Art 110 2.5 & 2.6 (only)

Chapter 2.5

Photography

PART 2MEDIA AND PROCESSES

Copyright © 2011 Thames & Hudson

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields


Chapter 2.5 Photography

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Recording the Image

• “Photography” derives from two Greek works, together meaning “drawing with light”– photos means “light”– graphein means “to draw”

• Collecting the image– Film: negative and positive– Digital: pixels, computer

• Camera vs. human eye– Camera is a mechanical recorder and an artistic

tool




The History of Photography• Camera obscura

– Projection of outside scene– First drawn, then captured on light-sensitive material– Room-sized then portable (eighteenth-century) camera obscura

• Negative/positive processes– Cyanotype– Calotype– Daguerreotype

• Digital Processes– Pixels, digital files, display, manipulation

2.71 Rainer Gemma-Frisius, first published illustration of a camera obscura, 1544. Gernsheim Collection, London

First published illustration of a camera obscura

• Image projected into the camera obscura– Small hole called the

“aperture”– Outside scene is flipped

upside down and backward– A person could trace over

the image projected on the wall to capture it

2.72 Abelardo Morell, Camera Obscura Image of the Panthéon in the Hotel des Grands Hommes, 1999. Gelatin silver print, 20 x 24”

Abelardo Morell,Camera Obscura Image of the Panthéon in the

Hotel des Grands Hommes

• Morell created a room-sized camera obscura– Set up his tripod inside the

room– Took an extended exposure

(up to two days) – Captured the scene we see

here– Shows what the inside of a

camera would look like– Same principles as Gemma-

Frisius’s camera obscura

2.73 Anna Atkins, Halydrys Siliquosa, 1843–4. Plate 19 from Volume 1 of Photographs of British Algae. Cyanotype, 5 x 4”. British Library, London, England

Anna Atkins, Halydrys Siliquosa

• Cyanotype: cameraless image – Turns blue (oxidation of iron

salts)

• Looks exactly like a negative made on film in a camera

• Steps of the process:– Place a botanical specimen on

light-sensitive paper– Expose to light– Shaded places stay white– Places “exposed” to light turn

blue

2.74 William Henry Fox Talbot, The Oriel Window, South Gallery, Lacock Abbey, 1835 or 1839. Photogenic drawing negative, 3¼ x 4¼”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

William Henry Fox Talbot, The Oriel Window, South Gallery,

Lacock Abbey

• Calotypes– Negative images that

resemble Atkins’s cyanotypes

• Talbot figured out how to reverse the tones– Negative/positive process– Made it possible to mass

reproduce images– Basis of modern black-and-

white film processes




2.75 Diagram of film photography darkroom




Photographic Genres

• Nineteenth-century argument– Art is a creative endeavor– “A photograph is not a work of art…” (John

Ruskin, 1850s)

• Genres of photography– Same as traditional artistic media – Portraiture– Landscape – Still life




Portraiture

• One of photography’s most popular early uses– Substitute for more costly painted portraits– People could eventually take their own

pictures

2.76 Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt, 1865. Albumen print, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France

Nadar, Sarah Bernhardt

• Sarah Bernhardt was a famous actress

• Nadar’s distinctive style– Posed scenes and elaborate

props were common at the time– He avoids a busy setting– Focuses on the sitter:

• Wrapped in fabric• Leaning on a column, with a

plain backdrop• Highlights Bernhardt’s elegance • Emphasizes her introspective

side

2.77 Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, 1936. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Gateway to Art:




Lange, Migrant MotherHow the Photograph Was Shot

• Dorothea Lange was working for the FSA

– Photographing the hardships of the depression• Lange later said:

– “I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet”

– “I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her but I do remember she asked me no questions”

– “I did not approach the tents and shelters of other stranded pea-pickers. It was not necessary: I knew I had recorded the essence of my assignment”

• Ethical issues of photojournalism




Landscape

• Pictures of the land and its natural features– Scenic records

– Can highlight ecological concerns

• How might such images be used?– By organizations like the Sierra Club (dedicated

to preserving America’s wilderness)?

– Other possibilities?

