I found this reading really interesting and I liked exploring the different origins of art in Greek and Buddhist traditions. While the Greek focused on line, shadow, and the absence of the figure, the Buddhists focused on the presence of the figure and reflections. Very fascinating. Another aspect of the reading that intrigued me was the use of projection of video artwork on white walls/spaces. Video art is unique in the fact it is moldable to certain surfaces when projected. I can imagine the "Video Positive" at the Tate Liverpool in 1991 projection was really unique in the angle/position of the projector and how the video was being watched, with the video blurring as it stretched farther from the projector. It reminds me of a dance performance I did when I was younger in my modern dance company, involving shadow art and shadow dancing - where you dance behind a white sheet with light behind you, obscuring the dimensions of the body/movement as the dancer moves closer and farther to the light. We did "Where the Wild Things Are" and appeared as large animals with antlers when we used our hands as shadow puppets behind the sheet. It is a really cool art form in my opinion, and I'm excited to explore shadow and light with our video artworks!
Introduction to Video Art:
This reading definitely helped me get a better understanding of video art and how cameras altered the art world by allowing moments in time to be captured and showcased, especially without needing a gallery. Bruce Naumen’s approach to video art was interesting considering the artist’s creative process is often private or internal. Having the option of video taping this artistic process is something we take advantage of now, but was an entirely new way of peering into someone’s life and perspective to the audience at the time. He also uses his body as the main subject of art, both in his square video and the creative process video, which creates an interesting relationship between the camera and the subject. I also liked the “Zen for Film” 1964 piece in how it encourages the audience to create their own mental visual interpretation of the videos, which makes me want to further understand anti-films and what that exactly means. The concept of using emptiness as the image for his art makes me think of the origin of art according to Greek traditions; using the absence of something to create the image rather than the presence of something. I think that concept is really interesting when applied to video art, especially with modern art giving us the ability to alter/edit/add/takeaway from online videos and images.
