The Knife, The Chair, & Gary Hill

The Knife & The Chair:

In both of these videos, Jack Goldstein uses ordinary objects and shines a new light on them, changing the viewer's perspective of that object, making it appear more beautiful and artful.

The Knife to me at first was a monotonous video, however when it got more towards the end that is when I actually started enjoying it after the knife had reflected multiple colors already. I was waiting for something to pop out, the knife to disappear, or something shocking to happen but it never happened so the video made me anxious to see what would happen to this knife. However, towards the end I realized nothing was going to happen. The knife was a piece of art, it was something that had been turned beautiful. It got me thinking there was more beauty to a knife than I would've thought thanks to the its' reflectiveness and the colors that were shone on it. The colors got me to think about the different uses of knives and how when they are being used to cut, eat, or just sitting on a table that wide variety of colors also reflect back and forth across it in our everyday life yet we never really stop and look at it since we see it all the time. I also feel like the red, blue, and yellow color could represent the different uses or views on knife. Like the red would represent it as a weapon, the blue would represent it being calm and cool being used in cutting and eating meals, and the yellow would represent it being as something valuable or important. No longer is the knife viewed as dangerous or a weapon, but rather as art that has beautiful reflective and colorful qualities.

The Chair also was similar to The Knife in that an ordinary object was centered without moving in the video. Instead of a knife, there was a chair placed in the middle of the screen. At first I had no idea what it was because of the lighting on it but slowly over a period of about 7 minutes feathers begin to drop onto and around the chair. The feathers are bright colors that stand out against the background and the chair making the video a lot more fascinating and brings the video to life. Throughout the video the feathers end up sticking to the chair along with around it. I was also waiting to see if anything happened like maybe the chair would fall down or a huge mass of feathers would cover it but instead the feathers just slowly floated down and around the chair. I enjoyed that though because it had a certain serene quality to it making it very relaxed and calming to watch in a way. I feel like he is trying to say something about passing of time and how it passes on slowly even when nobody is there or watching. He could also be trying to say how nature affects us and brings color into our life or perhaps how nature is comforting and relaxing.

Gary Hill's Videos:

I like the composition of the "Mediations" video and the way he explores and connects sounds and language. I really like what the vibrations of the speaker did to the sand and animated it while the voice was speaking. I felt like he really personified the speaker and succeeded in connecting voice and speaker as one. It seemed like he was trying to bury the voice, maybe like it was his conscious thoughts and didn't want to hear it anymore. His "Why Do Things Get in a Muddle?" video looks like it was made at his house with a normal video camera but what makes them different is the way he uses sound and language I feel like when Alice is playing that mini piano, she makes the atmosphere really eerie and odd, especially combined with the voices when they start talking. They also sounded sort of robotic to me but later on it made sense to me as he was gradually changing the voices, slowing them down, and also reversing them making them incomprehensible. He seems to move the camera around a lot too and I felt like it was very dreamlike but in a very creepy odd way. I felt very uneasy watching it as I began to not be able to understand them. I feel like he has a fascination with exploring language and sound and that's exactly what he did in that video. In his "Incidence of Catastrophe", yet again he explored sounds and language but this time using text as well. The flashes of text and words are kind of like a guide or narration to what's going in and sort of becomes his wall and shapes who he is. A lot of emotion can be seen in this particular video compared to other ones since he's the subject and he cares so much about language . At the end he shows how vital language is in our lives and how without it, we are nothing.

The Knife, The Chair, and the Hill

The Knife

I felt that The Knife was quite an extraordinarily boring piece to watch. It is nothing more than a knife lying on a flat surface of some kind, with lights of varying colours altering the way we perceive the knife. The colours being shone on the knife alternate between a hot red and a cold blue colour, before one final transference into yellow. As is, the knife is used as nothing more than a reflective element. The functionality of the knife as a tool used to slice has been removed, leaving it only as an object to look at. Presenting the knife as Goldstein did alters the viewer's perception of the knife from being a potentially dangerous tool into a benign piece of art.

