Video Art

Video art is a very effective form of art, it was introduced in the 1960's/1970's and you have the real time experience of art happening in front of your eyes. It can be displayed in many different ways, through installations, broadcasts, distributed on DVD, or as sculptural installations that could have the video being played on various monitors either to make up one screen together or have the video playing separately on multiple screens. What makes video art different from cinematic video is that in video art you may not need the use of actors, your creation is purely artistic and has no theatrical story to tell just an artistic one, it doesn't need a plot nor a dialogue to follow and doesn't need to be conventionally classed as entertaining.

I think it may be the best form of art about as you can combine every type of art in it, sound, performance and visuals.

The works of Willie Doherty

Willie Doherty was born in Derry in 1959 and is an artist. He mainly works in photography and video. A lot if not all of his work is influenced by growing up in Northern Ireland and the violence that surrounds it. He was highly influenced by The troubles and this makes his work portray a deeper meaning, that gives you something to figure out and think about. In some works he uses images from the media and works them into his own creations. Doherty presents his work in a way to give it more meaning, his photographs are large in scale to emphasise the apparent emptiness in each scene and his video installations often take up a corner of a room or several walls to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. This all adds to the impact his work has on you nearly making you feel as if you are right in the middle of what is happening in the photograph or the video installation. As his work nearly always is absent of including people the person viewing it kind of makes up for their absence, he manages to create such an isolated eerie feeling through his work. Which really makes it stick with you, not easily forgotten.

Bill Viola

Bill Viola is an American contemporary video artist. He was born in 1951 and is considered one of the leading figures in the video art industry.

His works focuses on human experiences, birth, life, emotion,spirituality and death. He also includes works on various spiritual traditions. His works put across a very powerful message, and especially in his video work people are given the chance to view it in their own personal way.

Music has always played an important part in Viola's work and he has created videos to go along with the work of composers such as Edgard Varese Deserts.

Since the early 1970's Bill Viola's video work has been exhibited all over the world, throughout he has won numerous awards for his work, and I can see why, when you see a piece of his work it effects you deeper than the surface, it creates emotions within you that only a good artist can achieve.

Sound Theory - Sound Practice

“Sound has the best pictures” I couldn't agree more with this statement. I think that when you hear a sound, in your head you have a thousand pictures, every sound will provoke a memory of something that has happened to you. It creates a visual perspective that you put along with it. Sound has so much more meaning to us than just a noise created by something, it triggers something in your mind that you can connect with.

“The world of sound is an event world,

The world of sight is an object world”

Walter Ong 1971

What is sound? The scientific definition explains about mechanical waves, frequencies, vibrations but I think the wrong view was taken from this question, I think sound is anything we hear from the tick of a clock to a song that triggers an emotion inside us, good or bad.

Sound isn't just a backdrop in our everyday lives its a constant trickle of memories and feelings being set of inside our heads. We have the ability to concentrate on one particular sound even in a room full of other noises and voices, it's known as “the cocktail effect” it allows us to hold a conversation with someone in a noisy place without being distracted or interrupted by others. It can work in other ways too for instance when you are in a noisy room and someone calls your name you can nearly always pick up on it straight away.

Foley is where everyday sounds are reproduced for use in film making, you can re create the sounds with practically anything and if it is done really well will go unnoticed by the audience. Foley creates a sense of reality instead of having an unnatural quiet in the background.

Foley was created by Jack Foley in 1927, he worked at Universal Studios since 1914 which was during the silent film era. In 1927 he went on to become part of a small sound team for Universal Studios that created foley for their films. He continued working there until his death in 1967. Now years later his techniques are still used, however there are now entire foley studios and a lot more advanced equipment at hand to create the sounds.

Foley is created by mimicking sounds in a sound studio, it is broken down into three categories, feet, props and cloth. Feet is the sound of footsteps, depending on the surface the footsteps are on the foley artists will find the right material for use. Cloth is for the quieter sounds needed such as clothes rubbing against each other. And props is for every other sound needed, this means foley studios have to have lots of different props at hand to use in any scenario.

Sound is around us in everyday life and sometimes I think we can become deaf to the sounds we are so used to hearing, like traffic noise or people talking in the background. I sometimes have to stop and think about what sounds I can actually hear.

