Stan Brakhage - "The Garden of Earthly Delights" - 1981 - I was originally drawn to this particular piece because of the title. The Northern Renaissance painting, "The Garden of Earthly Delights", by Bosch, is one of my favorite pieces in art history (I have a very large poster version of it hanging in my dorm room above my bed). I rarely find video art work interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised by this piece. I quickly learned, however, it was almost nothing like the painting at all. It is a very short film, and although all of the "images" (for lack of a better word) are flying by extremely quickly and do not seem to make sense, they are still able to be translated as nature. I was capable of making out vague flowers and leaves and blades of grass before they were torn off the screen. Although repetitive, it was interesting. Extremely similar to collages. The way the film was arranged almost seemed violent and dark. Upon further research, I learned that not only was this film not made with a camera (but by pasting vegetation and other natural elements onto clear film), but it was meant to be shown on a projector. I can only imagine how much more intense it feels watching it projected, rather than on a computer screen. Also, apparently the film is so named because it was inspired by Bosch. Brakhage was infuriated by the painting, because it envisioned nature as "puffy and sweet" while humans were suffering and tormented. He said, "After all, nature suffers as well. As a plant winds
itself around, in its desperate reach for sunlight, it undergoes its own torments. We are not the only
ones in the world". I now suppose this is where the unexpected violence of the images came from. Also, the film is arranged in three sections, just like Bosch's triptych. Although the piece is simple, it is also entrancingly complicated and beautiful.
Dan Graham - "Performer/Audience/Mirror" - 1975 - This piece was just as interesting to listen to as it was to watch. The act performed in the video was relatively simple. The artist splits the piece into four approximately 5-minute sections. The performer stands between a mirror facing an audience. He faces the audience in the first two sections, first explaining his behavior and what it means (i.e. his foot was a bit raised, signaling he was about to move), and then explaining the audience's behavior. Then he turns to face the mirror, once again explaining his behavior and what the attitude may mean. And for the last 5 or so minutes, he continues to face the mirror and explain the audience's behavior. It seemed as though he was speaking for the mirror in a way, acting as its "oral vision". Graham was investigating perception and time-informational feedback. He has explained how he was using the piece to describe how video functions similarly to a mirror. He says, "First, a person in the audience sees himself "objectively" ("subjectively") perceived by himself, next he hears himself described "objectively" ("subjectively") in terms of the performer's perception." This piece is definitely harder to watch than Brakhage's "Garden of Earthly Delights" due to its length of upwards of 20 minutes and monotonous, almost mundane, speech. However, understanding the concept behind the piece adds to its appeal (which I feel is true for most video art, honestly), although I found it difficult to completely understand.
Bill Viola - "Silent Mountain" - 2001 - Although an extremely short piece, taking no longer than a minute, it was compelling, yet also incredibly frustrating to watch. It features two performers expressing violent agony, completely unrelated to each other. The emotion feels extremely raw and intense; difficult to observe, but easy to identify/empathize with. However, it was frustrating because it was completely silent. I was watching these actors scream but there was no sound. It was like waiting for something that was never going to come, but should have. So then I started feeling anguish as well, although not to the same extent. But I was impressed that in such a short time, the video was able to get a real reaction from the viewer (me). After researching, I learned quite a few of Viola's videos use this type of strong emotion, which the viewer has no ties to or could knowingly understand. He captures the essence of extreme displays of emotion through video. Its also interesting because although the viewer would not understand why the actor's are behaving the way they are, the viewer would be able to understand what exactly they were feeling because of their faces. All humans are able to recognize emotions displayed on faces for what they are, even if they come from opposite sides of the planet.
Dara Birnbaum - "Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman" - 1978 - I watched this video because if I were to pick favorite superheroes, Wonder Woman would definitely be in the top 5 (although I must admit I don't know all that much about superheroes or comic books, really). The piece was a compilation of imagery/clips from the TV show, focusing on the main character, Diana Prince's, spinning transformation into the mighty Wonder Woman. There are quite a few explosions throughout the piece, and most of the video is the same explosion clips repeated multiple times. I did not understand the concept of the piece while watching it, but I learned that Birnbaum was using Wonder Woman's transformation of secretarial Diana Prince to superhero Wonder Woman as a criticism of gender roles in television and the media. It seems to relate to Lacan's mirror theory as well - the ideal (Wonder Woman) versus the real (Diana Prince - secretary). Because this is the 70s, when people started looking at Lacan's work (like Krauss and Mulvey), I can only assume that Birnbaum was familiar, and may have used this theory to inspire her work somehow.
Shirin Neshat - "Turbulent" - 1998 - Displayed across from each other (or side by side on a computer screen in my case), a man is on one screen and a woman on the other. The man is facing the camera, singing to an audience of men (who are seated behind him, facing his back). The woman, contrastingly, is facing her own empty audience. The viewer is unable to see her face. The man passionately sings for approximately 3 minutes, and when he is finished, turns to his audience and begins bowing. While doing so, however, the woman begins her song - a breathy, raspy melody. The camera circulates around her so that although she is still facing the empty audience, we can see her face. He turns to face the camera and walks toward it, horror-stricken at the woman's passionate song. She continues to sing for 6 minutes or so. The piece was alluring, and almost haunting, to listen to. Through the positioning of the singers, and their audiences, I was able to understand Neshat's exploring of opposites, and of the masculine versus feminine social structure in Iran. After researching, I learned that the female singer was based on a blind woman Neshat heard while walking in Iran, which sheds even more light on the female singer's empty audience. The man is the ideal Iranian, while the woman is a rebel. He is in the theatre, properly dressed, and singing a beautiful Iranian song. While she is not only not supposed to be in the theatre, but her song is animalistic, primal, based on improvisation and instinct. Although she faces an empty audience, the men opposing her in the other screen, become her audience. The man is panicked by her release, her freedom. This was the most interesting piece I watched while writing these responses. Absolutely beautiful.
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