The Chair

Similarly to The Knife, Goldstein chooses yet another mundane, everyday object as the subject as this piece. The chair is completely isolated in the piece. Throughout the passage of the piece, brightly coloured leaves fall onto and around the chair. This gives the viewer the impression that the chair goes unused for an extended period of time. The chair takes on the role of this forsaken and forgotten object. The use of the object as a place to sit and relax was forgotten.

Gary Hill

-Mediations
The connection of the audio with the actions occurring in the piece was quite interesting to watch. I felt as if Hill was trying to make the point of how an individual's voice could be lost among many and how an idea could do the same.
- Why Do Things Get in a Muddle?
This work demonstrates how the arrangement of language can can have an effect on the meaning of it, such as how "Come on petunia" can become "once upon a time."
- Incidence of Catastrophe
I feel as if the work comments on how even language can limit the expressions of a person, yet without a language, communication between two persons would be severely limited.

Knife/Chair/Hill

In both "The Knife" and "The Chair," Goldstein keeps out the sound which lets us focus in on the visual and the atmosphere of the video. Making these videos silent, makes them seem more meditative on the colors of the light in "The Knife" and of the leaves in "The Chair."
The Knife
The way the knife is laid out is rather unusual because one usually doesn't lay out a knife in a horizontal manner. Because it is horizontal, it looks less menacing, taking away its function of cutting. The colors lighting it up turn this normal item into something more important. To me, the placement reminded me of the replacement of a relic. Goldstein transforms the function of this object into something like a treasure.
The colors tend to change the atmosphere too. I feel more serene when it turns blue and pretty endangered when it turns red. The slow lighting up creates anxiety. Once full, you kind of feel relieved but at the same time you're anticipating a new function for the knife. For example, once the knife turns gold, its function suddenly becomes like money, or a jewel. Then the color goes out and you instantly remember it's just a regular knife.
The Chair
Goldstein chooses another mundane subject in this video. We all use chairs all the time from since we were a baby in baby seat to the rocking chair. This chair actually does remind me of a rocking chair because of how it just sits there. Like a rocking chair on the porch, it just sits there forever letting the leaves pile on it. Rather than falling around the chair, the leaves fall on it too, making it look used and not important like the knife.
The falling leaves seem to symbolize a passage of time. They just keep on falling forever so it feels like time goes on forever. By the end of the video, I lost sense of time because of the falling leaves sequence doesn't end. Though their movement reminds me of autumn, their odd colors (especially the blue) remind me more of confetti. The atmosphere doesn't seem very party-like though.

Gary Hill
From these three works, I could tell he really liked to experiment with the sounds and meaning from language.
In "Meditations," he experimented with language's function: connecting an image and meaning with a sound (i.e. speaker and the word "speaker.") But once he started adding the sand, the meaning becomes lost. The sand buries it. The language becomes less full of meaning and gets reduced to just the sound of a gurgling voice and bouncing sand. I think Gary Hill aimed to show how fragile language can be. If we can't hear something familiar, then the meaning is lost and language becomes useless.
In "Why do Things Get in a Muddle," Hill is still focused on the basic function of language. While language is supposed to clarify ideas, it can also complicate them because of the puns and metaphors we've developed with language. And like how "Come on Petunia" can be regrouped to be "once upon a time," changing the letters around can easily change something's meaning.
In "Incidence of Catostrophe," Hill shows how we've made language physical with books and text. Text becomes our walls, as he shows us in the end. Using himself as a subject this time, he shares how although we make language, language can shape our identity too. In the end, he babbles on as a broken human in his feces. We are useless without language.

