I found the article "Is There Love in the Telematic Embrace" by Roy Ascot to be incredibly philosophical. I am not quite sure how to relate the ideas/aesthetic philosophies to my work yet. I am interested in however the idea of the viewer as an active participant rather than a passive recipient in regard to viewing/experiencing a work of art. Ascot explains his theory of the passive viewer (and artist as creator) on page 336. He states " This is the model that has artist as sender and therefore originator of meaning, and the artist as creator and owner of images and ideas, the artist as controller of context and content. It is a model that requires, for its completion, the viewer as, at best, a skilled decoder or interpreter of the artist's "meaning" or, at worst, simply a passive receptacle of such meaning." As a response to this statement I feel somewhat conflicted. On one hand, the idea of viewer as passive "decoder" is depressing. On the other hand, the idea of artist as sole creator seems legitimate. It seems that interactive art calls for a re-negotiation of "power" in the art making process - a sort of socialist view of creating. I don't have a problem with art being interactive, but I also don't have an issue with the artist taking control of his/her project in order to put forth an autonomous creative voice. The article did prompt me however to think about how I might make my work more interactive. In my studio practice I seem to be concerned about the messages my viewer receives via the clues/hints, whatever, I place within my work. This is somewhat unsatisfying to me and I would like the viewer to experience the work in a more free-form way and not be burdened by the task of "decoding" the messages I feel at times obligated to encode. I feel my video piece accomplished this task primarily because it was more straight-forward and immersive for the viewer. I think scale may contribute to this as well. When something is large and overwhelming, one is enveloped by the sheer massiveness and contends with this by succumbing to the "experience." When something is small and precious, we as viewers have the tendency to "look in" on something with scrutiny, as if it were under a magnifying glass. Obviously one experiences a Vermeer painting far differently than they experience the ethereal color fields of a Rothko. This will be something I feel I will contend with, in a positive way, for the duration of my career as an artist.
I was first introduced to the work of artist, Steve McQueen, last spring when I read the article, The Art of Darkness: On Steve McQueen, by author T.J. Demos. I find McQueen's work to be deeply psychological, evocative, enigmatic, and visually quite powerful. I had the rare opportunity to view one of McQueen's films at the Hirshhorn Museum during the first exhibition of Realisms in the springand was immediately hooked. I say rare because McQueen's work is often very difficult to find online. The piece was called "Bear" and it was so visually beautiful that I couldn't help but stare up at the projected moving image, enthralled, as I sat on the cold museum floor in the darkness. It was the first time that I had ever seriously contemplated working in new media.
The film Bear toys with the relationship between flirtation and aggression that takes place between two African American nude men, who wrestle each other in a ring. The juxtaposing of aggressive behavior and flirtatious intent is fascinating. I found myself oblivious to the fact that the men were nude, their genitalia blatantly exposed, as they their bodies clamored together in total s
ilence. The visual appeal of the film aids in seducing the viewer into submission. Shot in black and white, the grainy footage feels archaic, as if it was from another time period. McQueen was greatly influenced by early silent films which comes across in his work. I think the poetic beauty of his work creates an interesting dialogue in relation to the subject matter. McQueen poses questions about race, masculinity, homoeroticism, and violence in the incredibly poignant piece. He also uses himself to play one of the two "characters" raising questions of whether or not the piece can be considered a self portrait.
In working on my own film project, Balance, I felt the influence of McQueen's work who I am heavily inspired by. I was interested in creating dynamic juxtapositions to construct a sort of visual rhetoric in order to communicate with the audience. I wanted to create a visually appealing moving image as a foil to a seemingly "ugly" subject matter; a dancer's foot. I suppose I also wanted to uphold and dismantle the idea of grace simultaneously. Like McQueen, I employed the tool of large-scale projection on a flat wall in an enclosed space. I saw this as a way of enveloping the typically passive viewer. McQueen uses the same tactic as a way to enact self reflection in the audience. The absence of sound in his work also plays a vital role. McQueen states that "The whole idea of making it a silent piece is so that when people walk into the space they become very much aware of themselves, of their own breathing...I want to put people in a situation where they're sensitive to themselves watching the piece." McQueen isn't interested in the passive viewer, he very much wants them to take part in the experience he creates via film. McQueen has completed a collection of films which decisively employ specific tactics that serve his agenda as an artist and filmmaker.
Bear, a ten minute piece completed in 1993, was an early project in the timeline of McQueen's career. Besides the use of black and white and the implementation of silence, McQueen enjoys the process of interrupting the viewing process or exposing the mechanical limitations of the camera. For example in the film Catch, completed in 1997, McQueen and his sister toss and camera back and forth outside. At each interval, the camera is turned outward to focus briefly on the individual across the short distance, and then tossed into the air. The camera tumbles and all that is captured is blurred chaotic motion. The camera in unable to catch the motion that occurs between the physical catch of it, itself. McQueen repeats this tactic in the content heavy film Western Deep, 2002. The film is about the perils of South African Mining operations. Western Deep opens with an appropriate sequence. The film begins in total darkness with only the mechanical sounds of the mining equipment
serving as a soundtrack. The darkness serves as a metaphor for the way the minors spend their lives.
