 | Open College of the Arts |
| Tutor report |
| Student name | Lara Jobson | Student number | 519703 |
| Course/Module | UVC1Tutorial/video | Assignment number | 5 |
Overall Comments
This section of the course seemed to flow well for you and it has hit some notes of interest for you which you will be able to follow up on.
Your research and academic skills have developed over the course and I hope that you will continue to enjoy this aspect and bring it soundly into your contextual investigations. Well done.
Feedback on assignment Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity
Assignment:
This assignment had a lot going for it, you had used a good structure and good examples particularly. Overall it just needed the aesthetic experience ‘difference’ brought to the fore. It is a balance thing and we discussed it. The contexts are good, examples good and you have developed your thinking of the two forms.
Use your Taliaferro text to help you to discuss the aesthetic. First go through the essay and highlight the areas where this can happen. Then develop those areas. Lastly just bring this into the summation clearly. This will then fully answer the Essay question. Well done on the overall- it was a good read and with this aspect further brought to the fore it will be a sound piece of writing.
Exercises:
Looking across the exercises which on the whole are clear and pragmatic,in particular, I would have another go at 5.3 as the outcome of this wasn’t very clear and it lack contextual pre-cursors- we talked about Duchamp for instance and also the sketchy history of the painted bed- so there are precedence as to why this might be considered ‘art’. When we don’t consider it art what is it? We had a little discussion around this- but if you are not clear then do email me.
5.4 works well, and you have used good examples of institutional critique, with a nice summation at the end. I do particularly enjoy Fred Wilson- got any more images?
I also particularly liked your rationalization of BARR- this is tricky and you have pushed through- power!!
Of note this paragraph.
We could also view the reversal of the chart as moving from the internal world of the mind, passing through emotional states (Fauvism and Expressionism) to the external world (Neo-impressionism) -Visually passing from the unconscious world to the conscious one. It is almost as though (going forwards from conscious to unconscious) artists were trying to purify their art and find some deeper human truth.
And the reflection at the end is super clear-
Well done.
Remember that:
OCA uses UCA’s Harvard Referencing guide which can always be found by Googling UCA Harvard Reference Guide.
Or you can click on the link here: http://webdocs.ucreative.ac.uk/Handbook-Harvard%20Referencing-1571674800035.pdf
Sketchbooks Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity
Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays Context
Concepts and ideas are developing in your sketchbook, keep going with this and enjoy the process. We discussed synthesis and going forwards into your practical course, so remember to use your research skills now to feed your contextual and philosophic awareness of painting.
Suggested reading/viewing Context
Pointers for the next assignment
Remember to go back and sure up your references across the materials that we have discussed.
| Tutor name: | Michele Whiting |
| Date | 10 JULY 2020 |
| Next assignment due | 28th August 2020. 12.30 |
Response to Feedback
I was overall pleased with my feedback from my tutor and understood immediately the areas that I needed to amend and add to. We talked about aesthetics and how I needed to develop this area in Assignment 5 in relation to video installations and the experience of the viewer. We also looked at Exercise 5.3 which lacked any contextual perspective. I shall rework these two pieces addressing these elements and underline any amended and new text.
Assignment 5
In what way do video installations differ from films shown in cinema? List the physical differences and use these as evidence to explain the differences in experience and aesthetic appreciation.
Think about the environment as well as the immediate space in which film is shown. Consider the types of film and select an example for more detailed discussion. (1000 words)
Introduction
Introduction
Films shown in cinemas have been an accessible form of entertainment for the masses over the past 100 years. After the development of hand held recorders in the 1960’s, artists started to create films that differed greatly from those shown in the cinema. As the two have progressed, differences have remained between the two types of film and the environment in which they are displayed. These differences allow for a different experience and aesthetic appreciation in the viewer.