Gary Hill

His work clearly has an emphasis on speech, enunciation, and words in general. "Meditations" was very interesting.. the way the words were gradually muffled, and then reduced to a whisper as more sand was sprinkled on top of the speaker was a curious thing to watch. I predicted that the speech would become more rumbly and distorted as more sand was added, but instead the speech overcame the rumbly sounds and instead became clearer, but quieter. The voice gradually became buried in sand, in what seemed to be an attempt to drown it out. It made me think about trying to cover up an idea, or a thought. The voice coming from the speaker could represent one's mind or conscience, repeatedly trying to convey a concept, but unsuccessfully due to the ceaseless gradual burial in sand - or one trying to put the thought in the back of one's mind. "Incidence of Catastrophe" contained an interesting juxtaposition at the beginning of watery waves and text, showing parallels between them in their shape and form. Then the clips seem to get a little random, alternating between scenes of trees, humans, and text. I got lost and no longer saw too many clear connections. In "Why Do Things Get in a Muddle?", the voice at the beginning sounded creepy and Voldemort-like, which went perfectly with the creepy music. After showing an Alice-in-Wonderland type-scene of a room, a dialogue begins between a father and daughter as the viewer sees the top of a desk. They discuss other people "muddling" things up, in a very scripted fashion, sounding very unnatural. They discuss the meaning of the word in both denotation and connotation. Later in the video as their conversation moves on, the voices get distorted and creepy and I can't quite understand what they are saying anymore.

The Knife & Chair

The Knife

The video is so simple and still, but so beautiful at the same time. A singular knife is set in the center of the screen - positioned horizontally on a flat, blue-violet surface. Other than a few glints of white light refracting off its edges, the knife is devoid of any reflection. Everything is still. Then a red light suddenly appears - first reflected just off the edge of the knife, it then slides gradually over the entire utensil. Once the red light entirely covers the knife, it remains for a few seconds, and then disappears quickly as if it were wiped off. This process repeats again, but with a light green light, and then again with red, then blue, then yellow lights. The slow, delicate process of the light crawling up the side of the knife reminds me of the mercury of an old thermometer rising. The very slow build-up and quick release of light can be representative of so many things. Because the lights were different colors, I attributed them to different emotions. Emotions can gradually build up, very slowly, and they can dissipate very quickly - just like the lights. Specifically, I thought about anger. Many different little annoyances in life can snowball together and create a bubbling rage of anger that grows and grows until it is all-encompassing - like when the knife is entirely bathed in light - and there is nowhere else for it to go but be released; this may happen by lashing out or just letting go. In the case of the knife, I feel like the act of just "letting go" is expressed. The knife never moves, never flinches. It remains the same the entire time and is passive to the whole experience of the light build-up. But why was a knife chosen as the object to represent a human? The knife is an essential tool to human life; we use it to cut and eat. We can also use it as a weapon of defense, or a weapon of murder. The knife always has a connotation of violence and aggression to it. Even in its static state resting on the purple surface, it still has the potential to be used as an object of violence. As the light creeps up closer and closer to the top of the knife, the closer and closer the emotion gets to peaking and inspiring a reaction - one that could end in violence, or merely letting go and moving on.

The Chair

Like The Knife, The Chair sits in an area devoid of movement. The black chair blends in with its black backdrop, only distinguishable by its white highlights reflecting back at the viewer. After taking in the static scene for a little while, a yellow feather floats down from above, gracefully landing behind the chair. Soon after, a white feather drops, floating down and landing in the same delicate manner. Gradually, more feathers of different colors fall in the same fashion, landing on the seat, arms, and back of the chair as well as the floor. The feathers pile up randomly, more dense in some areas than others. This continues for the entirety of the video. Contrasting with the dark chair and backdrop, the brightly colored feathers lighten up the scene a lot. To me, they seem to represent little bits of happiness raining down on an otherwise sad situation. Individually, each feather brings just a tiny bit of color into the scene. But altogether, they really make a difference to the overall appearance. The video could be referencing a kind of "appreciate the little things" mantra. But there is definitely a sense of compilation and building up - but in a different way than in The Knife. I'm not sure why a chair was chosen to be the main subject of the video. Chairs are used for rest and usually cause a feeling of contentment when one can finally sit down. However, the chair used in this video is not cushioned or comfortable looking - it's rather basic and would not be the chair of choice when one yearns for a long, comfortable rest. The simplicity of the chair may be used to contribute to the bleak subject and backdrop in the scene - to contrast more with the "happy" feathers. Another thought is that feathers compiled together are used for comfort - such as to fill pillows and cushions, which greatly contrasts with the chair in the scene, which is stiff and uninviting.

