One of the few works I viewed at the Whitney Biennial that possessed features that I feel are relevant towards quality art was the work titled H.M, by Kerry Tribe. This work contained a double projection of a single 16mm film which runs 18:30 minutes.
The work H.M revolves around the story of a memory- impaired man who at the age of 27 underwent surgery to lessen his epilepsy; however the surgery resulted in radical and persistent amnesia. He no longer could make lasting memories and had a memory lasting only 20 seconds. Tribe uses two projectors to play a loop of video which displays the same video but spaced 20 seconds apart. This simple separation of video and time is one of the most intriguing and successful parts of her work.
Tribe employs the idea of lapsed memory pertaining to that of “Patient H.M,” by displaying these same videos at a twenty second difference. This creates a very interesting visual aspect to the work due to its narrative, that of an amnesia patient. By having this lapse it allows the viewer to enter the world of “Patient H.M,” creating a type of visual chaos that causes your eyes to wander between the videos taking in the information that both are displaying. Another successful aspect of Tribe’s work is the use of video to only create her work, as a material and as a way or projection, but also to act as a type of symbolism to our memory, since we often relate photography and film to that of recorded history)
Overall, the combination of material, visual and auditory elements used by Kerry Tribe made her work one of the most successful pieces at the Whitney Biennial. Tribe used all aspects of what many sculpture artists should pay attention to, not only a focus on the construction, presentation and the meaning behind the work but also taking these individual elements and making sure they all relate to each other, thus making the piece complete.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
MOMA:Marina Abramovic
The MOMA is currently holding an exhibition which runs from March 14 to May 31, 2010, titled Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present. The exhibition contains much of Abramovic’s media related work from her prolific career, including a live performance.
The Balkans Erotic Epic is a four channel video, displayed in color and with sound, which is created by Marina Abramovic. New media in this work is employed through various projections. At the MOMA there were three projections being displayed. The first contained various women in Balkan related attire, revealing their genitals while frolicking in a field with rain poring down on them. The second projection contained a woman, once again in Balkan attire, showcasing and massaging her breast. The final projection displays various nude men from overhead thrusting themselves into a lush green setting. This is one of the few works by Abramovic in which I found it was conceptually, visually and technically effective. Conceptually I thought it was very interesting that she was tying her Serbian origins into Balkan folk culture and its use of the erotic. Visually the three projections were successful in that they not only individually had a narrative but as a collective whole developed meaning. (For me it was about fertility in relation to the human form and our world, most likely relating to agriculture.) What I actually found most interesting about the piece besides the exclusion of Marina Abramovic, was that through research I found out the piece was actually a series of thirteen video projections which are often not shown as a whole. I can’t help but wonder whether this would impede on the success of this piece, in that if it would only add to its success or take away due to a visual overstimulation.
The Artist is Present 2010 is a live performance performed by Marina Abramovic. The new media this performance employed was two lap tops which were connected to two cameras which relayed a live feed to an internet site, four lights with blasts and other attachments and a live cameraman documenting the performance. The actual performance has Abramovic sitting in a chair with a table in front of her and an empty seat across from her. This empty seat is filled with any visitor to the museum who wants to sit directly across from Abramovic and make eye contact with her for the duration of their choice. Overall, I did not find the piece strongly successful conceptually, visually and technically. Conceptually the piece tied into much of her other work in the idea of not only interaction with the viewer but also playing off the idea of discomfort, however it did not have the same symbolic nature that I often associate with her other work. Visually it was interesting to see the live performance, but after a sitting or two it was repetitive and melancholy.
These two pieces, the Balkans Erotic Epic and the live performance, varied in that one was recorded history while the other was a live event. To me, this actually had a drastic effect on the piece. The Balkans Erotic Epic was more successful in that it was no longer raw footage and rather was an edited video which had significant meaning and symbolism, like much of her other recorded work. However, the live performance, though it was significant in that it was in the present and had the interaction aspect which Abramovic is famous for, seemed to lack the symbolic and meaningful nature her other work in the exhibition contained.
Overall, I enjoyed the exhibition (especially after being at the Biennial), I felt it highlighted Abramovic’s work and she did an amazing job in recreating many of her performances for us so that we could experience them. However, I couldn’t help but feel the live performance was purely a type of meet and greet with the artist honoring her for what she had done. Yes, this makes sense in that the exhibition was highlighting her work throughout her lustrous career but it also lacked the quality of much of her previous work.
The Balkans Erotic Epic is a four channel video, displayed in color and with sound, which is created by Marina Abramovic. New media in this work is employed through various projections. At the MOMA there were three projections being displayed. The first contained various women in Balkan related attire, revealing their genitals while frolicking in a field with rain poring down on them. The second projection contained a woman, once again in Balkan attire, showcasing and massaging her breast. The final projection displays various nude men from overhead thrusting themselves into a lush green setting. This is one of the few works by Abramovic in which I found it was conceptually, visually and technically effective. Conceptually I thought it was very interesting that she was tying her Serbian origins into Balkan folk culture and its use of the erotic. Visually the three projections were successful in that they not only individually had a narrative but as a collective whole developed meaning. (For me it was about fertility in relation to the human form and our world, most likely relating to agriculture.) What I actually found most interesting about the piece besides the exclusion of Marina Abramovic, was that through research I found out the piece was actually a series of thirteen video projections which are often not shown as a whole. I can’t help but wonder whether this would impede on the success of this piece, in that if it would only add to its success or take away due to a visual overstimulation.
The Artist is Present 2010 is a live performance performed by Marina Abramovic. The new media this performance employed was two lap tops which were connected to two cameras which relayed a live feed to an internet site, four lights with blasts and other attachments and a live cameraman documenting the performance. The actual performance has Abramovic sitting in a chair with a table in front of her and an empty seat across from her. This empty seat is filled with any visitor to the museum who wants to sit directly across from Abramovic and make eye contact with her for the duration of their choice. Overall, I did not find the piece strongly successful conceptually, visually and technically. Conceptually the piece tied into much of her other work in the idea of not only interaction with the viewer but also playing off the idea of discomfort, however it did not have the same symbolic nature that I often associate with her other work. Visually it was interesting to see the live performance, but after a sitting or two it was repetitive and melancholy.
These two pieces, the Balkans Erotic Epic and the live performance, varied in that one was recorded history while the other was a live event. To me, this actually had a drastic effect on the piece. The Balkans Erotic Epic was more successful in that it was no longer raw footage and rather was an edited video which had significant meaning and symbolism, like much of her other recorded work. However, the live performance, though it was significant in that it was in the present and had the interaction aspect which Abramovic is famous for, seemed to lack the symbolic and meaningful nature her other work in the exhibition contained.
Overall, I enjoyed the exhibition (especially after being at the Biennial), I felt it highlighted Abramovic’s work and she did an amazing job in recreating many of her performances for us so that we could experience them. However, I couldn’t help but feel the live performance was purely a type of meet and greet with the artist honoring her for what she had done. Yes, this makes sense in that the exhibition was highlighting her work throughout her lustrous career but it also lacked the quality of much of her previous work.
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