I’ve named this vid Metamorphosis partly because it starts out being one thing and becomes something quite different by the end. Watch out for the twist in the middle (its only 3 minutes long by the way). Enjoy!
Category Archives: Video art
Video art: The curtain
I was sitting in the computer lab and noticed the play of light through the curtains along one side of the room – they were designed to let in enough light to provide some illumination, but not so much as to inhibit our view of the screens. Nothing worse than sunlight on your computer screen!
I sat and just looked and after a while noticed there was a certain beauty to the way the light played through the curtains, particularly when a little bit of breeze caused them to bend and twist. As a result I decided to make a very short film exploring this – I hope you have a look!
Walking home
Jenkins, W. (2013). Video.
“Walking home” is basically a little vid about observation. When you walk home do you notice the leaves on the ground? Do you notice their colours, shapes and texture?
The everyday things we take for granted can still be full of wonder. Greeting the cat, getting the mail, sitting down after a long day.. are things most people do everyday. Yet, these simple little acts are often the very things that make life tolerable.
Video art: Bill Viola
Viola, B. (2008). The Reflecting Pool. Uploaded from http://youtu.be/D_urrt8X0l8
Viola, B. (2008). Acceptance. Uploaded from http://youtu.be/UJQmV8aPNao
“One of the things the camera taught me was to see the world, the same world that my eyes sees, in its metaphoric, symbolic state. This condition is, in fact, always present, latent in the world around us.” Bill Viola.
I am often drawn to the moving image, partly because things, well…. move – things happen which adds a dynamic, static art cannot reveal. As a result video art can be used in part to tell a story, tap into an emotional response and / or create an visual / sound-scape not possible with traditional media such as painting.
Bill Viola is one of the world’s leading exponents of video art. In 1960 at the age of nine, Viola became captain of the TV squad at school. Around a decade later he attended Syracuse University’s then experimental “new media” programme. He later worked in video for a range of leading museums before branching out into video production, largely for a museum audience.
He often uses extreme slow motion to reveal nuances of gesture and expression. His best known works include The Passing, The Reflecting Pool, The Crossing, Five Angels for the Millennium, The Greeting and Nantes Triptych. He lives in Long Beach, California.
I plan to make some video art submissions for this blog – watch out, you might get caught on camera!
The art of life 