MoMA - Marina Abramović

The Abramović exhibition at the MoMA was an overall great show in terms of display (showing her documentation and history) as well as replicating her past works, which is unusual for a performance artist. I really appreciating the theme of her work: bringing the artist in contact with the audience. Usually an artist is just a name on a work, something intangible to the viewer, but Abramović's work transcends that boundary and allows common people to interact with her. Although I'm not sure how to explain it, I can say I felt that she had an appreciation and connection with her audience. Some artists I tend to think don't want to meet the people who view their work.

One of my favorite works (of her new media type) was the video in which different women ran around in the rain exposing themselves, and men 'copulated' with the ground. At first I thought it was a bit bizarre, but I found it interesting she drew upon her Slavic heritage. The videos were aligned adjacently to each other, and they all fit together well. I didn't find the videos to be long, boring, or too abstract to watch, they were straightforward. The video of the women also captured their emotion in the same way the photographs of Abramović do, that is, with a subtly of sadness or hysteria of someone on the brink.

I understood the concept of literally acting out an old tradition of the Balkans. Though I'm not sure where she was going with it. Her other works focused on communism in Yugoslavia, so I would guess that it would go in that direction as well. One of her other works I really liked was the installation of the three rooms with the ladders made from knives. I understood it to be sort of an allegory of regimentation that the communist society forced people into. Everything from emotion to physical needs had a quota.

Whitney Biennial

The Biennial was very disappointing for a number of reasons. I found there was a lack of content and emotion that was put into the work. A lot of the work seemed to just have been placed there as if it was a in-progress viewing of the work. Although I can't say for sure, I felt a very white male presence in the selection of the artists, and the female artists seemed to have only done feminist works. Some of the work patronized other cultures, such as the video of the performer acting out a traditional African dance(Kelly Nipper, Weather Center). Not only is that not original, but it objectifies an entire population and culture. A disappointing representation of modern American art, this exhibition also features non-Americans! (whose work was the only I could appreciate).

The one work I managed to enjoy was from the Bruce High Quality Foundation, We Like America, America Likes Us
. The work was interesting in that the video projected from the front window of the ambulance, which ironically was also used as a hearse. The video displays various facets of American culture and images. I understood the work to be alarming, almost like a warning of what is to come. The hearse/ambulance, both the death and miracle of resuscitation carries American culture with it.

Even still, I didn't find anything in the Biennial that was witty, clever, or thought provoking. It was mostly straightforward, unoriginal ideas. Seeing American popular cultural images in a sequence is a cliche.

really cool sand art

Jan Švankmajer

Like Kentridge, his work isn't physical either, but I appreciate his aesthetics. His stop motion animations are physical in the sense that he uses sounds and images that are very vivid and stark. I saw one of his full feature films, Faust, which incorporates cinematic video footage with some scenes of stop motion and even puppets. I think the Faust genre is interesting, and he uses Prague as a backdrop for his modern adaption of Goethe's famous work.

William Kentridge

physical video - preliminary ideas

from my notes:

idea one.

concept: traditional painting with frame introduced in a modern way.

a textured canvas, or just a gilded frame with a video serving as the painting. it is no longer a static work made from oil paint, but a dynamic work that has the ability to change over time, and the viewer could even interact with it.

an interactive self portrait. the viewer stands in front of a camera, which projects their face into a frame, and motion and sound alter the video feed

materials :
project, frame(s), pedestal to support projector, possibly a canvas,
could utilize triggers on Isadora to recognize motion and changes in sound and affect video feed


idea two.

concept: a calligramme, use a short calligramme by Guillaume Apollinaire (who created them) and visualize it, adapting modern technology to text

i want to merge text and object, projecting a video onto porcelain slip-casted toy soldiers molded from authentic WWI era (the same war Apollinaire fought in)


literally:make soldiers from porcelain, overlay the pristine white soldiers with WWI clips with garnet-colored mask over the looping videos. i dont want any sound, just silence and looping video. well, maybe there will be some sound, perhaps patriotic songs from the era. one idea was to use a laser cutter to precisely cut out the text, or have the laser etch the text into glass or some other material and use it as a back drop and appropriate apollinaire's work. its interesting because apollinaire himself was an artist, of words, but known for his criticism and writings that made Picasso famous.


stay tuned for idea three.

The Calling of Saint Matthew - Caravaggio

Although a classical painter, Caravaggio had done something new at the time with the composition, subject, and lighting. First, he portrayed Jesus and Matthew as well as the other characters, in a very ordinary way, which enhances the importance of the situation. The high contrast lighting in particular is what strikes me, it selectively highlights Matthew, who stands out in an otherwise dark room. The lighting is artificial however, produced by Jesus' presence. The style is intriguing since the subject is a common religious painting, but the mundane depiction enhances the mysterious, subliminal quality.