2.78 Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes, Sunrise—Death Valley National Monument, California, c. 1948

Ansel Adams, Sand Dunes, Sunrise—Death Valley National Monument, California

• Black-and-white photography

• Adams’ style (“zone system”)– Arranges black, white, and

gray tones– Creates a balanced effect– Entire picture in clear focus




Still Life

• Artistic arrangement of objects– Allows the artist to study formal relationships – Light, shadow, texture

2.79 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, The Artist’s Studio, 1837. Whole-plate daguerreotype. Collection of the Société Française de Photographie

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, The Artist’s Studio

• Daguerre arranged objects in his studio– Traditional method used by

painters– Plaster casts, relief sculptures,

framed artwork, bottle

• Exposure times in mid-nineteenth-century photography were long – Over 8 minutes for indoor

scenes– Impossible to photograph a

living person




Photojournalism

• The use of photography to tell a news story– Dates back to the Civil War– Now we accept that photographs only give a

partial view• They can be manipulated, altered, cropped• Can distort, exaggerate, even lie

– Photography was once believed to be inherently truthful

• Credibility is crucial for news reportage

2.81 Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner, Whitnel Cotton Mill, 1908. Photographic print. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Lewis Wickes Hine, Ten Year Old Spinner, Whitnel Cotton Mill

• Lewis Wickes Hine– Used photography as a tool

to tell the story of child labor– Impersonated a salesperson,

inspector, etc., to get access– Took careful notes about the

working conditions– Published the photos to

inform the public– Resulted in laws protecting

young children

2.82a Steve McCurry, Afghan Girl at Nasar Bagh Refugee Camp. Peshawar, Pakistan, 1984

2.82b Steve McCurry, Sharbat Gula. Peshawar, Pakistan, 2002

Steve McCurry, Afghan Girl / Sharbat Gula

• Steve McCurry– Afghan Girl, 1984: after the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan• Photographed a young girl in a

refugee camp• Became famous for its intensity

– Sharbat Gula, 2002: returned to Afghanistan

• Used the original photo to find the woman

• Named Sharbat Gula• Identity confirmed using iris-

pattern identification

2.84 Steve McCurry, Dust Storm. Women Take Shelter from Strong Dust-Laden Winds, Rajasthan, India, 1983



Perspectives on Art:


Steve McCurryHow a Photographer Captures a Moment

• Dust Storm, Women Take Shelter…, 1983

– “I wanted to capture something of the mood of anticipation before the monsoon rains”

– “Where we stopped, the women and children who worked on the road—something they are driven to do when the crops fail—were barely able to stand in the driving winds. They clustered together to shield themselves from the sand and dust. I tried to take pictures; they didn’t even notice me”

– “Some believe that to understand the Indian people one must first understand the effect the monsoon has on the Indian soul”

2.83 Hiroko Masiuke, Here Is New York: A Democracy of Photographs, exhibition at the New York Historical Society,

September 2007




Hiroko Masiuke, Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs

• Attack on World Trade Center, New York, September 11, 2001

– Photographs published almost immediately after the event

– “This is New York, A Democracy of Photographs”

• Exhibition organized just a few days after the attacks

• Almost 800 photographs

• Photographers had first-hand experience

• Professional photographers and complete amateurs

• The exhibition traveled all over the world




The Art of Photography

• Historical debate– Record of “reality” or artform?

• Does photography have to be one or the other?

• Contemporary art– Photo-based art is very widespread– Fine-art museums began collecting photos in the

1980s




Making “Artistic” Photographs• How do methods used in other media relate to photography?

– Painting

– Sculpture

– Drawing

– Printmaking

• What effects are distinctive to the medium of photography?

• Other ways to make “artistic” photography – Clarity and realism

– Snapshots

– Photocollage and photomontage

2.85 Oscar Gustav Rejlander, The Two Ways of Life, 1857. Albumen silver print, 16 x 31”. Royal Photographic Society, Bath, England

Oscar Gustav Rejlander, Two Ways of Life

• Steps to make the combination prints in the darkroom:– Rejlander made thirty separate

negatives– Cut out each area like a puzzle

piece– Exposed the negatives one at a

time– Covered the rest of the picture

while each part was exposed• Took six weeks to make• Looks like one seamless

scene• Compare with the process of

painting

2.86 Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl, 2006. Ilfochrome print, 11⅞ x 15⅞”

Loretta Lux, The Waiting Girl

• Digital process to assemble compositions– Lux takes pictures of her

subjects (her friends’ children)

– Subtly manipulates the color and proportions

– Sometimes makes painted backgrounds

– Digital retouching

• It takes several months to a year to create each image




Recording Detail and Stopping Time

• Artistic photographs do not have to relate to “traditional” media

• Strengths of photography (according to Alfred Stieglitz)– Clarity– Realism– Careful composition– Select materials (processes used, paper, etc.)

