The Residents and Nam June Paik

As for Nam June Paik, probably one of my favorite artist i learned about this semester. He was aprt of the fluxux movement which is also one of my favorite next to dada. I suppose the two are somewhat similar in the sense that they both called for change in the norms of the art world.

His ability to transcend all genres is quite amazing. He can sculpt, earlier on he played the violin, paint, does installations. I think that once you learned so many disciplines it just makes you all the more creative when the time comes for you to step outside the box and produce something all of you own.

The residents is an avant-garde group that do music videos and short films. The groups is interesting to me because they maintain the anonymity and keep their identity a secret... like a superhero....

Television Delievers People

I liked the fact that the was a direct message but it was delivered in an indirect manner. The artist used the very mechanism that he somewhat condemned to bring forth the information to its viewers/viewers of his art.

It was certainly an interesting concept that we the viewers were the ones that had the most to loose when watching television and not the companies that own the television stations nor the companies that sponsor the stations.

I watch this documentary in my mass media and society class and talked about Rupert Murdock and how he had developed fox news and they type of biased information they depicted on that station. I completely agree with that documentary.

Media conglomerates, and just a few, mind you own all of what we see on television and in a capitalistic nation such as the US it was be absurd to believe that there aren't constantly individuals trying to make so sort of profit off you :-/

Pipilotti Rist I'm Not a Girl Who Misses much

In class we watched "I'm not a girl who misses much" by her and it scared the HELL out of me.... lol it was so freaky to me the voice, the fast forwarding, even her outfit was reminiscent of the children of the corn or even the scary well girl from The Ring.

But in retrospect i suppose an aspect art is to evoke some sort of emotion in its viewers, to make the viewer uncomfortable at times even. Putting aside my emotions i can see that their was definitely a great of video art taking place.

From an artistic point of view the actual cinematography was amazing. The textures she created complemented what she was trying to accomplish very well. The audio was well executed, however i couldn't understand what she was saying until it was explained to me but that could have been because i was so shell shock by what i was seeing. And finally her use of the video to fast forward was a great technique to alter what we as the viewer was seeing/experience.... and ah are we having a janet at the super bowl moment???????? i'm just saying.


I suppose if i put my fears aside it was an enjoyable piece after all.
check it out

Ryan Trecatin

Surprisingly i found his work to be very funny and entertaining. Judging from looking at he blogs of other briefly he seemed all too reminiscent of Matthew Barney's Cremaster series. Barney's works to me are bizarre to say the least.

However, i can see that Trecartin has taken some of Barney's techniques as far as costumes and maybe even wild choice of colors to bring his vision to life. Trecartin is definitely a character and i believe that is essential for an artist to bring an extra je ne sais quoi to his or her work...

The fact that he made me laugh just won my heart.....

Video Art

B-52's

This group was founded in the 1970' by Cindy Wilsons one of it's lead vocalist. Today they would be categorized as a new wave rock band. The are the inspiration for many of today's electronic band. All the members posses an upbeat, cheeky quality. The guys versus girl component of the group gives a a different feel and makes it all the more enjoyable. Their first single was Rock Lobster was an underground success.
A single that you may be familiar with is their Love Shack tract.

Around the late 1980's and after the death of a group member the group decided to transition to a more mainstream sound.

When listening to their music you can help but to be in a good moon whether or not of you are a fan of electronic music. I guess great music does transcend all boundaries after all.

Performance Art Piece

Trash Man