It is also yet another interruption of the viewing process and serves as commentary on the function of the documentary, which is in fact to document. McQueen is also careful to never actually show the product of the mining industry, gold. Instead, he shows the real product of the industry, which is the effect it has had on the people who live it.
I found the notion of interrupting the viewing experience
to be intriguing and employed it in my own work. In
Balance I interrupt the gaze of the audience on the feminine form as a way of placing the power back into realm of the subject, and not the viewer. I feel in my case it relates more to feminism than it does of course in McQueen's, who is more interested in undermining the idea of documentation and creating a metaphor for political repression. The act of "looking" or gazing is a sensual experience and there is something very tangible and alarming about dramatically interrupting it. Looking is also such an important aspect of assessing art and to interrupt it seems to undermine an academic, and patriarchal system for assessing beauty, success, and purpose.
McQueen has been an important source of inspiration for the development of my work. I continue to be fascinated with him and his voice as an artist in today's society. I hope to continue exploring new ways of expressing my voice in multimedia and have McQueen to thank for opening a door that I never knew existed for me as a means of artistic expression.
Below is a video of the artist talking about his most recent film Hunger for which is received the Camera d'Or award at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It should be noted that McQueen is also the recipient of the Turner Prize, which he was honored with in 1999.
The article titled "Responsive Environments" written by and about the digital artist, Myron W. Krueger, examines the evolution, trajectory, and applications of real-time interactive digital environments. I found the work, and more so the aspirations and philosophies of Krueger to be extremely interesting, despite any logical fallacies and conceptual holes in the work. Krueger is desperately seeking a dialogue and philosophical aesthetic for interactive media. He reiterates that the work is neither about the visual or audial characteristics and displays of the work, but rather the interactivity that the work elicits between "artist" and participant. On page 379, he even outlines that the number of participants should be limited so as to control the amount of interaction that may take place between participants, delineating further that the interaction should take place between artist and participant.
Why shouldn't the interaction take place between participants as well? The interactive "relational aesthetic" artist Tirvanija, constructs a type of an environment in a gallery to elicit responses in the participants. He cooks food which fills the normally sterile
environment with rich inviting scents and
provides food to the participants to eat and enjoy. Socialization is elevated as people become more relaxed and distracted by the sensuality of the experience. Kreuger is careful not to put too much control in the hands of the partic
ipant, which I feel is limiting to not only his research but the true character traits of human behavior - people are social creatures who seek companionship and camaraderie. Human beings are also naturally resistant to an overbearing sense of control - which is perceived as dangerous and limiting.
Control is obviously necessary to some degree however. Given the constraints of the technology, certain parameters have to be in place for the project to succeed. I suppose I find the idea of "cat and mouse" to be quite interesting and applicable to my work, though in the abstract sense. In Krueger's "Maze" participants are lured into navigating the projected maze to only discover that their journey was somewhat in vain. The maze transforms to avoid any "end Point" or success of completion on behalf of the participant. There are also consequences - if the individual steps out of "bounds", the maze reacts antagonistically to produce a type of penalty. The participant ultimately realizes that the point of the maze is simply to get the individual to interact with it - and not to create a sort of challenge that can be overcome. I like the idea of "luring" the individual to participate though I find the maze to be overly deceptive which may only increase one's resistance to technology as the feeling of being "tricked" be a machine permeates the human psyche. However, the idea of seduction is applicable to my work.
The idea of "luring" made me think back to the first exhibition of Realisms at the Hirshhorn Museum. Crowds of people clung to each other as they navigated the dark corridors of the exhibition, waiting eagerly to find what was just around the corner. I remember remarking that people were treating the exhibition like a "funhouse," giggling and bumping into each other as they stared with mouths agape at the moving images projected onto walls in black, chilly rooms. While reading the article, I thought about how I could display my work so that individuals were enticed to come and see what was producing a certain noise, or where an inviting glow illuminated from. In theory it seems quite difficult to get people to venture into a dark room and watch something of which the outcome is unknown and the subject matter is undisclosed. How long can one entrap an audience? So often people abandon multi-media pieces, especially films, before ever seeing the end of the piece. I wonder how I can lay claim to an audience for the entire duration of my film, which is fairly short in length. I suppose I have started to do this by creating an aesthetically pleasing visual piece. I wanted the film to seem as though it were from a different time period - which I find increases one's curiosity about the origin of the work. People are so curious about the past, about the way things were rather than what they will become. I hope to exploit these notions further as I take into account the importance of audience and the idea of directing audience as my project evolves.
provides food to the participants to eat and enjoy. Socialization is elevated as people become more relaxed and distracted by the sensuality of the experience. Kreuger is careful not to put too much control in the hands of the partic