Metaphysical TV
Write up your impressions of the show/screening/online presentation in your video journal with reference to how the work was framed by the way it is presented:
I enjoyed the intensity and the nonsequitur like nature of the imagery combination. The found sound and found visuals are contextualised below:
“At first glance, Television seems all full of stuff and nonsense, pervaded by rigid production values and commercial interests totally antithetical to the world of the artist-filmmaker”, wrote Titmarsh. “But it’s not the institution of TV that interests us here; rather it is the breadth of spectacle, the sheer quantity of appearance that it provides. [...] From this side of the screen, from a viewer’s distance, TV need only be judged as an aesthetic phenomenon. [...]”
I'm always a little disappointed by how much aesthetic is lost in the compression (in this case youtube MPEG compression). The blocky JPEG look on still frames overpowered the grainy film quality of the original work.
I don't feel like websites such as Scanlines, whilst they are amazing resources, give the best framing for the video works on them. That is maybe my bias but by presenting video art in a set context, the viewer is made to compare the work to all other works in that context. For example, video art on Youtube is asked to be seen and treated as other videos on youtube are, and that this can reduce the impact of the work.
How you are positioned as a viewer:
As a viewer we are positioned very close to the action, closer to the TV screen then is comfortable, but unlike the traditional notion of a TV we have no control over the intence cutting, often unrelated imagery.
How sound and light is dealt with:
The imagery is refilmed from a television, giving the whole work a flickering, pulsating quality. It has an intense grainy quality to the found footage. Sound and light have a low quality aesthetic of hash tones and colours.
Where the artist and their work sits in context to other video art practice local and international:
This work is very of its time (the 1980's), shot on super 8, filmed from CRT tv, accompanied by a manifesto.
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