Differences between cinema films and video installations
Films that are played at the cinema tend to fall into one of two categories – narrative and documentary. The main type of narrative film is organised in chronological order (reflective of real life) and in real time. Fictional stories tend to be based on a main line of action with a beginning, middle and an end (elementsofcinema.com accessed 03/08/2020). Viewers connect to the story through the use of characters played by actors following a rehearsed script. Less common are documentary films which expose reality and come from an investigative perspective. (elementsofcinema.com accessed 03/08/2020
Video installations are generally not narrative based or filmed in a linear perspective. They often explore the boundaries of the medium itself (Lee, s.d.) and are varied in their construction. Structuralist artists such as Michael Snow explored the specific characteristics of the medium in their videos. Videos were slowed down/speeded up, edited, played on a loop etc. (Kotz 2008:137). Other video art can produce a maximum sensory impact on the viewer through the use of sound, motion or light. Whereas cinema films have the purpose of entertainment and emotional engagement, video art’s purpose is very much reliant on the intent of the artist and the experience and the interpretation of the viewer.
Different Environments
The environment of films shown in the cinema and installation videos varies enormously and has a large effect on the experience of the viewer. In the theatrical environment of the cinema, the viewers have allocated seats facing forwards towards the large single screen. Lights are eliminated as the screening begins and the audience are immersed in their fairly passive experience (figure 1). They are expected to remain seated and silent for the duration of the film (usually 2 hours).
The cinema itself is part of the entertainment and leisure industry, usually surrounded by restaurants and other venues purpose built for ‘entertainment’.
When viewing a video installation in a gallery, the viewers are free to wander in to the room at any point. Sometimes the rooms are bright and lit and sometimes they are darkened. There is no expectation to stay for the duration of the video and there are usually no or few seats. Projectors might be visible/invisible and screens can be multiple or none – white walls work just as well. There is no norm and so presentation depends on the effect the artist is trying to create. There is even no prerequisite for projections to be shown on a flat surface. The artist Tony Oursler frees his images from the screen and its technical support by projecting them onto three-dimensional surfaces (Kotz 2008:131). ‘Obscura’ consisted of large blinking eyeballs floating on spherical objects. This would create a different aesthetic appreciation in the viewer who is confronted with a new visual experience. The freedom of the gallery allows the viewer to physically explore these 3D projections by moving around the installation. This might create a new experience or perspective in the viewer.
Oursler also took video installation out of the gallery. Site specific work such as The Influence Machine (2000) staged in London’s Soho Square allowed the viewers to move through the installation and experience the urban environment in a new way (Tate online, Accessed 04/08/2020).
The Godfather vs Martyrs
To illustrate the different experiences and aesthetic appreciation of the two types of film, the art installation Martyrs by Bill Viola and the film The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppolla will be discussed. The Godfather (1972) is an Oscar winning film about a mafia family and has since been celebrated as one of the best films ever made (Empire:2018). The audience, who at the time of release would have experienced this in the cinema, would be completely immersed in the life of the Corleone family. They would have emotionally responded to events and characters on the screen as they watched this illusion of real life on the large flat screen before them.
In contrast to this cinema film, the work of Bill Viola creates a different experience and aesthetic appreciation in the viewer. Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire,Water)(2014) is a site specific work of four screens placed in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. Each screen shows an individual who is gradually overwhelmed by the force of an element.
South Quire Aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral At https://www.apollo-magazine.com/bill-viola-martyrs-st-pauls-cathedral/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
The four screens create a fragmented viewing experience. There is no seating so the viewer has to recieve the work standing or in a fleeting moment whilst passing through the cathedral – emgagment is one of choice/curiosity. The duration of the film is unknown and the viewer can start viewing at any point in the films loop. Viola (2017) explains that martyrs ‘exemplify the human capacity to bear pain, hardship, and even death in order to remain faithful to their values, beliefs, and principles.’ The piece creates a sense of suffering but also a sense of hope (Londonhuawiki online:2017). In reflection, the viewer is able to interpret and appreciate the art work in a way that is personal to them, their beliefs and their spirituality.
Occasionally, there is blurring between the characteristics of films shown in cinema and video installations. One example of this could be 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick plays with a loose narrative and includes long meditative visual sequences. At one point the viewer is immersed in a 10 minute sequence of visuals in the ‘star gate sequence’ that would not look out of place in an art gallery.
Conclusion
Video installations and films shown in cinemas create a different experience and aesthetic appreciation in the viewer. This is largely due to the different physical environments of the cinema and the gallery or site-specific placing for the video installation. Cinema films follow a prescribed formula allowing the viewers to appreciate a fairly predictable experience. Video installations, however, place the viewer in a position of uncertainty. The artist ( with no prescribed formula) can manipulate the media in unique ways that allow the viewer to experience the installation in new ways.