Sound has three elements vibration, context and changes in pressure to make up the sound envelope there are also three phases the attack, the sustain and the decay. Sound is immersive, it can't be shut out, it contains depth, it has no directionality and it cannot be frozen. The body and mind are not easily dichotomised so when you hear a sound you cannot isolate to either one of these as a separate, you experience it in both. Sound can be intimate, personal, informal, formal and public it depends what kind of situation you are in when you hear a particular song for example if you are in a club the sound is public, whereas if you were listening to a song on your Ipod that has a special meaning to you it can be intimate or personal.

Sound doesn't have to be melodic though it can be anything, and as John Cage demonstrated with his 4'.3'' which was composed in 1952, where he instructed the musicians not to play any instruments for four minutes and thirty three seconds, the audience instead sat listening to the sounds of the environment around them, Cage had no control to what sounds the audience could individually hear making every performance unique. It is Cage's most famous composition and one of the most famous of its kind. Cage speaks of it as his most important piece of work, and I agree I think it has more impact than any piece of melodic composition ever would.

John Cage 4'33'' 1952

Christian Marclay is a sound artist, he has experimented with sound his whole life. He manipulates or damages records sometimes breaking them and attaching them to others to make new sound. Since 1979 recording and making sound has been an important aspect of his work as has the relationship between sound and image. His creation “Telephones” which is a seven and a half minute compilation of film clips based around dialling, answering, having a conversation and hanging up, is brilliant, it is funny to watch as their facial expressions change to what clip he had slotted in before it. Its as if everyone is having one big conversation and you see the change in all of their facial expressions. Another one of his creations “The Clock” which was a twenty four hour film made up of glimpses of watches, clocks and people saying what time it was all taken from other films and TV shows. Was showcased in New York at the Paula Cooper Gallery from January 21^st until February 19^th 2011.

Christian Marclay “telephones”

The Mobile Visual Environment

In todays class we discussed how the digital world was effecting our everyday lifestyles.

With the constant change in technology and the constant flow of new and exciting ways we are given to socialise on the web it's a fact that is going to have an impact on the way we function with everyday life.

We talked about how the everchanging technology effects big companies and TV shows and film such as Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds brand is hugely famous and the more shows/ films and merchandise they have available the more money they are making. People are paying for the brand.

The same with Doctor Who people surround themselves with the brand that millions was spent on creating, and effectively pay back the money by buying the brand merchandise, box sets and watching the shows on TV or online. So it must be worth spending millions on creating a brand if enough of the public are interested in it to indulge on it.

This is all a reflection on the development of technology.

With the creation of the mobile phone in the 1940's came a huge market with the potential to make millions.

The first text ever sent was in December 1992 and it said “Merry Christmas”. Now today it has progressed massively with 30% of teenagers in USA sending more than 100 texts a day. To think how many new styles and more intelligent designs of mobile phones our generation has seen is crazy, it just goes to show you how constant the change in technology really is and how far its come since the mobile was first invented. Nowadays you can do pretty much anything on your mobile phone, and being able to access the internet on your phone is a big advantage in the modern world, it can aid you with work by accessing e-mails and getting onto search sites on the web and with your social life with all of the social networking sites you have access to. Another advantage with internet access is that your are able to download and upload almost instantly whilst on the go. Mobile internet is a huge success and has become a normal routine in many peoples lives. The industries are making a fortune from our use of our mobiles, with the different contracts and bolt ons available today there are numerous amounts of deals you can choose from to get the most out of your mobile. I know I for one would struggle to survive without my mobile on me at all times and I don't know anyone who could, if we were left without the ability to contact others through, text, call, and e-mail its as if we've been deserted in society its because of attitudes like this the industries are kept going making their millions.

Mobility changes everything and being able to have all of this technology with you in just your mobile phone has made life a lot simpler.

Mobile phone companies are in competition all of the time trying to out do each other with the latest in technology trying to get the best they possibly can on the market for the consumer, trying to make the most money, Blackberry and Iphone were a constant rival trying to get the better phone and where Blackberry used to have the advantage with their instant messaging BBM they no longer have it because Iphone has now got peer to peer messaging. Now Nokia has brought out new smartphones with touch screens to rival the two, its a constant battle between phone companies to be the best.