Knife and Chair

Knife and Chair

Goldstein showcases everyday object in his videos that bring a sense of beauty and life to them. The length of his videos adds to how plain and uninteresting these objects are in everyday context and the monotony we put them through even though the have extreme importance in our life (imagine life without out chairs). These objects are victims of form over function and lack ornamentation and excitement. They are mass produced and easily replaceable so they hold almost no value. So shining the limelight on these objects and treating them as art instead of utensils pays some sort of homage to all of the other unappreciated inanimate objects in this world. But seriously though, the colorful lights in Knife create something really beautiful out of something so ordinary. The pattern of the lights also reflects this how they slowly cover the knife from one end to the other and once it is completely submerged the color quickly disappears, reflected the appreciation for the utensil I guess, or just appreciation in general, or any realization for that matter, how it takes such a long time to realize its importance, but that moment is fleeting and disappears almost instantly.

The same idea of a steady rhythm is illustrated in chair how slowly each feather is added to the frame and they slowly start to come together or define something. Again these, harsh colors against the ordinary chair creates this synergistic effect almost where some sort of transference happens and the piece become more about the chair and the space around the chair and not the falling feathers. I liked what Laura said about the feathers defining space; creating a visual and allowing us so map out the depth and form of the negative space. The feathers also help establish a sense of time because feathers fall a slow wistful rate so the audience can establish that the video is in real time as if it were actually happening in font of them adding to the simplicity of the whole project, which further emphasizes the focus on the chair.

Gary Hill

Oh Gary Hill, he does some crazy things. His Wall Piece is kind of interesting where he forms sentences from the words he says while running and jumping onto a wall. It creates an unnatural rhythm to the sentence that creates this painful awkwardness and the viewer can hear his voice changes when he actually hits the wall further emphasizing that he is running into a wall and that he will have large bruises all over his body. But the choppyness of his speech gives the impression of photographs especially with the light flashing while he’s jumping. This relates to one of the first things he says which is I live time through a succession of pictures, the rest of his speech isn’t as related because he goes on this strange rant but I like the idea that he is living his live through these brief moments like pictures and the time in between pictures or the darkness doesn’t matter, just whats captured on film. I also live the way he plays with language in Mediations where he distorts sound coming out of a speaking with sand, but in the end doesn’t eliminate it just change it into something else. Lastly I really like his piece where he straps the cameras to all of his limbs and the different perspectives take his body out of contet almost and he appears to be still while the rest of the world is moving around him.

The Knife / The Chair / Gary Hill

The Knife
I really enjoyed how Goldstein was able to physically transform the knife without touching it. First Goldstein changes the knife from a solid object into an empty container being filled. The knife takes on the stance of a horizontal thermometer. The red of mercury rising with the temperture change displayed by the background. When the knife is overwhelmed with red light Goldstein gives a few moments for meditation. At this point i sort of disassociate the knife from temperature and just appreciate the reflections of light. I'm not really sure about the blue knife but i think about the juxtapostion of the connotation of blue which is calm and cool, or possibly frozen versus a knife which is used to cut, possibly cause harm but i think it sort of looks like a butter knife (not so harmful). The green seems radioactive. My favorite part of this piece is when the knife takes on the yellow light, because it changes the value, he transforms this silver knife into gold. Goldstein gots the Midas touch. Maybe thats what its about, touch, making the veiwer afraid to touch the knife, or enticing the viewer to want the knife

The Chair
Okay so I liked the fact that this video was extremely slow because it took me damn near the whole 7 mintues to figure out the chair was covered in glue. We use a chair to sit in so obviously i expected the feathers to take their seat in the chair but when they stuck to the back and arm rests i was like wait a minute is this a chair? I think the piece is most successful when feathers go behind and infront of the chair establishing a sense of space. I would have liked to see this piece continue until the entire chair was covered. I was left a little unsatisfied. Goldstein only hinted at the form of the chair instead of completely revealing it.

