Final Project: America's Favorite Pastime

"To a great extent the significance of all types of video art derives from its stance with respect to some aspect of television, which is itself profoundly related to the present state of our culture. In this way video art embarks on a curiously mediated but serious critique of the culture. And this reference to television, and through it to the culture, is not dependent on whether or not the artist sees the work in relation to television. The relation to television and video is created by the shared technologies and condition of viewing...Nevertheless, an artist may exploit the relation very knowingly and may choose any aspect of the relation for attack."

I took this excerpt from David Antin's chapter, Video: The Distinctive Features of the Medium, because it provides the model for my final video project America's Favorite Pastime.  On YouTube, there is a wealth of cute animal videos far beyond the point of ridiculousness. In the spirit of our viral video project I took and compiled this found footage. To provide contrast, I paired with it another pervasive element of American culture - fear mongering, and our subjectivity to it. The pairing provides a comedic commentary of our preoccupations: fear vs. escapist cute overload.
Many of the images are of the little animals being teased or in a compromised situation - puppy stuck on his back, "scared kitten," hedgehog stuck in a toilet paper roll, etc. I found it kind of poetic - a reflection of our own compromised helplessness subject to and influenced by our culture of fear - used to control people and sell them things - hence soundbites re: "The War on Terror" and prescription medicine ads.


Another dimension of this that I find interesting is our whole culture of YouTube, Vimeo etc. With the medium of video so accessible and the outlet of these "Broadcast Yourself" sites, we are provided this bizarre, intimate portrait of people's mundane, home lives of pets, children and such, totally bluring the line between private and public and stripping this medium of its preciousness. I can't say whether this is a good or bad thing.
Oh, and the final goal of this video was to use the corny final cut transitions! So fun! I love "multi checker"

An Exploration of the South

And so, here is my final draft of the "Place" project. After afore listed failed attempts, I decided to work in a less concept based and more random based process.  I thought about Jan Peacock and how she works by just gathering footage and later giving it context.  Since I was traveling over the break, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to film and be inspired.  The resulting video is a compilation of some of that footage.  When it came time to edit, while I did want to experiment more with the capabilities of Final Cut, I also wanted to allow the unedited footage to impart an unexpected result. Therefore, I did not tweak anything and kept the ambient sound on all videos – I layered them on top one another by just cropping to the horizon line and then stacked them.  And so, I let randomness dictate the composition and out of it got something I’m really happy with.

In relation to “place,” this very much depicts my memory and the impression of my travels. Every place we go carries a distinct mood that is difficult to articulate. For me, this video captures “Georgia, When I Was There.”

"Place" many failed attempts at going there.

Well, so far this project has been revelatory for me due to many false starts.  I felt very inspired by our class discussion and was flooded with a number of ideas, the first being an exploration of how presence informs place.  I wanted to gather video footage from places particularly inspirited by people’s presence by filming when no one is there.  For example a sad bar room during the day or dark playground at night.  I wanted the still images to capture the places in an uncanny state of desolation.  The problem I ran in to was that of lighting.  Three attempts in different places were too dark and resulted in grainy, unclear footage rather than the beautiful images I had crafted in my mind.  And so my technological inexperience with video proved a hurdle as well as a valuable lesson.

My next idea was Alamo Square Park.  I always pass this place and its postcard view of the row of Victorians. It is a beautiful SF vantage point, and an irresistible photo op, but I can’t help but laugh at the hundreds of people per day that take that same photo time and time again.  One can go there at any time of the day on any day of the week and someone will be there, taking a photo.  My plan was to gather about three hours steady of footage from across the street (Victorian row side).  I wanted to speed it up so as to see the volumes of people that constantly filter through snapping away.  I was debating on whether or not to even show the houses and background skyline. It would be pretty funny without, but on the other hand periodic snapshot inserts of similar photo results would be pretty hilarious also.  Though presented in a kind of snarky manner, the video comments on this idea of place and how people record their presence there.  Many times they aren’t even in the photo, so they may as well buy a postcard – probably a better image anyway – but we humans have this desire to say, “I was there;” and recording our being there in that place is significant to us.  My problem with this project, however, was battery power.  I only got ten minutes of unplugged time.  I'm thinking probably the best way to film this would be from the corner apartment of a neighboring building.  I got some footage, and then took some with my camera phone, but that footage is not very high resolution.  Yet another technical issue – location and equipment.  I know every filmmaker is familiar with how to negotiate these issues, but for me, as a traditional visual artist, I came up with the concept before figuring the technological aspects.  Herein lies another lesson in video.

