David Black's is very versatile; He works with Photography, Motion and Cinematography. He inspires me to experiment with HD movie-making with my new 5D Mark II. BIOGRAPHY
Print Magazine named David as a top New Visual Artist under 30, he was included in the Art Directors Club of New York "Young Guns" Show and Bookand in 2008 David was nominated for best individual portrait by The New York Photo Festival. His work has also appeared in American Photography. David studied at The Cooper Union and San Francisco Art Institute. He is currently visiting faculty at Pratt Institute and San Francisco Art Institute.
In an interview you said "I'd say that there is no limit to the tools that I would use to enchant the listeners. They may feel that colored gels and dim lights are puny weapons compared to the slick acting and climactic musical montages of standard Hollywood fare, but the lilting voice of the old man, his scarred face illuminated by the flickering flames of the fireside, is a meme already etched deep into their collective unconscious." What is the most enchanting tools you can imagine in either a past or future storytelling lectures?
Your work spans across a very wide group of mediums. What were your beginnings in the your earlier artmaking processes? Specifically how has that evolved into something so diverse?
Most interesting thing I learned about Alexandre Singh:
I really had no idea what to expect from the lecture because I didn't fully understand the performative aspect of his work and how that would play out. I have a much greater understanding of his work and vision...I am also interested in how his performative work has manifested itself into a desire to create a film. I am really interested right now in exploring film-making. It is the most influential and inspiring part of creating my still images.
Most compelling work
I found Singh’s "The Hello Meth Lab in the Sun" to be the most compelling. This work was a collaborative effort. Hearing him talk about his high interest and affinity toward collaborative work reminded me a lot of past lecture with Hank Willis Thomas and how they both end up just forming friendships and networking to create these brilliant works facilitated by an amalgamation of intellectual talent. This installation was described as "exhaustive, ambitious and utterly immense," allowing the viewer to become so closely involved and connected to the work.
New Question
Can you talk more about your vision for your upcoming film?
THE POWER OF THE MOVING IMAGE My films are an extension of my poetry, using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images. -James Broughton
I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians. -Francis Ford Coppola
I've been talking to Paul a lot more about how rhythm is so integral to a series of work. There needs to be a distinct narrative and a build up within the imagery to suggest the storyline for you, whereas in film the pacing, sound, lighting, etc. are all elements and devices that the director uses to evoke certain emotions within the viewer. It's much harder to suggest these things when you are working with still imagery. I'm learning that more and more everyday...
I have been returning to places from my youth that were significant in the beginning of my life. I about to embark on a cross country move and want to document these things before I leave for the West Coast...
This is an interactive film by Chris Milk- replace your childhood address with mine to make this experience specifically for you. Mine can be viewed HERE. This film literally brought tears to my eyes. Reminds me of a time when things were so much simpler.
I am interested in the work of Jacqueline Di Milia because she really captures the intimacy of the moment in her photographs. She has also collaborated on a music video...allowing her still imagery to manifest into the moving image.
Jacqueline Di Milia is a photographer splitting her time between Brooklyn, NY and Los Angeles, CA.
Jacqueline Di Milia grew up in America’s first mass produced suburbia, Levittown, New York. In Spring of 2005 she received a BFA in Photography from the School Of Visual Arts. After a few years of photo assisting with wide range of photographers, including Danielle Levitt and Cass Bird, she began shooting editorially in 2006. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York and obsessively watches French New Wave films. We interviewed her recently.
"New Photography/Jacqueline Di Milia." Lost At E Minor (2008): n. pag. Web. 08 Nov 2010. . QUOTES:
"I mostly pull away with inspiration from film makers like Godard, Polanski, and Ozon, to start with."
"My favourite shoots are ones where I can meet the subject where they live and simply follow them around for a day. I love it when I can shoot someone and it doesn’t feel like someone is just standing there for the sake of the photo, it makes everything very intimate."
"New Photography/Jacqueline Di Milia." Lost At E Minor (2008): n. pag. Web. 08 Nov 2010.
Simon Tarr made his first movie at the age of eight. The strip of film was fashioned from sandwich bags taped together, with spaceships drawn on it. The projector was a shoebox with a lamp in it, the lens was a magnifying glass on the end of a toilet paper tube. The film premiered on the wall of his bedroom, where the film melted after a few seconds.
Since then, Simon Tarr's films have been screened on every continent (yes, even Antarctica) in hundreds of film festivals.