The internet is another everyday technology we would be lost without even simple tasks like completing an essay or research on a new project, the internet is an essential source of information that we need to complete theses tasks. Other than using the internet for work purposes we use it for social aspects aswell, with all the social networks available to us today such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Myspace and E-mail we would lose contact with most of the people we know. Today it goes beyond a simple phonecall or a text to organise something, most people relay on these types of social networks to keep in contact with people in their lives. Its like were living in a virtual reality, something isn’t real unless there is something to back up that it actually happened for example, a night out with friends doesn’t feel like it existed unless its documented with countless photos uploaded onto facebook, this suggests that we have began living our lives through some sort of simulacra, not living what is actually real but living what is real only in this virtual world that we have created like a copy but only seen as our ideal life in a way. It becomes harder to judge a person as who they are because it has become increasingly difficult to get to know the real person and not just their alter ego on these sort of sights. It provokes the question do we really need these sort of sites to confuse what is already confused enough? People have gotten used to living in these virtual realities and it is sometimes hard to tell the difference in what should be private and what should be public, I understand people may want to express themselves in what ever way they want to but just how much do others want to know about them. There’s no line left to cross, in my opinion reality has been broken.

Another use for the internet is websites such as youtube, 4od, BBC Iplayer and many more like them with the technology evolving over the past years we are now able to watch television programmes online, catch up on shows that we may have missed or watch a movie. We are even able to watch realtime TV online and can even comment on it as we watch through the aid of social networking. Youtube especially is one of the most popular sites used online, during 2010 the public watched more than 700 billion uploads on their site. It is another outlet for us to continue living this virtual reality.

Even with video games countless hours are spent obsessing over the next level or getting a new high score, I know my brothers dwindle their lives away playing them for hours and it shocks me how much they care about it, but it's gone beyond being just a game anymore its became another way to socialise with the likes of xbox live. It's amazing how many ways we have now of interacting with those around us.

All this technology we use has made time insignificant because we are available at all times one way or another.

A good example of how technology now surrounds generations growing up is Thomas Saurez, he is a 12 year old who already owns his own successful company “CarrotCorp” which sells mobile applications for the iOS platform, he rose to fame with his creation of “Bustin Jieber” which he describes as an “anti Justin Bieber” game similar to whac a mole. Years ago a 12 year old would never have been capable of creating this sort of technology, just goes to show you what sort of an advanced world kids are growing up in these days.

When the Ipod was released in 2001 it was a success for Apple, everyone had to have one, the design was brilliant and a new exciting way to have music on the go. Over the years the product has be redesigned so many times and is I would say the most popular in its market for music on the go.

The Ipod lets you be in two places at once, it takes you into your own imaginary world with the music your listening to whilst you still carry out mundane everyday tasks.

Apple went on to release the Ipad, which is just amazing! You have everything you need on this one handy tablet, that you can take anywhere with you easily, the design you cant fault everything runs so smooth when changing from tab to tab and is one of the best new pieces of technology I've seen so far.

Even reading online magazines on it, it’s like your reading an actual magazine, it still has the same layout, same ads but then it gives you even more interaction with it by having virtual ads in the form of videos which I think makes it more interesting and exciting to read, being able to hear the sound behind the picture grabs your attention more. I think its a more memorable experience than reading a normal paper magazine. Ipad even have the software to enable you to create your own magazine, it's called flipboard and allows you to flip through your open tabs like you would a magazine.

The way technology has moved forward over the years amazes me, it's incredible what you can do now within your everyday life. I honestly couldn’t see myself being able to live without any of it and I can only hope that future holds more exciting new creations we can learn about.

Reading the VJ

In todays class we talked about VJing and how it worked. A VJ is a visual jockey, they combine moving images with sound and Vjing is the term used for this process.

Vjing is a realtime visual performance to go along with music, it is most popular to use at events like concerts, festivals and night clubs. Vjing originated in the 70's where it became popular on the New York club scene. You can have a number of components working together to create the whole Vjing experience, you have your visuals with moving imagery and lights, the music to go with it and in some cases performers such as dancers. Vjing is now seen as an essential in a clubbing experience and this means that any major clubs would now most likely have someone employed to provide this experience. Many in the industry don't refer to themselves as a VJ, some of the more popular terms they would use are, visual mix artists, pixel jockeys, visual performers, audiovisualisers, pro DJ's, video jammers, viewsicians and visual jockeys. They do not want to be confused with video jockeys, who are t.v presenters that link videos on music channels. The more I researched the more interested in it I became I looked into how they create their piece of work and found out that they have a lot of background work to do before actually making the final piece. They start with their preparation where the collect or shoot video clips and go on to edit them so there is a library of images which you can choose from. Other than this method there is another one that I think would be a lot harder to get right, this method is doing it live it's where you randomly pick images to play in a sequence at gigs etc. I think if I was to ever try it I would rather do the method where you collect your material first and become experienced in it that way and then go on to trying it with the random selection of images.