2.87 Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907. Chloride print, 4⅜ x 3⅝”. Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Art Institute of Chicago

Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage

• Stieglitz’s style:– Modern-day subjects– Composition with strong

geometric shapes– Visual rhythm– Similarities with Cubist

paintings

2.88 Garry Winogrand, Central Park Zoo, New York City, 1967. Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14”

Garry Winogrand, Central Park Zoo, New York City

• Snapshot aesthetic– Immediacy of the moment

is crucial– Hand-held (35mm) camera– Spontaneous effect

• Central Park Zoo– Looks casual and non-

professional– Intended to be serious and

artistic form of expression




Photocollage and Photomontage

• Collage– Both the process and the product– Created by gluing together separate materials on

a single support– Can be made with photo-based materials

• Called photocollage– Photographs, text, pre-printed materials– Unique product

– Photomontage• Made to be mass-produced• Layered beforehand, re-photographed, or scanned

2.89 Hannah Höch, Cut withthe Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch of Germany, 1919–20. Photomontage, 44⅞ x 35½”. Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany

Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch of

Germany

• Hannah Höch: a co-founder of photomontage– Response to the social

conditions during and after WWI– A form of commentary and

protest

• Höch cut out text and images from publications– Appears disordered– Both complex and nonsensical– Effectively reflects the chaos of

life at the time

2.90 Stephen Marc, Untitled—Passage on the Underground Railroad, 2002. Digital photomontage, archival pigment inkjet print, 9 x 26”. Arizona State University, Phoenix

Stephen Marc,Untitled—Passage on the Underground Railroad

• Digitally combines images from different sources– Background: Cedar Grove

Plantation, Vicksburg, Mississippi

• Slave quarters• Slave owner’s letter

– Middle ground: iron fence, antique hoe, cotton plants

– Foreground: man with his hand on his chest

• Phi Beta Sigma fraternity brands

• How does the past inform the present?




Black and White versus Color

• Black and white– Dominant until at least the 1930s– Now looks “artsy,” nostalgic, or old-fashioned

• Color– Before color-film, some artists hand-tinted their

photographs– First processes were very complicated– Color film became commercially viable in the

1930s– Now more common than black and white

2.91 Roger Fenton, Valley of the Shadow of Death, 1855. Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Roger Fenton, Valley of the Shadow of Death

• Roger Fenton photographed the Crimean War– Hired to counteract negative

publicity about the war

• Valley of the Shadow of Death– Title from Psalm 23 in the

Bible

• Effect of black and white: – Empty, desolate, poetic

landscape

2.92 Sally Mann, The New Mothers, 1989. Gelatin silver print, 8 x 10”

Sally Mann, The New Mothers

• From a series called Immediate Family– Scenes from childhood and

family interactions– Children’s actions

sometimes predict later adult behavior

• Collaborations between Mann and her children

• Effect of black and white:– Transforms ordinary

moments into nostalgic and provocative statements

Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats

• Brightly colored “tableau” or arrangement– Green becomes more

intense against the gray– Altered in such a way that

looks Surreal– Combination of fact and

fiction

2.94 Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing #17, Deda Chicken Processing Plant, Dehui City, Jilin Province, China, 2005

Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing #17, Deda Chicken Processing Plant

• Large scale color photographs (3 x 4ft)– Small details within vast urban

scenes take on importance

• Series called Manufacturing– Factories in China– #17 is a chicken-processing

plant– Encourages viewers to

contemplate civilization’s impact on the planet

– Burtynsky says, “It’s not a simple right or wrong. It needs a whole new way of thinking”




Conclusion

• Impact of the invention of the camera

• Photographers make decisions about – What to include

– How it will look

– The subjects he or she will select

– Time-consuming processes

– Emphasis on spontaneity

• Direct connection between the external world and the expressive choices of the artist




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This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 2.5

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields





2.71 Gernsheim Collection, London 2.72 Image appears courtesy Abelardo Morell 2.73 British Library, London 2.74 Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and

Anonymous Gifts, 1997, Acc. no. 1997.382.1. Photo The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence

2.75 Ralph Larmann 2.76 Bibliothèque nationale, Paris 2.77 Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.. Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-DIG-fsa-