Simon Tarr's Lecture was short and sweet. He showed us a series of 3 short films followed by a longer film and then ended with the longer of them all. I really wish I knew more about film-making so that I could ask him a few more technical questions, but he spoke a lot his process at the end when questions were welcomed. His work reminded me a lot of Paul Pfeiffer's (another guest lecturer to visit VCU)- they both incorporated appropriated footage.
What was the most interesting quote of the lecture and why? "This may or may not be hardcore porn." - as he showed us what was assumed to be scrambled unidentifiable hardcore porn footage set to the tune of a 1920's sounding jazz singer.
"I try to make a practice to shoot everyday...even when you're not feeling it...It's important not to wait for inspiration or a muse..." Hearing him talk about making it a habit to shoot really hit home for me. I need to be more on top of shooting on a regular basis...Even when I'm not "feeling it."
"...You are my academic grandchildren. I've always wanted to say that!"
Using three words, define the core of the artist's practice and artwork. Hunter-gatherer. VJ/Video Artist. Making it a practice to shoot daily- often using footage that would ordinarily be scrapped.
What is the most interesting thing you learned about the artist that you did not know before? Prior to this lecture, the only thing I ever really new about VJs was seen on MTV in the days of Total Request Live. I was interested to hear what VJing meant to Tarr and how remixing these videos each time to make them unique made it a performative experience for him and the audience.
I also really liked the film "Interruptus." When I got home I looked up "interruptus" and this came up. Coitus interruptus. I am assuming that is related to the reference he made: "this film may or may not be hardcore porn."
Coitus interruptus, also known as withdrawal or the pull-out method, is a birth-control technique in which a man withdraws his penis from a woman prior to ejaculation during intercourse, with the semen being ejaculated away from the vagina.
It has been widely used for at least two millennia as a method of contraception, and is still in use today. This method was used by an estimated thirty-eight million couples worldwide in 1991.[1] Withdrawal does not protect against STDs or STIs. Medical professionals view withdrawal as an ineffective method of birth control for adolescents. [2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coitus_interruptus
Do you know the answer to your two original questions? If so, what are the answers? What is your experience with 3D filmmaking? How do you feel about the 3D phenomena? He talked a little bit about "FUD" and how it was made by incorporating footage from 2 different security cameras. Sundog Verga Matrix was intended to be viewed with 3D glasses, but "it became old carrying around a huge box of disposable 3D glasses (that had to be tossed after use to avoid passing on pink eye!)" I can see that his experience with supplying 3D glasses was problematic, but does that mean that he won't release a 3D film through Netflix? I'm not sure.
What does being a VJ mean to you? (I know I'm really showing my age here, but my only prior knowledge of a "VJ" is from MTV's Total Request Live days... Originally hired to represent a wide array of musical tastes and personal ethnicities, VJs eventually became famous in their own right. Initially, they were nothing more than on-air personalities, but as the popularity of MTV grew, they began to branch out past just introducing music clips. Soon, they were considered by many to be full fledged music journalists, interviewing major music celebrities and hosting their own television shows on the channel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MTV_VJs) (see above) What image or artwork do you find the most compelling and powerful after hearing the artist describe it? I really enjoyed hearing Tarr talk about his very first video "Extremely Bright Lights and the Sound of Explosions" which also happened to be my favorite film of the evening. I enjoyed its graphic quality, text and simplicity. It was the very FINAL film of the 21st Century, released at 11:59.59pm December 31st, 2000. This film specifically reminded me of Paul Pfeiffer's piece "The Long Count (The Rumble in the Jungle) (2001): a video of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman fighting, from which the fighters have been digitally removed.
Do you have any new questions in regards to the artist? Can you talk more about "glitch" video? What does the pornographic reference really have to do with "interruptus"?
What is your experience with 3D filmmaking? How do you feel about the 3D phenomena?
What does being a VJ mean to you? (I know I'm really showing my age here, but my only prior knowledge of a "VJ" is from MTV's Total Request Live days... Originally hired to represent a wide array of musical tastes and personal ethnicities, VJs eventually became famous in their own right. Initially, they were nothing more than on-air personalities, but as the popularity of MTV grew, they began to branch out past just introducing music clips. Soon, they were considered by many to be full fledged music journalists, interviewing major music celebrities and hosting their own television shows on the channel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MTV_VJs)
I have to say that I was really shocked when I saw her at the lecture. I thought for sure she was young due to multiple interviews that I read about her: she seemed so young at heart! I really enjoyed her lecture and her approaches to her work. I am fascinated by her obsession, if you will, of the emotionally and psychologically disturbed and how it has manifested itself into these incredible video projections of "small figures that conform to even tinier places." I am impressed by her ambition to experiment with a plethora of media in order to find what many different avenues for her work to function. Most of all I really loved Zoe Beloff's adorable Scottish accent.