Software and technical setups

The change in technology over the years has made Vjing a much easier profession to do now, with the introduction of more advanced and intelligent equipment the process is a lot more simpler.

Now with this new software available to them a VJ does not necessarily need years of coding experience behind them to do their job. Which in my opinion makes the option of taking this up as a profession a lot more appealing.

One group well known for Vjing are called The Light Surgeons, they are a group of multimedia artists and designers who were founded in 1995 by artist and director Christopher Thomas Allen, they create films, motion graphics, print, photography, installations, exhibitions and live performance. They have worked with companies like Film4, Warner, onedotzero, Mo Wax, Skint and Ninja Tune. Their work is exhibited at art museums and film festivals internationally.

I have researched their work and it really is brilliant, my favourite work by them would have to be the work they have done for Chase & Status, the pieces of visual art and lighting they have created go really well along with the sound it almost has you in a trance like state watching it. Seeing what they were able to create using Vjing has really made me want to try it out myself.

                                       

                                         "The Light Surgeons, Chase and Status  Is it worth it"

Presenting the new - Exhibition and Publication

In this weeks class we were asked “What is art?” and listening to the opinions of others I came to the realisation that everyones views on what art is, are different.

In my opinion art is not just a painting or a sculpture it is the feelings provoked in you when you look at something or hear a sound, I think it's the emotions that people feel towards a piece of art that make it art.

The Dada movement had a huge impact on what art is today, appearing in 1916 it changed visual arts, literature, poetry, art manifestoes, art theory and graphic design. The Dada movement was an anti-art movement and came about during World War 1 in Switzerland.

Marcel Duchamp, was a french artist who took part in the Dadaist movement and his input influenced the development of post World War art.

Marcel Duchamps piece of work “fountain” which was a urinal suspended by wire was probably one of the most prominent pieces of work considered in the Dada movement and opened us up to new ways of exhibiting art in a more inspiring way. This was conceptual art at it's best, Duchamp paved the way for conceptualists with his “readymades” ,“fountain” pictured below being the most famous of the collection.

Marcel Duchamp “Fountain” 1917

This brought about the notion of site specific art..... do you really need to exhibit in an actual gallery? In my opinion no, I think exhibitions in odd new places have a much bigger impact, I think the surroundings you view art in contribute to the success of the art itself. For example, outdoor inspired sculptures would be much more effective displayed outdoors rather than indoors.

A good example of site specific art is 2010 Turner prise winner Susan Philips, the piece exhibited was sound art, her piece was previously exhibited playing under three bridges in her hometown of Glasgow, her piece titled “lowlands” went on to being exhibited in Tate Britain leading to her success with the Turner prise.

Site specific art went on to progress and grow over the years with the introduction of site specific environmental art, which would usually include landscaping or sculptural works, interesting architecture can also be seen as site specific environmental art as it is placed permantly in one location.

Jem Finer is a brilliant example for site specific environmental art with his project “Score for a hole in the ground” which is an environmental musical instrument. It works as a deep shaft in the ground where inside there are bowls placed at different heights and different sizes turning on pivots to create the instrument, the drips of water strike the bowls creating musical sounds differentiating based on how much water each bowl is containing at that time. The sounds are amplified by a 20 metre tube with a horn on the end of it. Another of his works “Still” which was a camera he placed in a tree for two years taking continuous photos of all that passed its lens, from the 18,000 photos captured it can be viewed by some as a film but it is a still image in constant change from the environment. No two viewings of his findings are the same as it is composed in real time using a generative sequencing system, overlooked “score for a hole in the ground” from where he positioned his camera.

My views on these movements that have changed how art today is perceived are that they are a change for the better, without the introduction of these movements we would still have very close minded views on art as a whole.