Upon entrance into the gallery I thought of this specific Video class.
Marcel Broodthaers combines still and fixed images, often textual pieces, with video. His still imagery is fixed to a wall, hung on a canvas or painted flat on the wall, while moving projected video overlay the piece- creating these intriguing layers and relationships between the fixed visual and the moving, rhythmic video.
One of his pieces that caught my attention was an traditional flat map of the world hung on the wall, with video playing over the map as its projector screen. The map imagery layered with the moving images was mesmerizing. There was something so familiar about the map, that the moving people in the video became familiar as well.
The transposing of imagery challenges the eye to work in more than one way. We are looking at a still image under a moving image. The still image may even appear to move because of this illusion Marcel Broothaers has created. Broothaers' videos play with the viewer's point of view and led me to question the subjects' place in their own space. Other works overlaid video on fixed text. One piece consists of a wall with the words fig.1, fig.2, fig.3 etc. and then videos of people in odd situations with relationships to other objects in their space and the scene.
I was inspired by his concept of combining fixed imagery with video work. I've always enjoyed working in layers, whether it be in drawing, painting, collage, mixed media etc., but I haven't yet thought of exploring layering in this kind of way. Its a whole new way of looking at fixed art or text, and video as partners. The relationships Broothaer's created were clever and minimalist. I enjoyed the show but I even more appreciate what I walked away with: the idea to use this combination of media in my own work.
I recommend checking it out!
(The image above is one I snapped on my phone at the gallery.)
-Nicole Muller
I also went to the gallery and saw his videos. Layering videos with other media also interested me and I felt that it was very effective in conveying his ideas. His videos are non-narrative and very conceptual...I had hard time getting what he is trying to say through those videos. But I noticed one thing from his using 'figs.' It reminded me of Magritte's pipe painting. Seeing the video and the photos with "figs," I thought that he is perhaps trying to say that the pictures or moving images are nothing but visual representations. They are not real but illustrations of his ideas. So it was really smart idea to use the 'figs.;
ReplyDeleteI also liked how he made his videos funny and absurd but at the same time, have a lot of meanings.
jeesu