So don't forget to go to the Institute of Contemporary Art and see the 9 Channel Video Installation by Isaac Julien http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/IsaacJulien10000Waves/
by taking the green line to the Redline and getting off at South Station and walking to the Harbor along Seaport Boulevard (10 min walk). If you want to get closer you can transfer tot he Silver Line towards the airport and get off at the Court House stop. Follow the signs to the ICA. More detailed directions here. http://www.icaboston.org/visit/directions-and-parking/
You can learn more about Julien from his website http://www.isaacjulien.com/about
Considering we need to do a lot of catch up with editing next week let's all discuss this piece on the blog for this week instead of using class time for a long discussion. We can certainly continue the discussion further in class too but I want to get beyond the technical hurdles that we hit this week.
For next week, you'll find your own videos and installations to write about in galleries or museums around Boston or online at places like UBU http://www.ubu.com/film/ There are literally thousands of video's by the most prominent and important one's of our time. If you feel overwhelmed you can always ask me for suggestions. - Jeff
I went to the ICA on Sunday at 4 pm. The exhibit was on the fourth floor and since closing time was at 5 pm, I was worried about missing the show. Well, turns out that the show is continuously running and I got there near the end of 10,000 waves so it all seemed very confusing to me. After seeing it 1.25 times, I still found myself a little confused with the plot. I understand it's an interweaving of three stories, but certain visuals really eluded me (such as the behind-the-scenes green room portions mixed in). It definitely helped being able to speak Mandarin Chinese as some of the details, such as who Mazu was, were much easier to decipher in their raw untranslated form. As for the visual detail of the production, 10,000 waves was breathtaking. The careful use of panning and dollying(sp?) really made the artificial world of Ancient China seem vast and exotic. I have never seen a video art form that had such attention to detail. The 9 screens kept me, as a viewer, engaged in the scenes that unfolded before me. It kept me excited. I thought it was brilliant that the camera incorporated views of not only the actors, but of their own vision and perception on a different screen. To me, this all played nicely with the idea of interweaving the different histories and stories together, because it felt as though we ourselves were part of the film. I can't possibly imagine the amount of time and detail that was put into this production, as for the first .25 of the film I watched, I sat on a chair in the back corner and the second time I sat near the middle of the floor (trying to watch all 9 screens at the same time). Each experience and vantage point was unique. It was an incredible experience, and my only regret is arriving so late so I couldn't see more of it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-nBjFze-J4
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the video I watched for this week - "lemon" by Hollis Frampton. It was a short 4:47 minute film. The artist creates this vision of a lemon by introducing it from darkness bringing it to light. The artist then continues to use darkness and the effect of shadows to make it disappear again. This film leaves a lot of room for interpretation for the viewer. For me, I didn't really understand what makes a lemon so special. Clearly, I interpret this film in a different way than most would.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI went to the ICA on Saturday at around 2 pm to see video installation by Isaac Julien, and I have to say it was very unique and beautiful form of storytelling. The way the author projects different vantage points and how he plays with our eyes by abruptly switching from one screen to another really forces you to concentrate and keep focused. Fully utilizing the whole room by spreading the screens was definitely effective in actualizing the vastness of scale and size of the film and physically encircling you in the environment as if you are in part of the film. The locations of screens also made sense as some movements in the film progressed from one screen to another and the story flowed throughout / across the room. Showing different vantage points on different screens was interesting as it allows you to focus one specific scene that you do not necessarily and usually pay detailed attention to and shows how complex and interactive one event can be when the whole spectrum of perspectives is concerned. The mysterious, unpredictable, and confusing story and definitely the dramatic, nerve-wracking background music further make the whole experience exciting and unique, and it truly leaves you puzzled and makes you ponder and appreciate the experience. The techniques in terms of filming and editing were brilliant and there were a lot of things to be learned, especially its visual aspect, as a beginner.
ReplyDeleteI just got back from the ICA and I was truly impressed by what I saw. I found myself feeling like an installation of multiple screens was almost the only way to watch a movie or watch a story unfold. I so preferred seeing everything from multiple angles because I felt as though I was also witnessing multiple ways of thinking about what was happening in each of the stories.
ReplyDeleteI particularly loved the nature segment simply because of how enormous the landscapes were. The people became so insignificant and so taken over by the vastness of the landscapes that suddenly the whole perspective on the story, especially of the sea, started to drastically change for me. From that point on, I thought about the sea and the goddess as so much more than I had initially simply because they were bigger.
I also thought the scene with the man painting the Chinese letters was particularly striking. I had no idea what the characters he wrote were supposed to mean, but he painted them with such inspiration that I knew they meant something to him. To have them be "Windexed" off the screen merely a minute later really made me think about how something meaningful can be gone in seconds without everyone that was supposed to notice it, noticing it. The thought made more sense in my head, really, but I guess I just was thinking of everyone coming across the scene seconds after the characters were erased. They would have never known the characters ever existed. Interesting.
All in all, I really felt the passion that was put into this work of art. It was clearly time-consuming and well thought out and I loved how much of it was left to silence -- left for the viewers to interpret it as they wished. I think there's such confidence behind that, coming from the artist. To put such time and effort into something and to include such minimal dialogue or just speech at all is really quite daring. At the same time, it's intelligent on yet another level because it helps the piece be more interactive.
Really beautiful.
These are words, short phrases that I jotted down while at the exhibition:
ReplyDeleteEmigration
Physical and cultural dislocation
The changing of screens the screens telling different stories add to the dislocation
-one moment the camera was turning at the canopy
"Home is a bowl of spice to those who cup it right" - interesting quote
Why did he show how he did it too with the green screen? - answer to my own question: the film was a combination of story and documentary.
He was strategic in some of the images timings and the screen they came on. There was a moment when the woman was looking across at another screen at the three men and down a path
Illusion when they wipe off Chinese calligraphy
Water the movement the light- beautiful, some screens zoomed in and some zoomed out
Screen 1 them filming
Screen two showing what they are filming ( while filming the old and the new culture)
The slow down waves almost looked fake
The sounds traveled in the room
Just as the images on the screen traveled in the room
Sade