Kinestasis part 2 - John Keller, 6:05 minutes
So - there really aren't a lot of kinestasis videos out there that I could find - I'm sure anyone who looked found this one; I didn't want to use any of the samples in the packet in case we were going to view them in class...
Most of the videos I saw looked a bit like screensavers –
this one really stood out for obvious reasons. Through layering film the author
created something wonderfully abstract. It is interesting to think that this is
composed of still images. I felt it to be very hypnotic; a kaleidoscope of
shorts. But despite its abstract form, there is significance to the images
beyond the formalistic, as the author says –
“The surfeit of advertising imagery is occasionally punctuated by
rapidly morphing images of mass graves and other horrors from the 20th century.
The idea behind the film is to contrast multiplicities on opposing sides of the
capitalist coin.”
And yet he chose to make it unclear – hidden, subtle (well
after all, blatancy never really goes well with art). I would never have
figured out what the film was of – when I viewed it I understood it to be film,
photographs of something real, but that was as far as I got. The audio helps in
this regard in setting the tone of the piece. I was amazed at the movement of
the film; the pace at which the photos move and morph coupled with the layering of
other photos – I did not think that I was looking at still pictures being
panned by a camera, and it felt like it could have live action footage within it
(video camera stuff) – the illusion of animation indeed.
What did you all think it was about when you first watched
it? Did anyone see the meaning behind the video from just watching it?
On
another note, it also reminded me of that nightmarish tunnel from the Gene
Wilder Willy Wonka …
It seemed really abstract tome. There weren't many recognizable things within the cluster of images. Their movement created a sense of deep space.
ReplyDeleteI wish that was my screensaver, that was pretty cool. The music reminded me of the Twilight Zone for some reason, very erie and strange. I get of the feeling of space and time collapsed, everything is unbalanced, and the only thing we see is its remains moving - forever not fixing itself.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you mentioned the sound I was a little in different. I watched the video with the music and then without and I almost preferred it without. The piece it self is already visually stimulating and one of those pieces that every time you watch you find something different. The sound does add a specific characteristic but maybe it's just my preference, the sound the visual movements make sounds better in my head.
ReplyDeleteI personally wouldn't have known the meaning behind it without explanation, that is a very complex subject let alone having it abstract would be kind of difficult to figure out. However, I find it visually stimulating with the kaleidoscope action. I'm actually doing kaleidoscope imagery right now for my color photo class so I definitely like the look to it. Anyways, the "music" didn't bother me- I actually found it quite abstract and kept the image moving and have a deeper more complex meaning.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a kaleidoscope in the way that the images are circling around each other. The music, while having an eerie quality, gives me a little more clarity into the context of the piece. I feel that music has the ability to place the viewer in a different world or setting.
ReplyDeleteI watched this video before reading about the concept of the piece and the materials used. This animation really makes you search for images although they remain unclear. You can tell that they are photographs or film, but that's about it.
Interesting animation!