Journal

I read an article about specific artists discussing films that have influenced them. The one I read was from the September issue, it was about Babette Mangolte. It didn't list an author for this article, however. She had mentioned that one of the films that influenced her was "Man with a Movie Camera" by Dziga Vertov. She said that this movie inspired her to give up mathematics and apply for film school. She also said how the film "Wavelength" by Michael Snow was the reason she came to New York to make movies. I enjoyed this article because I feel like there is a movie or a few movies for everyone that inspired them to do film. I feel like everyone has a moment when they realized they wanted to do film or be involved with film somehow. I also read an article by Michael Bracewell called "Seeing is Believing". It was about an artist, Bridget Riley, and her research into relationships between form, composition, and visual perception. It discusses paintings she has done which consisted of black and white lines and how it was a result of traumas in her life. I think it's interesting to see art pieces that are so abstract and yet there is alot of meaning behind it and thought, when someone could simply look at it and say its just a bunch of shapes and lines.

Act/React

For this blog I will be discussing Brian Knep's exhibit and Camille Utterback's. Both were similar in the way that the audience sort of made the art piece. Knep's just sort stayed the same until someone entered and moved around on the floor. It was the same with Utterback's, it didn't change a whole lot until someone stepped in front of it and moved around. I would say that the audience completes these works of art. It is somewhat started in the way that there is something there to start with-- there is a "pool" of greens and oranges until something came in contact with it in order to make it react; Utterback's required someone to move around and complete the work of art by adding lines and colors. Some of these art works remind me of what John McKinnon said in class about the art he presented. Some of the art he talked about worked as an illusion. They were made a certain way as to make you think or see it in a different way. The same works with these art pieces at act/react. They are created in a certain way that make you think you are creating the art, when in reality there has been a great deal of work put into it so that it will follow where you move. I also think in a certain way these exhibits relate to "Arrival of a Train" which McKinnon discussed. It is rumored that the audience got scared after watching that because it felt so real, as if the train was coming out of the screen at them. In these exhibits, you get this strange feeling as to how the screens know where you are moving or how you are moving. I think these two exhibits were different, however, because Knep's just moved with you and then refilled the space again back to normal. In Utterback's, it moved with you but it also created lines of color and designs.

Field Report #2

Frieze On Line http://www.frieze.com/magazine/

Field Report #1

For my field report, I attended the screenings at the UWM theatre on Sunday, October 5th. I saw Iverson White's "Self Determination" and we also viewed Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep" again. It was interesting to see this film again and also to hear Burnett's opinions of his film afterward. During the film, I tried to pay more attention to the aspect of using Stan, children, and sheep all in one film. I noticed towards the end of the film, there was a part where Stan's wife wanted to go to bed with Stan and he just kind of blew her off. Then there was a part right after where a girl was hanging clothes on a clothes-line, and a few boys walked past and made fun of her. Then there was a close-up of a sheep rubbing his face against another sheep, and then the other sheep walked away and we just saw the lonely sheep's face for a few seconds. It was as if everyone got rejected. I think maybe what I got out of it was that common problems can be seen in different ages and different species. Everyone has problems of some kinds. Alot of times when they showed the kids in the film, I always seemed to find a kid who looked like Stan. The first time i saw this film, i kept thinking that maybe this was some kind of flashbacks, showing Stan when he was a child. I also found myself thinking about how Stan worked at the slaughterhouse, and perhaps they would show clips of Stan and then clips of the sheep-- it was like Stan was relating to the sheep every once in awhile. I though the "Self Determination" movie was somewhat interesting. I kind of found it too ordinary. It seemed like just another movie or television show. I thought it also left a little too much to the imagination. There was so many questions left in my head-- Why was the husband cheating? Did the wife cheat also? Did she leave in the end? It was just a little to general and broad for me.