Gary Hill
Personally I don't find language very interesting, and obviously Gary Hill does. So on some levels I have trouble connecting with his work. What i did find inspiring from Gary Hills work is the techniques he uses to break down language. When Hill was experimenting with running into the wall and then lighting himself on the jump as he said the word, i felt like the word was exaggerated and obscured all at the same time. The impact of the jump and the light framed the word, but also distracted from it. It was a sensory overload in a moment's time. Another interesting technique was his attempt to say the words in reverse. The reversal of the word crippled its meaning would that same thing apply to my work in movement? Finally in Mediations Hill began burying the sound. I was so blown away by the spiral understanding of the words. Its like it starts out clear then spirals through static back to clarity, its a physical incarnation of that idea of a thin line between extremes. Like you go so insane you reach a point of sanity.

Responses to videos

GARY HILL DOCUMENTARY-

I liked the way Hill spoke of video as not being about image but about the connectors in a circuit. It got me thinking more about the way that we see image with our eyes, not an apparatus. When we see it through technology, it becomes something else, further from image. I also liked his interest with symmetry and how he compared/contrasted it with his hands and feet in some of the pieces. His affinity for using the body is apparent, from the work where he strapped cameras to himself, to the one that observed bodies in panorama, to the one of himself lying naked on the floor. I also like his involvement of speech in most of his work as well, from speaking written language aloud to create a phonetic rhythm to having words spoken backwards. I found the Mediations piece to be especially interesting because it somewhat combined the body, language, and symmetry together. Body because he was using his hands to fill the speaker, language because of the words coming out of the speaker, and symmetry because the wordplay created a strange symmetry of words spoken and events happening in the piece.

THE KNIFE-

I found this to be excruciatingly boring. Which makes me wonder if that was the point of it? The whole time I was watching it, I couldn't help but think "is this all that's going to happen in this video?". It was kind of like watching a movie and waiting for a twist in the plot, and it never happening. When I saw the colors on the knife, instead of thinking of the connotations of each color (red-hot, blue-cold), I thought about the primary colors. And I began to think about contrast among them. I thought to myself, "well he is using the two most bold primary colors, but why? Because they are so different from one another? Is he using their oppositeness to bring different personas to the knife?" And then he made the knife turn yellow at the end, which furthered my thinking about primary colors, but didn't really answer my questions about why. I am sure this piece has a deep, meaningful thought process behind it, but I can't seem to delve deeper than the colors to find it.

THE CHAIR-

After watching this, I am now fairly certain that Goldstein has a thing for doing boring videos. Or maybe I should say simple videos that require patience. Either way, I wanted to fast forward through this one to see what happens too, without watching each feather fall slowly to the ground. I think the fact that he uses feathers further slows the piece, since feathers have such a slow falling rate compared to other, dense objects. I liked the imagery of the colorful feathers creating a confetti-like appeal, but part of me wanted it to be fast, or all of them at once. I am starting to interpret his videos as work that plays with color and tests the viewers patience.

Jack Goldstein: The Knife and The Chair

The Knife

Quite honestly, I felt that this video was extremely boring, uninteresting, and very predictable. Although, it was intriguing that the colors went from a bit duller in the beginning to more vibrant and bright towards the middle. I didn't recieve any emotional content from this piece. I felt that it lacked context. A knife is obviously associated with pain, blood, cutting, and red. It seemed too litteral that the knife would turn red. The warm and cool color switch was ok but I felt that this video just lacked context and was too surface oriented and not deep enough.