List of Illustrations
Fig 1. Holbeck cinema At https://www.york.ac.uk/tfti/facilities/facilities-hire/digital-cinema/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Fig 2. Oursler, T. (2014) Obscura, Hans Mayer Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany At https://tonyoursler.com/obscura-germany (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Fig 3. Marlon Brando in The Godfather (1972) [film still] Paramount Pictures At https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/mediaindex?ref_=tt_pv_mi_sm (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Fig 4. Viola, B. (2014) Martyrs (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) [Colour high-definition video polyptych]
South Quire Aisle of St Paul’s Cathedral At https://www.apollo-magazine.com/bill-viola-martyrs-st-pauls-cathedral/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Fig 5. The star gate sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey [film still] MGM At https://2001archive.org/resources/the-special-effects-of-2001-a-space-odyssey/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Bibliography
A very short history of cinema in Science and media museum 18/06/2020 At: https://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/very-short-history-of-cinema (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Fairfax, D. (2018) Cinema and the Museum: Introduction in Senses of cinema Issue 86 March 2018. At http://sensesofcinema.com/2018/cinema-and-the-museum/introduction-8/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
https://londonhuawiki.wpi.edu/index.php/The_Martyrs_in_St._Paul%27s_Cathedral (Accessed 04/08/2020)
http://www.elementsofcinema.com/film_form/narrative-cinema.html (Accessed 04/08/2020)
https://www.empireonline.com/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
https://www.imdb.com (Accessed 04/08/2020)
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/oursler-the-influence-machine-t13860 (Accessed 04/08/2020)
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/display/bill-viola/martyrs (Accessed 04/08/2020)
https://tonyoursler.com/obscura-g 23/5ermany(Accessed 04/08/2020)
Kotz, L. (2008) Video Projection – The Space Between Screens in: Kocur, Z. & Leung, S. (2012) theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. (2nd ed.) Wiley
Lee, B. (s.d) What Is Video Art At: http://www.brendanlee.com/site.php/Main/WhatIsVideoArt (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Taliaferro, C. (2011) Aesthetics One world Publications: London
Warde-Aldam, D. (2014) Review: Bill Viola’s ‘Martyrs’ at St Paul’s Cathedral in Apollo The International Art Magazine 23/05/2014. At: https://www.apollo-magazine.com/bill-viola-martyrs-st-pauls-cathedral/ (Accessed 04/08/2020)
Exercise 5.3
Take a work of contemporary art and imagine it was not and never had been a work of art.What is the difference? (100 words)
My Bed (1988) by Tracy Emin is a gallery installation of Emin’s own bed surrounded by her clutter/objects. The objects hint at Emin’s mental state at the time. Emin’s bed could be termed a ‘readymade’ piece of art similar to Duchamp’s Fountain (1917). The factors which make this bed a work of art are defined by the Tate. The choice of the object by Emin is a creative act in itself. It’s presentation and title give the object a new meaning along with the cancelling out of its usefulness.
The subject matter, a bed, could be seen as an uninteresting and ordinary object but through modern history this subject matter has been explored by artists such as Van Gogh in Bedroom in Arles (1888) and Claude Monet in Cat sleeping on a bed (1865-1870). Without this historical context of the readymade as art and artists painting ordinary objects, Emin’s bed would most likely not be considered a work of art.
List of illustrations
Fig 1. Emin, T. (1998) My Bed at the Turner Prize Exhibition, Tate Gallery, London, 1999-2000. © Stephen White At: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-tracey-emins-my-bed-ignored-societys-expectations-women (Accessed 24/07/2020)
Bibliography
Cohen, A. (2018) Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’ ignored society’s expectations of women. At: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-tracey-emins-my-bed-ignored-societys-expectations-women (Accessed 24/07/2020)
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/readymade#:~:text=Although%20the%20term%20readymade%20was,can%20be%20described%20as%20readymades. (Accesssed 02/09/2020)
Lara's Understanding Visual culture (Visual Studies 1) blog 