The state of suspended motion is at the core of most video work.
Under, a 3.5-minute video by Kevin Frilet (2014, however presented this year at Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, VAEFF, http://videoart.net/about-vaeff-2017-2/) is a mysterious black-and-white piece in slow motion under water. While the explanation says that the film was photographed in a public swimming pool with people the director knew, the piece was masterfully edited, with a large crew and beautifully scored to give the chills of a rape and its escape. I'm not sure, though, what opening sequence has to do with the violation--perhaps a predation of someone who strays from the crowd...?
Slo-mo seems to be the M-O of experimental video, contributing significantly to its genre. Video Art, as commented by various critics and curators need not have a narrative, and usually don't. They're meant to express a reflection on an event or emotion, very personal to the creator; hence the abstraction and eerie music.
We're in the artist's head!
I have my own take on this, of course. I find the persistent presence of sexy, naked, young people very commonplace--do millennials strip naked the minute they're inside? And, are we still so exploratory about sex that it's the main thing to make videos about? (Saying this may be unfair; we are a "puritanical" country, after all).
I have seen some nice work with and about kids, about travel and the freedoms it gives, dancing on the streets and roofs of Paris (https://vimeo.com/217624589). Most of it runs in real time--our shaggy friend crafts time for his own uses.
The slo-mo vid reads like an expanded photograph; the decisive moment just wasn't enough to capture the depth of the mental image. That could really be said for most video work, however the slower the motion, the more the viewer must train their acuity visual structure: color, form, composition, taking over where there is no narrative. It's also why most vids have a ten-minute or less duration. You can ask just so much from your viewer--even a willing one.
Enter Bill Viola, but I'll write about him another time.
Under, a 3.5-minute video by Kevin Frilet (2014, however presented this year at Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, VAEFF, http://videoart.net/about-vaeff-2017-2/) is a mysterious black-and-white piece in slow motion under water. While the explanation says that the film was photographed in a public swimming pool with people the director knew, the piece was masterfully edited, with a large crew and beautifully scored to give the chills of a rape and its escape. I'm not sure, though, what opening sequence has to do with the violation--perhaps a predation of someone who strays from the crowd...?
Slo-mo seems to be the M-O of experimental video, contributing significantly to its genre. Video Art, as commented by various critics and curators need not have a narrative, and usually don't. They're meant to express a reflection on an event or emotion, very personal to the creator; hence the abstraction and eerie music.
We're in the artist's head!
I have my own take on this, of course. I find the persistent presence of sexy, naked, young people very commonplace--do millennials strip naked the minute they're inside? And, are we still so exploratory about sex that it's the main thing to make videos about? (Saying this may be unfair; we are a "puritanical" country, after all).
I have seen some nice work with and about kids, about travel and the freedoms it gives, dancing on the streets and roofs of Paris (https://vimeo.com/217624589). Most of it runs in real time--our shaggy friend crafts time for his own uses.
The slo-mo vid reads like an expanded photograph; the decisive moment just wasn't enough to capture the depth of the mental image. That could really be said for most video work, however the slower the motion, the more the viewer must train their acuity visual structure: color, form, composition, taking over where there is no narrative. It's also why most vids have a ten-minute or less duration. You can ask just so much from your viewer--even a willing one.
Enter Bill Viola, but I'll write about him another time.
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