The Chair

I enjoyed this piece much better than "The Knife". The what seem to be feathers, although it is hard to make out due to the quality of the video, change the sace completely throughout the video. The piece starts off very solemn and almost foreboading in a sense, an empty chair in a room without an occupant. Then the very colorful feathers gently fall from nowhere eventually fill the space with color almost like confetti in a celebretory manner. This piece gave me a sense of completeness when finished which was much different that my first feeling upon starting the video I felt much of a void. I enjoyed the relaxed nature of the piece and the use of bright playful colors used in a contrasting subdued manner.

Gary Hill Video

This artist was very interesting in his use of video to portray the body and physical properties of the human being. The way Gary uses video in order to explore the body in some ways reminds me of the Aesthetics of Narcisism article. It reminds of of this because like in the video that is viewing the limbs of the body in some ways this could be seen as narcissistic, as well as the video that was shot behind the head. Most of his work seems to analyze the human in such a way that the beings almost become mechanical and not human at all but a mere exploration of science. I enjoyed the works of Gary Hill and felt that he had interesting viewpoints. His pieces seemed to really make me think and reanalyze myself as a human being. I enjoyed his use of camera angles and the difficulties that he conquered while strapping cameras to a moving human being. I also admire the fact that he is the subject in most of his videos, especially the one where he is nude. It must take much courage in order to be the subject of your own work.

The Aesthetics of Narcissism

It seems as if Krauss is implying that video can be nothing more than narcissistic. Typically people are often seen recording themselves to express the idea with video art, such as the man pointing at the center of the television for twenty minutes. It seems as if video is being used to show only the artist and not much else. Krauss makes the argument that video is focused solely on the people being filmed. It is understandable to see this reasoning, but video is also used to record memories and actions, not just the people involved.

The Aesthetics of Narcissism

I really appreciated how Krauss pointed out the fact that video works have to be processed and viewed through a machine. It is a point that is so obvious but something i overlooked. Initially when she pointed this out I felt like it cheapened the art form. With painting and sculpture you see the original with your eyes, with video, the machine limits you. You can't go into the television and look around.

The part of this article I enjoyed the most was when she was talking about the piece called boomerang. I really sympathized with Nancy Holt because I've had a similar experience on phone calls with bad reception. At work I answer phones so it's not like i can just hang up on them. There are times when i hear an echo of myself and i agree that my voice doesn't sound as sure when i hear the echo of it, and then it makes me question what I'm saying and then its this circular disintegration of my confidence and thoughts. I'm not sure that if Krauss's assumption of narcissism is correct. Narcissism seems negative and self obsessed, i would argue that it's self exploration or an awareness of self.

The Aesthetics of Narcissism

Although the article was long and drawn out, it provided many examples of video art in support of its main point that this type of art is "narcissistic". Outside of the art realm, the majority of a video camera's use is definitely to record people, but I'm not sure if I would call this tendency narcissistic. Sometimes people record themselves for blogs, tutorials, etc., but usually people record other people rather than themselves, and it's usually for documentation purposes. In the art world, video art does not always focus on human figures as its subjects, but a fair share of it does. And those that do always convey some type of human emotion that could not be as explicitly expressed through any other subject other than a person. When an artist creates a work relevant to humans and human emotions, what better way to present it than through another human? Any kind of complex psychological state of mind is almost only relatable to humans because no other animal, as far as we know, can think as in depth as we can. So aside from taking an abstract or metaphorical path in creating a video artwork, how else would one directly show emotion?
That might have been a bit of a tangent, but I just can't get the idea through my head that video works featuring humans are narcissistic. I can definitely see where the idea is coming from, but I do not entirely agree with it.

