As a group we questioned the patience required to appreciate video art, it is an experience that requires a more controlled amount of time. Even though, with this example, the video is on an everlasting loop, there is still a strong aspect of time. The repetition of both the sound and the projection had the effect of being stuck in that space of existence, it was mesmerising. The pace of the recordings were fast but the speed could not be described as overly frantic. There was an element of panic to what was being witnessed but not one of urgency.
We follow the audio recording through a narrow corridor and turn a corner before viewing the projection. The sound loops contain recordings of what appear to be movements of something mechanical, and a sampling of a woman's voice. The distortion gave an unsettling feeling in the stomach. The artist has used a 'sandwiching' effect enclosing the viewer not only in the surrounding walls but having the projection on one side and the sound coming from the opposite. We are physically trapped in this ongoing moment until we decide to come back through the way we came. This is a very powerful technique and not something that usually occurs when viewing video art. However maybe it is made too obvious, that the viewer is literally forced into this space and then held there by the blockage of people through the narrow space. But for those of us to lazy to allow video art to make an impact maybe this is the only way.
This piece prompts you to feel emotion, it is not informative it is not entertaining, it is purely to allow the viewer to be in touch with the experience. We are made to feel sensitive from the beginning. The mixture between the familiar and the unfamiliar strengthens the surreal pace of the recordings. This is clearly a representation or manipulation of something that exists in reality. As the viewer trapped in this situation we begin searching for rhythm, pattern and order, whether these things can be predicted or whether we are left in a situation that is completely unknown, completely out of our hands. The repetitive vertical lines and gradient colours that appear in the projection have an aesthetic quality about them, comparable to a moving painting. This idea is supported by the unusual size of the image, we are viewing something that is a portal or insight into something else.
In conclusion I feel that this piece has the potential to be a success and with fine tuning it would not be out of place alongside other similar works. I do however find it hard to feel the any kind of inspirational or sensory impact from such work because there is an element of force involved. The process of recording and distorting is a controlling aspect in itself. The feeling of motion feels fake rather than controlled.
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