February 19, 2017

Long ago, photographic images were simply outlines and silhouettes. Critical details and illusions of textures were not introduced until the development of camera obscura and Daguerreotype. Although these practices were time consuming and laborious, they created new possibilities that would forever revolutionize the way artists captured the world. Not long after, moving pictures were brought to life, inspired from the ideas of photography. Dickson creates the kinetograph with the help of the Edison Manufacturing Company. One of the first films using this method was Fred Ott’s Sneeze 1894, which depicted an Edison employee sneezing. The film lasts a total of only six seconds, but is still an extraordinary feat of its time.

Nearly forty years after the introduction of modern moving pictures, film continues to take momentous leaps in new ideas and development. Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali, renowned surrealists, create a film in 1929 by the name of Un Chien Andalou. This film does not derive meaning from what the viewer sees, but instead meaning is derived from what the viewer feels and interprets. This concept expands on the original idea of creating motion pictures to depict real-life. Not only is film a tool to animate, it is now an artistic medium of expression. The final product, however, is still valued higher than the process of filming.

Nam June Paik, founder of video art, used film as canvas, similarly to Dali and Buñuel. Unlike the early 1900 surrealists, however, Paik combined this concept with performance art and projections. Charlotte Moorman was the predominant figure in the piece TV Cello 1976. This performance/video depicts Moorman poorly playing a cello made out of televisions. It is completely abstract, meaning that the underlying message is nota clear cut or there at all. From my interpretation, it is telling the viewers that television is changing our culture. By combining a sophisticated musical instrument with a stack of televisions, it is demonstrating cultural deterioration. Although society is gaining new technology with the use of video, it is also losing what it had before, hence the distressed, arrhythmic noises. Paik creates a powerful statement about the use of video by using the material itself. Although many new doors will be opened through this new medium, society must remember to not shut down previous processes. Moorman was later arrested for public nudity in Paik’s art, which led to the legalization of nudity in performance pieces.

The projection of video in installation pieces became a new way of displaying art. Pipilotti Rist’s 1997 Ever is Over All, is a two panel video display in a corner of a room. On one panel, it visualizes a feminine girl walking down the sidewalk. On the other side, there are flowers filmed from all angles. The figure uses flowers to smash car windows, “breaking” the stereotype of women femininity. This breaks the flow of the music and calm tone. This demonstrates video’s ability to create powerful statements about society and ways of thinking.

The creation of the internet led to changes in the way people are able to communicate and gather information. At first, this medium was seen as a functionality, similarly to video. However, as it grew and developed so did the various uses. An excellent example of this is the 2010 website Clickstan from ubermorgan.com, an interactive “art piece.” Although it appears like a source of entertainment, it has a deeper, thought-provoking meaning attached. The internet is used as a form of canvas, rather than a tool of information or mindless fun. It prompts the viewer with questions or puzzles, each resulting in a success in the slightest effort. Even if the player decides to skip levels, they are still acknowledged as being successful in their efforts. At the very end, they are asked to donate to the Whitney Museum of American Art fundraiser. The process is what is really important, not the final product. This is a big shift from the 1900s.

Rafaël Rozendaal is another computer artist who uses the internet as a medium. He has many websites, some of which are interactive and some of which that aren’t. Regardless, each website contains abstract and thought provoking displays. For example, www.blankwindows.com shows literal blank windows that the viewer can click forward or back on. The meaning behind this is discrete, if there even is a full meaning at all. Clickistan and works by Rafaël Rozendaal stand at the fine line between what is and is not considered art. Similarly, Du Champ’s Fountain 1917 raised the same controversial issues. What makes the internet a form of artistic expression, rather than a source of entertainment and information? If video could be considered canvas, then so could the computer. These new concepts breaks the barriers to what is and is not a possible media for artists. Everything and anything has the ability to be an art piece.