WORK
She showed us the short film "My Dream of Dental Irritation" Year : 1964 Filmmaker: Robert Troutman "Bobby Beaujolais" Transfer note: copied at 18 frames per second from an 8mm Kodachrome camera original with magnetic stripped sound. Music: "The Man that Got Away" and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland on the album, "Judy at Carnegie Hall" Running time: 5 minutes 10 seconds
The Embrace composite of two video frames, N.F.S., 2005
BIOGRAPHY Zoe Beloff grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1980 she moved to New York to study at Columbia University where she received an MFA in Film. Her work has been featured in international exhibitions and screenings; venues include the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Freud Dream Museum in St. Petersburg, and the Pompidou Center in Paris. In 2009 she participated in the Athens Biennale, and has an upcoming project with MuHKA Museum in Antwerp. Her most recently completed work is the exhibition “The Coney Island Amateur Psychoanalytic Society and their Circle. She has been working with the Christine Burgin Gallery on a number of artist projects that include books and prints.
Zoe works with a wide range of media including film, stereoscopic projection performance, interactive media, installation and drawing.Her artistic interest lies in finding ways to graphically manifest the unconscious processes of the mind. She considers herself a medium, an interface between the living and the dead, the real and the imaginary. Sometimes she uses archaic apparatuses, sometimes, new analog/digital hybrids. Each project aims to connect the present with the past, to create new visual languages where modern media will once again be invested with the uncanny. She has collaborated with artists from other disciplines including composer John Cale, the Wooster Group Theater Company and composer, singer and performance artist Shelley Hirsch.
Zoe has been awarded fellowships from Guggenheim Foundation (2003), The Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts (1997) and NYFA (1997, 2001). She has received individual artist grants from foundations that include NYSCA, The Jerome Foundation and Experimental Television Center Finishing Funds Award. She has had residences at Harvestworks Digital Media Arts, Hallwalls in Buffalo and Tesla in Berlin.
http://www.zoebeloff.com/pages/biography.html
-What was the most interesting quote of the lecture and why? I really enjoyed hearing Beloff describe the Amateur Psychoanalytic Society's "Dream Films." I have always been fascinated and at times obsessed about the meaning of my dreams. I try to record them, but often they wake me from my slumber and leave me too groggy to reach for a pen and notepad to record the events that played out in the ether of my imagination. The Society sought to "shoot what it is that they dreamed, reenact these dreams of film and analyze them and then have an awards dinner" to commemorate the winning dream film. The dreamers captured on film "the perfect reproduction of our minds...and wandering souls."
- Using three words, define the core of the artist's practice and artwork. Psychoanalytic. The unconscious. Manifestations of her "selves."
- What is the most interesting thing you learned about the artist that you did not know before? I was really unaware that a lot of these characters were manifestations of her own imagination. It was interesting to hear her speak about these other sections of her "self" that are all a part of Zoe Beloff and all play integral roles in her work. She said that by creating these characters she "allowed her shy nature to be hidden."
- Do you know the answer to your two original questions? If so, what are the answers?
Just curious about your fascination with mental illness (mythomania, hallucination, scientific case studies of psychoses, etc.) as seen in your work in The Somnambulists. What drew you to this subject matter? Her interest began when she looked into "the birth of mechanical reproduction in relation to the imagination and the relationship between form and content." She also became familiar with the work of Pierre Janet that all helped catapult her imagination.
At first glance your subject matter seems silly as you see footage of case studies where people are seen in various stages of hysterics, then you come to realize that the subject matter is much darker. Do you feel your work is exploitative? Beloff didn't touch on this question.
What inspired your decision to create 3D wooden theaters? Do you think the use of miniatures makes the work seem more objective? She wanted to create these tiny people that conformed to an even smaller place. She wanted to blur the lines between the real and the imaginary. You begin to question the true or false nature of the theatrical.
- What image or artwork do you find the most compelling and powerful after hearing the artist describe it? I really enjoyed hearing Beloff speak about Magdelaine G and how she performed solely while she was under a hypnotic spell. Beloff said Magdelaine "demonstrated the entire range of human emotion" while under hypnosis and this dance that she performed was considered "the dance of the future." - Do you have any new questions in regards to the artist? What's next? Would you now consider really building a model of Albert Grass' Dreamland?
