Now That Everything Has Settled Down . . .

A temporary workspace for documenting my work.
Just taking a break with some Godard

This is a post-review synopsis of sorts. I apologize in advance if this starts to sound a little self-loathing.

Throughout the term, I found it really difficult to write exactly what my intentions are because I feel that putting everything into words so soon is too finite. It's too restricting. I guess I was afraid of trapping myself into one mode of working or one style. I know it's something I have to learn (Hey! It's part of "what being-an-artist" is all about, right?) but sometimes you just get caught up in that moment of working on an idea you're afraid that once you start trying to articulate the reasoning behind what you are doing, you kill that momentum. The idea becomes overworked.

It's dead.

At least for a short while. Or maybe I need to manage my work-time and my reflecting-time better. I think this term I've been let my subconscious take over most my reasoning. It doing something because it "feels right" is starting to sound lame. Not that I actually used this excuse, but it has become a placeholder in my head before I can accurately describe what I'm doing. 

For the review, I did not present a year long plan but a group of self-contained videos I made over the term. They were like exercises or experiments; a way for me to keep generating work and to help me visualize the unsettling problems I have about objects moving, changing, and leaving (or not leaving) evidence during the process. There was a general consensus that despite the different approaches to the types video works (performance, remix, appropriation, experiments), all they seem to operate within this theme or are connected with one another in some way. They're attempts to resolve problems within established facts and truths about temporal and spatial existence (mainly within video space) and multiple frames-of-reference. Filtered through my own convoluted logic, they never get resolved because they already have been by SCIENCE and COMMON-SENSE.

I think a couple times it was mentioned that there was a certain "lightness" in my work and I'm glad someone felt that way. My intention was not prove anything, but to find a way to understand and see fleeting or trivial moments. 

I Showed You Everything, 4 min, 29 sec, loop

Of course, there were comments about the whether or not the mask I wore in I Showed You Everything was necessary given my intentions of dealing with performance of action rather than of character. The idea of the mask was a load topic and I guess a part of it was a decision of a personal nature and another part was a superficial one. I still don't know how I feel about it. This video was suppose to be part of a series, but the other video didn't turn out the way I wanted. Perhaps if I completed it, the focus on the activity would be more prominent(?)

The Man Who Came Into Our House and Would Not Leave Us Alone
1 min, 19 sec, loop.

There was also a bit of concern that my work could be leaning too close towards the Supercut aesthetic, such as in Cloud Love,  The Man Who Came Into Our House and Would Not Leave Us Alone. I've never heard of "supercut" videos before but I can see the connection (although, I was more influenced by Christian Marclay's works and the idea of the meta-narrative).

One Hundred Years, 16 sec, loop.

The most successful videos tend to be the simplest. One Hundred Years was the first video project I worked on during the term and is also my favorite. I was glad to see it projected as the effect was mesmerizing. My only regret was not to cover the entire space with the projection.

I was Here (#1), 8 min.

I was Here (#2), 3 min, 15 sec.

Again, the simplest seem to work out the best. The I was Here video exercises were a way for me to shoot my own footage again and to get me outside of studio. These works most closely align with my anxiety about temporal and spatial existence and is something I want to continue to pursue. I just hope I can come up with more exercises to do next term.

Overall, the review went well. I would like to thank Colin Ives, Karen Munro, and Liz Bayan (and, to an extent, Rick Silva for speaking with me briefly even though he wasn't one of my assigned reviewers) for providing insightful feedback about my work during the review. I felt for the first time that there were people who understood where I was coming from and what I was trying to do.