Tuesday, February 20

Yesterday we watched the film D'Est. I found many of the shots, at least in part, to be very visually pleasing and striking. The people and the everyday situations that were captured so candidly in shots were absolutely mesmerizing in their simplicity. However, I found that the shots were too long and drawn out, slowly losing their purpose along with the time. I understand that he was showing how life is in it's simplicity and length, but I guess I am not interested in seeing that without being connected to someone. I think I miss that when we watch experimental films, a lot of times I do not feel connected to anyone in it. I think the filmmaker wants me to be connected with him or his feelings in D'Est, but I suppose I have been trained against that by growing up with Hollywood in my blood. I love artistic films, but not when they do not make me feel anything for a person, a character, a scene, nature, anything. This film just got so long with nothing to follow that I slowly faded away into apathy.

Monday, February 19

This post I just forgot to post on Monday, even though I wrote it early Monday morning before 8 a.m. class:
I was laying around my apartment last night and I began to think about Leighton Pierce's film "Thursday." I really believe that it was one of the best films that we have watched, simply because it focused on striking images that shone beauty. It was like a photographic log of his normal day, seeing things one would not normally find attractive in a new way. I contrasted this, which really does not have too much of a point to it, with something like Data Diaries which had absolutely no point to it. Really, I can honestly say that I hated Data Diaries because it was not beautiful, there was no point, and there was no striking imagery. Things like that can be good within another work, but I cannot enjoy them outside on their own. Back to "Thursday," I really appreciated the photographic eye and the ability to find the mundane beautiful. I think the idea of shooting what is around you that you find striking is really important, just as documentation but as well for putting into future works. Being into more poetic narrative film, I really am always looking for interesting images to intersperse with a story to make it more interesting and visually pleasing.

Sunday, February 18

I was still out of town Sunday but I was able to find this to post:

I just think it is interesting how many people have actually done the same thing that Renato Umali has done. Here is one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B26asyGKDo
or this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvDxUoadG6A&mode=related&search=

Saturday, February 17

I wrote this post out of town on February 17th:
I just attended a conference that talked specifically about beauty, art, and God. C.S. Lewis once said, "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy and art. It holds no value for survival, rather it gives survival more value." I want to discuss what C.S. Lewis had to say about art. Even if you do not believe in God, this can still touch you, and maybe even challenge you. I do believe in God, and believe fervently in his prescence in art as well as beauty in the rest of the world. He also told a story about a man who was gardening and came upon a rose and was simply astonished by its beauty. He was so touched, that he had to stop and thank the Lord for making this flower so beautiful. And he felt a longing, a pain, seeing this beautiful image. It was a yearning to see that flower as it was really meant to be seen, how it may look in heaven. C.S. Lewis said he has felt this pain, this longing that beauty can bring to his life, even if just for a second. And whenever possible he seeks that pain because it is such a majestic and beautiful feeling and longing. I think this is what we should strive for in art. I can say that I really am not usually a fan of experimental film, because it usually does not produce a feeling like this for me. But that is not to say that someone does not feel this way about experimental film. It could do just that for someone else. But I love to strive for that feeling of beauty so great that it is painful to see. For meaning so true that my heart reaches out to it, reciprocates it. I believe that is what art should be about.

Friday, February 16

I wrote this post when I was out of town on February 16th:
What I am really inspired to write about today, by both lecture and discussion, is the style of Vito Acconci that has spilled over into artists such as Renato Umali. In Umali's "I Learn Something New Every Single Day," he uses the space around him to project a certain energy. He is always at an arm's length or less from the camera and the camera is able to capture the atmosphere and his mood in every shot. This is similar to Acconci's theory where he wants to invade the space, being very close to the camera so the video can pick up his mood, his emotions. In this way, who is gets projected to the audience in a much more personal, one-on-one sort of way. His space is supposed to be just him and his viewers and is meant to be shown in that same way, like on a small screen with a few people watching. Umali does this as well, using a medium that is most easily seen on a computer, which would be a very close and personal area for the viewer. It becomes something that may invade that space, making a special bond between the artist's emotions and your perception.