The Aesthetics of Narcissism

I thought that the intent behind the article was interesting, but the way that Krauss presented it didn't work for me. I didn't think it was over my head, however, it was too much information. I get that Krauss believes that video art's medium is narcissism, and she makes a good point, but it could have been stated more simply. I feel that she went on and on, giving too many examples to make her point. It was hard for me to stay connected to the article whenever she would describe pieces of video art that I had never seen; even though she described each work in detail, there was a disconnect because I couldn't relate the points she was making to anything I had physically seen, just the images she had constructed for me. With that said, I really do believe she makes some good points about video art, especially when she relates it to psychology. "Narcissism" was a little further than I would have taken it, and I think that if she had just left her main message as "psychology is the medium for video art" I would have found it much more believable. She makes some really interesting points about "medium" itself, using it to refer to a person's body and the way it reacts as being a type of medium. I feel that if she had kept things more simple and to the point she could have made her ideas come across more valid, because she has some really great argumentation in the article about how video and psychology relate, but it is lost in the jumble of her relating pieces to one another and describing them so in-depth.

Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism

I'm sure like most of the class, I had an extremely hard time following along with this article and understanding it all. Although, what I did get from it was that Krauss was making a point to say that video art many times and in many ways seems to withhold an aesthetic of narcissism. When I think about video I can complelely understand this relationship. When you think of a video camera you immediately think of video taping people, perhaps a christmas gathering. Most often people are the subject in video. Whenever people are involved I feel as though there is always a sort of narcissism attached to the nature of the video. Whether the narcissism is pointed at the videographer or the person that the video is capturing. I feel as though after thinking about the points made in the article and the different art examples shown it is very understandable what this article is trying to say. With video I feel as though the artist may almost be pushed to do work in the aesthetic of narcissism, it's the nature of the equiptment in a way.

More Stop Motion

Pretty sweet music video from Ok Go - nice that they share their trick for a "smooth" animation - 15 frames a second.

Last Leaf

And here's a short created for Soul Pancake, Rainn Wilson's philosophical website.

What is Soul Pancake?

Rosalind Krauss; Narcissism

I found this essay to be a pretty difficult read and hard to follow along. What I got from it though was that Krauss is presenting various examples of narcism, mostly in video works and comparing them to other narcissistic styled works of art. He compares the works with the relationship between the subject, medium, object, artist and viewer. For example, he states that mirror reflections imply the "vanquishing of separateness" and it creates the illusion of erasing the difference between subject and object. Through separation, reflection, projection, and repetition of sound seen in the works of videos he presents video as a sort of narcissistic medium and the artist as self-centered, and sometimes even the audience as well when they are immersed in the video through mirrors and projection. It looks like Krauss might be trying to point out how self-absorbed our society has become and how careful we need to be because it is so easy to become narcissistic without even realizing it being in your own world.

Narcissism

This essay went way over my head, so this attempt at an analysis was a struggle and probably won't make any sense.

This essay presents an intriguing overall theme of sorts through out the entire paper: narcissism as a psychological condition vs. a physical condition and the relationship between the viewer and artists self and the work. Obviously narcissism is a psychological state however in the examples of work presented there is a separation of self and reflection that creates a projected visual of narcissism, usually with the device of a mirror. The mirror projects an exact replica of the viewer, therefore establishing a second reality that is physically detached from the original, so one is able to view or analyze oneself as an art piece almost. Here where the viewer becomes the subject, narcissism is presented because now the viewer or artist in some cases is completely absorbed in themselves, this is also present in the audio feedback loops that are slightly delayed to allow for examination. Krauss says it best when he describes the situation as self-encapsulation. My favorite example of this is mem and dor. Here, there is a constant relationship between the camera, projector, wall, and viewer. The camera is place so that in both pieces the viewer struggles to see themselves projected but is unable to because the must either be leaving the room or up against a wall for the camera to register them and project a clear picture, so the viewer is constantly struggling and and rearranging themselves to see an unattainable image of them self, an action of narcissism, that presents a physical example for the viewer to realize. The essay also discusses the difference between subject and object. Subject being the meaning or intention of the piece, what the art is about and the object being the actual visual presented. In all of the examples Krauss presents the subject and the object are one person the viewer/artist (depending on which piece) creating the study of oneself, or self encapsulation (narcissism). This essay and these pieces not only create a situation in which we must analyze our self but also present the idea of how comfortable we are in doing so and the urge as well, a reflection of the attitudes of today's society where everyone lives for themselves.

