March 24th Entry - spiral jetty

For this week’s blog entry I was assigned to pick out an element of “Spiral Jetty” that I found to be the strangest and to relate that element into the remainder of the film. The part that I found to be the strangest was the many comments and focal points on dinosaurs, dinosaur bones/skeletons and reptiles. In particular the focal point pan of two dinosaur skeletons with a red tint on the lens. My initial thoughts were “how do dinosaur bones relate to a spiral road being constructed in shallow water in Utah?” I believe in connects in multiple ways after further contemplation. 1st, I believe there is a graphic match type quality of the imagery of the bony twisted-ness of the dinosaur fossils relating to the ridged-ness and swirling of the rocky spiral. The shapes of each of the designs seem to match together in a symbiotic fashion and relation. It’s as if maybe the dinosaur fossils inspired Smithson to create this rock formation. 2nd, the use of rocks and forming them the way he did may be a comment to the fossils themselves. Fossils are dug up from the earth out of rocks; maybe by putting these rocks back into earth in a formation he is creating an “artistic fossil” of his work. Basically, instead of taking a fossil out he is putting one in. 3rd, maybe the comment on fossils being a part of history ties into the random pages that were torn out and scattered, which relates into the giant picture of Smithson trying to leave a random mark in history by means of artistic sculpture/expression. His spiral jetty was his random mark in history much like the dinosaurs made their make through fossils. Lastly, the one thing I still am not sure about was why the red tint was used when panning with the dinosaur fossils? Maybe red signifies violence? Murder? Extinction? Maybe he chose to use red cause it was bold and stands out? I’m still not sure why he chose red for this particular scene. My most logical reasoning is that it was the closest resemblance to the reddish-brown muddy waters that the spiral’s rock created during construction. That way he was tying in the fossils both graphically (through images) and through relation of color.

Table Top Video - Entry after performance

I thought that my table top video went well for the most part. I think the main goal was achieved (see artist statement, deadpan/slapstick) even though a few things didn'g turn out quite as expected. First off, I felt rushed setting up the project since the projects before me ran long and the schedule was a bit off and we were trying to make up lost time. Secondly, someone knocked on the door interrupting the flow of the performance which made me lose concentration a bit. The sound of the knock in my video was not intended and not my fault, but what can you do sometimes. The only other thing I thought didnt't turn out as well or was hard to accomplish was keeping the masssive stack of cards within the camera frame. With that many cards being dealt it was difficult to keep them all in frame and many of them might have been out of frame. No matter how hard you practice just dealing with that many cards made it difficult. The things I thought turned out better than expected was the actual slap or "hit me" during the climax. I was really worried that the slap would look fake or rigid, but it felt very smooth and near perfect, so I hope it turns out on film as well as it felt. There was a good sound to it and my head moved well with the motion and landed nicely on the table. I think all the practicing of the REAL slaps paid off. I won't know exactly how well my head fell into the camera frame until I watch it, but I think it was a good landing. So overall, all the practicing and planning I think paid off and my project ran smoothly and turned out almost exactly how I wanted it to.

Table Top Video - Artist Statement

The purpose of my table top video project is to explore the deadpan and slapstick of two inexperienced people trying to play blackjack. The main goal is to play of the literal nature of how the game can be interpreted (especially by two inexperienced players who don't really know what they are doing). This is demonstrated by having the dealer purposely (for the video) accidently (in the storyline) deal the starting hand wrong (with a joker face-up) One, the joker shouldn't be in the deck at all, showing the inexperience and two, it shouldn't be face up (also showing that the dealer and player don't know exactly the right way of playing. This insight of literal inexperience shines throughout the whole demonstration by having the player continue to ask to be "hit" and not understanding that he is supposed to stop at "21." The dealer also goes along with it continuing to add the numbers showing that she doesn't exactly know what shes doing either. Finally, the climax of the player literally being slapped (or hit) shows the literal interpretation the inexperienced dealer may have trying to figure out what to do. This is a direct play on literal interpretations, deadpan, and slapstick humor. The main purpose is to bring out those qualities in this demonstration.

Week 6 - March 3rd -Youtube Scavenger Hunt!

My first reaction/thought of seeing Alex Bag's "Untitled Fall '95" reminded me of this viral youtube clip that gained massive popularity awhile back. It echoes Alex Bag in the sense that it seems impromptu (Crocker's make-due blanket as background is much like seeing Bag's hand come into the frame while shooting with the stuffed animals) Both give the "confessional" direct address feel also, only Bag's seems very satirical and analytical, while Crocker’s actually seems serious. Both however aren’t completely clear as to whether or not they should be taken seriously. Bag frequently changes wigs/personas that gives a feel that “this isn’t authentic,” but at the same time the confessionals contradict that with how personal it sounds. Crocker’s confessional seems like it could be real but its absurdity of topic and over-emotional crying over that topic also make it seem less authentic and staged. Maybe Crocker was being serious; maybe it was all an act? Both Bag and Crocker flirt along the lines of “is this authentic, or am I staging this?” In some ways Crocker’s video could be seen like how Bag portrays her characters as this satirical stereotype. Maybe Crocker is just portraying the overly compassionate media-hyped/celebrity obsessed homosexual? I’m not sure. The main facts however of how they are similar remains in the use of direct address towards the camera and flirtation with authenticity, as well as the idea of persona.