#anightofinspiration

[janisinaj]

#thebroad #anightofinspiration #design #latepost (at The Broad)

[disorderlydessert]

Under the Dome: Review Me.

!rt Space Review:! !

T!he Shadow Of The Dome Of Pleasure. Sept 4- Oct 10.!

Art Space, is a familiar location to many of us. A place to go view art. However, when I entered through it’s glass doors as did not find myself in it’s open, white area, I was taken back to my time at the Light Show and the Auckland Art Gallery. A time where I felt my body shift. My mood shift. I went from ordinary to extraordinary simply because Art Space was dark. The show of moving image works had been installation like a maze with each dead end or odd corner container a monitor or a pair of headphones. Thus, instead of feeling trapped between the walls, we were ivied i!nto new worlds, on a smaller scale, and through the means of technology.!

Works that spoke to me was a video sound piece by Jesse Darling Lil icarus, 2013 (HD 32”), a large scale cinema-like video by Ryan Tercartin(Item Falls, 2013, HD video, 25:45), and another large video with sound interaction from Akram Zaatari (The End of Time, 2013, HD video, 14:26)! 


The first work to see was by Andy Warhol. An artist I am currently looking at in terms of beauty, sexuality, identity and formal values of moving image and capturing personas. It made totally sense ego put a historical reference at the beginning, with the use of old projected film, to contextualise where the following contemporary works have risen from. Interesting, Warhol’s small projection with a mid-close up of a male’s face, seemingly in pleasure, but not really doing much, and voted in sepia, no longer has the same subliminal impact if would have had in our day. Compared to moving into the next space of Darling’s work, where the viewer is invited to put on a pair of headphones, forcing them to step closer to the screen. The breaks up the tension of the intimacy because the viewer has been given permission to see Darling this close. Darling’s homemade footage, of what correlates to a selfie, it is vulnerable. But i think under the context of the show, in such an accepting area, her work isn’t shockingly raw, but more a soft tough of exposure. The sound is of high pitched chipmunk-like conversation, or which I cannot recalled what was being s!aid, besides “get naked”. There you go.!

Another video and sound work was Zaatari’s The End of Time which contained two male characters, who mostly stood facing opposite each other, profile to us, in a tshirt and underwear. A narrative is constructed between them from the cutting between close ups of their faces, gazing up at both us and their opposing subject, and the interjection of text to give an indication of time passing - a time beyond the actual duration of the video - the video represented the larger scale of their relationship, a ‘nuanced’ version of their story. After each cut their actions would differ, from one male pushing on man down, gently, or them removing an item of clothing. An interesting point was the extra time it took for one male to remove his underwear, which created an understandable tension between the characters and the viewers of waiting. The “will he do it”. And he did. But it wasn’t shocking, to me anyway. The sound which was going in the the headphones, difficult to recall, was soundtrack over any dialogue. Footsteps, crackling, an airy tune through out. 
 The video ended with one man gifting the other all his clothing, folded in a pile in front of the other male. The text interrupted with something like “here, have all my things”. It became a full stop to the video and the full stop to many relationships out there. There is a beauty in leaving behind your things with someone that you’ll no longer be with physically, but your time with them will continue to tick. !

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The final work to view was Tercartin’s Item Falls. In summary, this video was fun to engage with. It was loaded with ridiculous things! Basically, it seemed like homemade filming, within bedroom and living areas, which recalled a backpackers, with many beds and the mess. Also, the diversity of people pulled on that idea. The rooms were full of sheets, ladders, skateboards, lamps, painted people, a horse showed up, costuming outfits, anything you can think of was there, or very well should have been. One could spend hours analysing every item of this set up, but what my friend and I decided upon was that it was all chance and to accept the fact that it doesn’t need a deeper analysis to understand and enjoy the piece. The post-production was the most impressive part of the work as it did indicate some labour over the ‘simple’ filming and a skill set. These skills would vary to the traditional narrative developing editing techniques. Unsure on how to communicate the visual effects but it could relate to as if someone had coloured in the figures with over inky felt tip pens, or stuck stickers on the screen. There were colour blotches of mystical tones (the like-on- drugs colours) paired with snippets of videos, longer shots, fast forwards, repeats. It was a mess. But a beautiful mess. !

All these works speak to odd desires we feel, but under the politics of accepting strange pleasures. It’s composed with the right balance of revealing and elements of censorship. Viewers can experience these moments of intimacy between subject, artist, themselves, without feeling too much judgement of irrational enjoyment. !


 


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