The Five Obstructions

I found Lars Von Trier's methodology of challenging Jorgen Leth as very beneficial to the creation of his projects. At first I thought it seemed harsh to put such limitations and such challenges, but after seeing the outcomes of Jorgen Leth's projects I definitely think it helped. It made him think outside the box and explore new possibilities and techniques he would've never explored in his movies. It made him look beyond his comfort zone and what he would normally think to do and His projects turned out really well and unique.

I feel like the obstruction of having complete freedom was the worst since he had been used to having such limitations and now he had endless opportunities and options that it'd be hard to think of where to begin and what to do. However, in Jorgen Leth's eyes, I feel like the cartoon one was the worst for him since he hated cartoons and had never really enjoyed a cartoon. He seemed to hate that idea the most and was worried that "it'd be a load of crap", however he was extremely successful with the cartoon project in the end.

Flexibility with rules in projects definitely affects the outcome of the projects in the end I feel like. It can completely alter the whole project and either make it successful or not. Depending on the flexibility, it can be interpreted differently. The more flexibility, the more loosely based the interpretation can be. I think flexible rules allows for more exciting and varied perspectives on projects.

Yes, the film has inspired me in various ways to approach my current project and future projects. I want to sort of place more limits and guidelines on myself so I can really explore new techniques and interpretations. I feel like this could really help me start thinking outside the box more and push my projects further. I really like how his 12 frame limitation turned out and the cartoon project turned out so I'd like to use those limits on a project somtime in the future, as well.

The Five Obstructions

I think Von Trier's placing obstructions on Leth's projects is helpful; it provided a challenge to help him think critically and evaluate his processes when creating a movie. It caused each version to have a completely different style, which in turn allows the viewer to realize how many ways a director can interpret the same subject.

I thought the "worst" obstruction was the lack of an obstruction. Even though I enjoyed the result of that version, it seemed kind of useless because with any project you are normally without an obstruction. So this wasn't much of a challenge. Although because he had been working with specific constraints before, his mindset was probably already altered. The result of the "no obstruction" movie that we saw was probably different than if that had been the first "obstruction", before any of the constrained exercises had began.

The flexibility of the rules relies in how literally one interprets them. Perhaps Von Trier should have specified that he literally wanted Leth isolated from people in the environment, without any hint of them in the footage. Von Trier expected Leth to rigidly adhere to the rules, whereas Leth ended up only loosely following them. Oftentimes, when rules are loosely followed, it allows for more diverse and personalized interpretations of the project. However, for the sake of this exercise, adhering to the rules at least a reasonable amount was the most productive way.

The film kind of made me want to use people as a subject. However, using people is difficult because they need to be able to act and do exactly what you direct them to do, and that doesn't always work out well. I think that the different angles used and the speed of the cuts between the different angles were the most influential aspects for me, and they made me think about whether those can be utilized in my project.

Five Obstructions

I thought the way that Lars Von Treir challenged Jorgen Leth was very interesting. I particularly liked the way that he did this. It seemed extremely psychological. I admire the thought and intelligence that was put into the way that Lars decided to challenge Jorgen. I believe that placing obstructions and limitations on projects is helpful because it makes you think in a way that you may not have before. As an artist it is good to be challenged and to find new ways to work around your parameters. As an artist we are always needing to find solutions, and having parameters set on projects is a good way to get into the habit of solving and finding solutions as well as let you think in a way that you may otherwise not have had the oportunity to think.
The obstruction that I think was the worst out of the five was to put the video into cartoon format. I feel as if that was handed to be I would have a lot of trouble figuring that out. It was very impressive how Jorgen solved this problem.
Flexibility with rules can completely change a project. If you decide to flex the rules than the parameters are not being followed and no problems are being solved. You may not learn as much if you decide to make your own or change the rules. The film has made me think about the project that I am currently working on in a way that I feel as though I should approach it not as I normally would but to take a completely different angle on the norm.