1st crit with Janet Cardiff summary

Duchamp's ‘Étant Donnés’

Sound: “The gooshiness” was an effective soundtrack. Sound is very much like visuals and it juxtaposes the same way that it creates images, so you have to think about how it combines. 

Photos: Photos have a reserve, they push away ... I was thinking of ways that you can use the object and setting up devices... say a camera that is focused in really closely to it …[the object] could be on a turntable or maybe if you have a microscope or a lens or a magnifying glass or something located on it... One thing about looking is, when you look through a telescope or something, there’s this intimacy, there’s a texture... could you then have some areas out of focus and then bring some other areas in. Or maybe work with the light and shadow so that some areas are highly lit… wanting that removal is interesting because in our culture, it’s a predominant aspect... you want to keep the original object in mystery, I would experiment a little more in ways of how to shoot your object.

Videos: ...so much of your stuff is of looking through an oval, through tubes, it’s about seeing close up... the viewer, in ways, likes to be focused, but it’s also connected to Duchamp’s ‘Étant Donnés’... The format of the video is very strong, like painting, it’s something that’s invisible, we don’t think about it, it’s a rectangle… In videos you have to think about progression, the audience wants to discover something by themselves, not just be told whatever. I think some of your devices for changing from one place to another or some of the content gave too much in such a way that people didn’t get enticed into figuring something out.

Collage:   Collage is very much about the flat surface and the illusory surface, there’s something to think about that way because looking at art [generally] the things that engage me are like puzzles, your mind constantly wants to solve puzzles… for me my intention in art connects with this idea of intimacy, but separate intimacy. In the video walks, the voice of the artist may be there, but I’m safe – there’s a distance that one can have but connect...

Tools: Zoom digital recorder is cheap and good and Digital Performer software is flexible for sounds and images

Masters Course: You have to be aware that language and theory are two different things. Artists may fall into trying to illustrate the theory... theory makes you think but you must trust your intuition... I’ve learnt so much from my audio walks about “subjectivity” and “cyborgness”. The art world gives a lot of kudos to artists who can talk well, but so often it’s about mystery and magic. 

Specific Feeback on Videos:

'Window' video: 

Lovely soundtrack but maybe should morph into something and become more intense in some way –like a scream – [otherwise] it becomes background noise and become invisible and if you’re going to have a soundtrack you might as well use it to manipulate... I immediately enjoyed the soundtrack, it sounds sexual and goopy – very physical and bodily, messy and yucky. The vaginal shape hits me over the head – too obvious – but at the same time, it makes me uncomfortable in a good way. The abstraction in the painting, I was a bit disappointed it didn’t go further. It reached an abstract point and then you brought in more blatant imagery and I think that the abstraction of the paint mixing with the forms could be explored. The faces are iconic and you’re using a language of flatness which is retro – from the eighties – it was too obvious for me. You repeated the faces so many times, it would be [better] if they interacted in such a way that suggested narrative, or if there was something further – it became play that needed a little more sophistication. Push the erotic – maybe have your hands in there and push the audio – Rodin’s sculptures are so erotic – I think that could be powerful. You have to go through it and pick out intuitively what you think works. The skeleton was a really good character because it was new, different in colour and texture. Video is a visual language, so it’s important to think about balance – you might be throwing too much in – some areas could be simplified and you could be extending the sound so that it becomes more present and become a character within the collage. Look at Sergei Eisenstein – founder of theory of montage.  

'Eye Ass One' video: 

The cat’s eyes and the cat sounds go together in a gentle way because at first you don’t know what the eyes are. The cat morphed into the dark and that was nice and it was a nice length – very concise – you don’t get bored. If you want to take it into the “camp” you can use the audio to do it. Some of the transvestite competitions have some of the greatest music. You can also bring in your own voice too – audio can be very powerful in terms of meaning.

'Goddess Collage' video: 

Jung is very interesting. Your film did not interest me because it felt really dated, you have to be very inventive when you approach [Feminism]. Angela Carter ‘The Bloody chamber’, in terms of bringing The Gothic and Feminist theory – she’s brilliant. Mona Hatoum’s investigations of the body and her sculptures are very Gothic – I mean it’s very refined and very art object and removed - that mixture of pleasure and danger like Carter.