Next up, I'm going away over Spring break to my first tour of the deep South.  I plan to get some footage there in another attempt at defining place in video.  Stay tuned..

Viral Video

For our viral video project we were to take three master sources and make a mash-up with the intent to go viral. 
Each class member brought in a clip that they contributed to the pool.  We were to use:
1) our own clip
2) a class mates clip
3) one of three famous clips provided (Metropolis, Frankenstein, or Wizard of Oz)

We discussed characteristics of viral videos and approaches to making them catch on.  Some of the tools that my group plans to implement are provocative tagging (closely connected as well as loosely connected).  Facebook, email blasts.  Targeted interest-group forums. Blogging. And covering all of the video site resources: Vimeo, YouTube, et al.

I plan to tweak my video to make it more interesting to the general public.  so coming soon EVERYWHERE near you!

Results update: 5/17/11
You must go to my YouTube channel to tally my "hit" results because I actually posted it twice. It was live for a couple of weeks, but in a smaller format (A valuable lesson on setting importing and exporting format). I hope both versions can be counted since they are the same content. Last I checked total was 98!

War and Puberty

Video mashup test with Patrick

Puberty and War - Mashup from Patrick Boehner on Vimeo.

Richard Serra

I wanted to research Richard Serra's work in video. Before this class I had been familiar with his sculpture, but not his video work. I enjoyed the experimental nature of "Boomerang" and his exploration of this relatively new medium. It is such a far different medium than steel, that I find his success in it really fantastic. With his various pieces critiquing television, he uses an entertaining game show format paired with entertaining contemporaries: Spaulding Gray, Leo Castelli, and others.

I'm drawn to this idea because I too find popular culture and media one of the entities most in need of artistic and cultural critique. I found the time period interesting as news and television were becoming a more ubiquitous part of American culture.
"It's all a lot of shit. Listen, I know television consciousness was developed in the 60s. And yet, in 1974, people still accept what they see on their TV sets as valid information."
Unfortunately this has become more and more true. On the other-hand, Serra's generation also spawned this cynical distrust of media, authority, etc. while media and television continues to propel into a larger, more aggressive foe and promoter of the mainstream. From it, a subversive culture has been born to counteract mainstream's influence. Serra was one of the pioneers of this and today we continue the tradition of using television's own medium against it. I hope to do some of that in this class and know this would be a good forum for it.

About the video medium

"The work ends whenever its intention is accomplished. The time is inherent time, the time required for the task at hand. The work is "boring," as Les Levine remarked...whether they are interesting or not is largely a matter of judging the value of the task at hand."
Videotapes are boring if you demand that they be something else. But they're not judged boring by comparison with paintings or sculpture, they're judged boring in comparison with television, which for the last twenty years has set the standard of video time."

I found this concept really interesting. I can say, I too have labeled a video installation or two as boring. And really it is due to, as Antin points out, TV. We are used to being sold when watching video - whether products or entertainment. On TV something is always happening. And the purpose is clear. And in the end there will be a conclusion - even if its spoon-fed and predictable.

Video is about time - and sometimes I go to the museum without enough of it. So then it brings about this urgency, as the viewer, for a payoff for time invested - I suppose with a painting I can sit and look at it for however long let the impression take and move on whenever I feel it has. Still (non-moving) art is timeless in this way, it doesn't change. Which I guess could be labeled more boring then say an ice cube melting as in Terry Fox's Children's Tapes. With a painting, however, one can choose to glance then keep walking. Still having had the chance to see the whole thing, though maybe not to intellectualize it. When I watch the ice cube melting, I basically know what is going to happen, but the curiosity gets me and I must stay because I believe that if someone made this with intent and purpose, then there must be value in seeing it through.

This is actually really what I've found so fantastic about working in video - even when it's boring, it's still kind of interesting ..because something is happening. Because for the audience, that expectation demands attention. And a small effect can have a large impact.

Self-Portrait & Story Boarding

For the Self Portrait assignment I tried to remember to "keep it simple" - something I always have trouble doing. I thought that something clear and minimal would be the most effective for this. Shot of me in the bathroom , shot of me exiting stall, walk to mirror, look at self, self critical, sigh of defeat, exit. I felt a simple intimate portrait would be clear and telling. I was a little intimidated when I saw the complexity of some of the other student's work, but really happy when someone pointed mine out first and described the intent that I was going for - even through my rushed, overly self-conscious performance.

It was a good exercise in planning and camera work.

What I really enjoyed was storyboarding! I am now considering that for a career path. I'm going to research it more and see if there are any classes available in the film dept.