbending sense of randomness (of course without Googling other people's impression of it first).  Can you speculate on each of these artists' intentions?

Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain"

Chris Burden's "Urban Light"

Banksy's "Telephone Booth"

Response to "Video and Intermedia: Remarks on Their Relationship"

Intermedia, as defined by Foster, would appear to be a medium that "serves as a vehicle through which a variety of 'generic intentions' can be processed." The processing of the "generic intentions" is meant to allow for discussion outside of the piece in question. Intermedia is meant to act as a bridge between the art world and the real world. With video it is easier to enable a discussion that doesn't consist solely of comments on the piece or the art world. There is more time to make an impact with a video and promote the agenda, political or otherwise, of said video. That being said, Banksy's work Cardinal Sin (below) is intermedia without being a video due to its ability to evoke a discussion that truly lies outside of the art world in the real world, blurring the line between the two and touching upon a deep issue.

Foster Response

I was surprised and confused at first by Foster's definition of "intermedia." When I first saw the term, which I was previously unfamiliar with, I figured it referenced some blending of multiple mediums. For example, the blending of film and music to make a movie. But Foster made his point clear to me with the following statement, "At its best, it is more a question of finding a means (in this case video) of motorizing ideas and expectations in different areas of activity." (Page 63) "Intermedia" thus becomes a special medium which engages with themes beyond its own materiality. Film does not only seek new ways to invent itself through techniques of cinematography and editing, but it also engages with social issues outside its realm. It is the latter which makes it intermedia, the seamless blending of artistry and social criticism.

It was interesting to me when Foster claimed, "the effectiveness of intermedia isn't unlike the effectiveness of a human being and this is why video, especially, has been characterized as an extension of the nervous system." (page 64) I understand his point here, as film often takes a personal and human tone when it touches on emotional problems. Film acts as a sort of super medium, offering not only an aural and visual experience, but also a narrative experience. It can tell a story, and use its aural and visual methods to intensify its meaning. When this is done effectively, its as if the audience is being told a story by a human being. He goes on to reference how Breder's work became less of a representation of his "art consciousness" and more of a display of his "world consciousness." In this example, the art becomes even more human, and cannot help but reveal personal opinions. Foster touches on this, stating "It can't, that is, avoid being socially relevant even if its relevance is achieved inadvertently."

I believe that statement to be true, and it is hard to find a video or film (the medium of film being a prime example of intermedia) that does not reveal something about the director, writer, or producers world view. No matter what the film discusses, there are often deeper social issues being touched upon, even if they are subliminal. One good example of this is last summers "The Dark Knight Rises." Being a recent movie, there are no good clips that exist online yet. To summarize, most of the film revolves around the villain's attempts to dissolve both social classes and the government. Watching the film, its hard to not be reminded of recent political and social issues such as the Tea Party Movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Depending on who you talk to, some claim director Christopher Nolan was using the film as a means of bashing the Tea Party, others argue he was criticizing Occupy. While Nolan has rejected both views and claims the film is neutral and simply meant to tell a story, its impossible to watch this film and not find evidence of social criticism. This displays Foster's description of intermedia closely. Nolan couldn't help but interject his social views into the film, even if they weren't on purpose. The film delivered its messages with a  human emotion that ventured outside of the boundaries of its medium. It dealt with real world social issues, rather than issues pertaining only to itself (i.e. what is film?) Thus, "The Dark Knight Rises serves as a good example of what Foster describes as intermedia.

Keenan's Response to Foster

While reading Stephen C. Foster's "Video and Intermedia: Remarks on their Relationship", I found it interesting Foster attempted to define "intermedia" by distinguishing it from "multimedia". Foster seems to say that while multimedia simply means a combination of different mediums, intermedia has a specific function. The function of intermedia is to facilitate discussion, but not discussion that is limited to the piece itself, and not even discussion that is limited to what the piece says about art. Art is powerless when it speaks only about itself and about the art world. From how I understand it, Foster seems to suggest that the function of intermedia is to act as a liaison between the audience and the world consciousness so that it can facilitate a political discussion. Like Duchamp's "Fountain", the merit of the art is not in its substance, but in its relationship between the viewer and the viewer's environment.

The video I've posted is of The Beatles' "Revolution 9". I'm not sure if this would qualify as intermedia, but the concepts presented by Foster do relate to this song. Musically, "Revolution 9" is questionable. However, as I understand it, the function of this song in Lennon's mind was to represent a political revolution in the medium of music. The song creates a musical link between the listener and the concept of revolution. The purpose of the song is not to be a catchy tune, but is instead to facilitate a discussion about an idea outside of the musical domain.

Keenan

Response to "Video and Intermedia"

One thing that primarily stood out to me in Foster's reading was the idea that video is an extension of ourselves. In this part of the article, Foster references McLuhan's idea of an "anti-environment", which I wanted to learn more about. Through this article, I learned that an anti-environment redefines what art can or cannot be by destroying stereotypes and reminding us that technology can still be considered art. While the medium of video may not fit the classic, assumed definition of "art" so much as a painting or a photograph might, it must still be considered art because someone created such a video with their own thoughts and ideals behind it. Therefore, I agree with both Foster and McLuhan in that an artist is a person "in any field... who grasps the implications of his actions and of new knowledge in his own time". Whether a project is more scientifically inclined, or more humanistically inclined, it is still a piece of art because it reflects an aspect of the person who created it.

Another part of Foster's article that stood out to me was his claim that "video criticizes and video cultures". Video is always socially relevant. This immediately reminded me of the video we watched in class of the man who, in front of a large audience expecting him to play classical music, simply sat in front of his piano and did nothing. We had a short discussion in class about whether or not we could consider this video art. Though at the time I disagreed about the video being a legitimate piece of art, I think Foster's article proves that the video is, in fact, art. That video challenged us to think from different perspectives and imagine how a certain culture in our modern society would react to such a situation. It made us laugh, but it also frustrated us, and we became critical of both the man in front of the piano, and the audience that assumed he would actually be playing it. The video may not a form of "aestheticized communication", as Foster puts it, but it is most certainly "art that communicates", in that it speaks to us and challenges us to think in different ways through both criticism and observation.

(Also, this is Isabel- I'm not sure why my username is UR123, but if anyone knows how I can change that, I would very much appreciate it!)