Tag: video

Source unknown – Title Unknown (20XX)

Artfully depicting masturbation is not an easy feat.

The act is private, sequestered. Thus, the question of how one witnesses such goings on becomes central—is it voyeurism, exhibitionism or a bit of both?

The more voyeuristic the image, the less intentional it appears, the more it relies upon the reputation of the image maker to supplement its ‘artistic’ merit.

The more exhibitionist the image, the less artful it appears–exhibitionism being rooted in self-consciousness and the efficacy of art being so commonly measured on its ability to annihilate notions of self and other.

This scene suggest an altogether brilliant fucking with this dichotomy: subvert the distinction between subject and object. What’s one of the oldest means of doing that? Reflections.

Now, I will not argue the young woman is unaware of the camera. (She definitely is… at least initially but she’s watching herself trigger and experience her bodies sexual response.

This discursive nesting of contexts–for me at least–continually refocus my attention on her increasing arousal and accompanying pleasure.

That to me is such a fucking turn-on that I really can’t even…

(NOTE: I had previously published .gif excerpts from this clip. I’ve elaborated somewhat on the comments accompanying those .gifs in an effort to tidy things up a bit.)

Joe Swanberg & Adam Wingard – clips from Autoerotic (2011)

Yesterday, I posted this with a plea for someone to help me identify the source. (Credit to Den for the id.)

Alas, knowing the origin somewhat tarnishes my previous sterling opinion of the clip. (In fairness, I am torrenting the movie as I write this.)

So without having seen the entire film, let me focus on what I like about this clip–which essential boils down to production value.

I’d wager the exterior cafe, narrow hallway and bathroom are in three disparate geographic locations; however, note the way the character is blocked in the left third of the frame in the al fresco scene, then moves from left of center to right of center in the narrow hallway. Along with the ambient cafe noises, this contributes the illusion of continuity of physical space that appears seamless.

You can quibble that although holding on the exterior and holding on the narrow hallway contributes a sense of editing rhythm, the hold in the hallway seems to long. Also, although I understand why the character enters the restroom from the right third of the frame–given this is the same position from which she exited the previous frame and matches the angle at which she entered the bathroom, I’d have probably cheated it and had her entering from the left just to continue the movement from left to right in the previous frame.

I have no idea why focus wasn’t pulled to keep her in focus as she approaches the camera on her bike–but then I would have insisted on shooting it as a horizontal tracking master shot.

Despite these admittedly nitpicking flaws and the awkwardly porn-esque alleyway masturbation, I am rather fond of this clip for it’s attention to detail–you know what she’s going into the bathroom to do and instead of going for an explicit close up, the details of her arousal are conveyed through her flushed, sweat glazed face.

I’m pretty sure my opinion will diminish after seeing the full film but on the strength of these scenes, I am intrigued enough to take the plunge and that’s not nothing.

Elene Usdin – PROJECTION SILENCIO (2013)

Video portfolio are de rigueur, it seems.

They’re an interesting notion–at least in theory: complete control over how work is contextualized, viewing of extensive archives is streamlined and the resulting presentation has the potential to be far more dynamic than the customary webpage-as-ersatz-gallery motif.

They’re just as fraught, however; in fact,Usdin’s PROJECTION SILENCIO is the only example I can think of where the work benefits from the presentation.

The reason for this–I think–is that in addition to making still images, Usdin is an illustrator and videographer. There’s a good bit of overlap between still and moving images, but it is ridiculous to suggest that mastery of the former ensures success at the latter–something thoroughly proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the vast majority of video profiles.

In other words: this is not a bunch of images thrown into a Slide Show or animated PowerPoint presentation; Usdin expertly intersperses still images with video footage that combine to create something that works both as an artful video and a personal portfolio.

The video portfolio also benefits the sheer volume of work. For all it’s ostentatious high-end design, her website is damn near impossible to navigate.

Unlike fuckwits who spray-and-pray with dSLRs, Usdin’s work is rigorously edited. (Measure twice; cut once. Always.)

I don’t necessarily get all of it; but it is of an exceptionally high quality and I do adore mahaut1, this and I’m over the moon about the scene where the hand mirror appears/disappears, shows/does not show a reflection in the mirror. Moreover, I think the video presentation enlivens the images in a way that the website does not. That is ultimately the thing that ties everything together: the presentation adds to the work instead of distracting from it.

Yes, ‘video portfolios probably can be a valuable tool IN THE RIGHT HANDS. My concern is that people with zero background are going to find it easier to demand an audience to the three-ring circus of fuckwitery..

Ana Mendieta – Blood Sign #2 1974

Mendieta genius is indisputable but I have no goddamn clue what-so-fucking-ever of how to approach it.

A lot of ink has been spilled about her performance of gender, her concern with identity politics. Yeah. Check. Got it. I see that too. But what about the questions of medium in her work: photographs of sculptures, performance as sculpture, photography of performance as sculpture, the inherently ephemeral nature of performance rendered repeatable via video.

It’s all a complete mindfuck to me–but not alienating more a fascinating puzzle I can’t tear myself away from no matter how little progress I make.

Mendieta only cracked for me in the last week as a result of ‘discovering’ her ‘Untitled (Rape Scene).

***Trigger Warning***

I recommend read the Tate’s comments on the work first as they describe the images and you can decide from there whether or not you actually want to view them.

I am not ready to talk about the images. That will take months, if not years. But something clicked for me about Mendieta’s work: the zen-like focus of her execution counter-balanced by randomization– the way the paint on her hands smears unevenly, the muddy lighting at the scene of the crime–utilizes her own body as a fulcrum to not only balance multifarious and otherwise dichotomous elements but to enact great violence upon innocence that offers the required blood sacrifice without perpetuating any further harm.