8b29516 2.78 © Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust/Corbis 2.79 Collection of the Société Française de Photographie, Paris2.80 Please note that this image is not available for digital use but can be found on page 218 of the textbook 2.81 Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-nclc-01555 2.82a, 2.82b Copyright Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos 2.83 © Hiroko Masuike/New York Times/Eyevine2.84 Copyright Steve McCurry/Magnum Photos 2.85 Royal Photographic Society, Bath2.86 Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York. © DACS 20112.87 The Art Institute of Chicago, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.705 © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum/DACS, 20112.88 © Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco2.89 Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin. © DACS 20112.90 © Stephen Marc2.91 Gernsheim Collection, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas at Austin2.92 Courtesy Gagosian Gallery © Sally Mann2.93 Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats © 19802.94 Photo © Edward Burtynsky, courtesy Flowers, London & Nicholas Metivier, Toronto

Picture Credits for Chapter 2.5




1. When light-sensitive film is exposed to light, ______ image is formed.

a. a positiveb. a negativec. an out-of-focusd. a colore. a digitalFeedback/Reference: Page 212




2. The ______ was an early form of camera.Topic: n/aa. camera obscurab. cyanotypec. positived. lense. none of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 212




3. The most important difference between the photographic process invented by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre and the process devised by William Henry Fox Talbot was that Talbot’s images could be ______.

Topic: n/aa. coloredb. hand-madec. direct positivesd. easily reproducede. none of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 214




4. Three important photographic genres are portraiture, landscape, and ______: images of inanimate objects, such as fruit.

Topic: n/aa. genreb. abstractc. still lifed. non-objectivee. realistFeedback/Reference: Page 215




5. Because the camera appears to capture an image of an event exactly as it occurred, viewers often believe that the resulting photograph is ______ record of events.

Topic: n/aa. an absolutely accurateb. a propagandisticc. an unreliabled. a distortede. none of the aboveFeedback/Reference: Page 219




6. Photographs were only recently collected by fine art museums because for a long time they were considered by some not to be ______.

Topic: n/aa. affordableb. truthfulc. true forms of artd. mechanical reproductionse. black and whiteFeedback/Reference: Page 221




7. Garry Winogrand’s practice of taking photographs that were not posed or set up in advance was known as ______.

Topic: n/aa. uninterestingb. the snapshot aestheticc. not seriousd. not artistice. abstractFeedback/Reference: Page 224




8. Unlike a photocollage, a photomontage is made to be ______.

Topic: n/aa. soldb. displayed in publicc. collected by museumsd. reproducede. controversialFeedback/Reference: Page 224




9. The earliest photographs were black and white because ______.

Topic: n/aa. color processes were complicatedb. color photography was impossiblec. the chemistry used captured gray tonesd. they were more expensivee. all of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 226




10. Color processes can be used to make photographs that are ______.

Topic: n/aa. realisticb. surrealc. expressived. socially consciouse. all of the other answers

Chapter 2.6

Film/Video and Digital Art






Introduction

• The moving image is one of the youngest mediums used by artists– Film– Digital– Video




Moving Images Before Film

• Illusion of movement• Zoetrope

– Images showing separate scenes of an action placed inside

– Viewed through slits in a rotating cylinder – Gives the impression of continuous motion– Basis of modern film and video technique

• Theory of persistence of vision– Separate images presented to the human eye at

regular intervals appear as a continuous sequence




2.95 Diagram of a zoetrope

2.96 Eadweard Muybridge, The Horse in Motion, June 18, 1878. Albumen print. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Eadweard Muybridge, The Horse in Motion

• Creating the illusion of movement – First motion had to be

frozen in a still image

• Eadweard Muybridge– Photographed a horse

running– Used a line of 12 cameras – Proved what the human

eye cannot see• A galloping horse has all its

legs off the ground at once




Silent and Black-and-White Film• Earliest films were short clips

– Documenting daily life

– Black and white

– Silent without a soundtrack

• Nickelodeons– Small storefront movie theaters

– Popular in the early twentieth century

• Movie palaces– Ornate, often featuring a pipe organ

– Developed as movies business

• By 1896 movies were shown all over Europe and the U.S.

2.97 Georges Méliès, scene from A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune), 1902, 14 minutes, Star Film

Georges Méliès, A Trip to the Moon

• George Méliès, French magician and filmmaker– Used films as part of his

magic show– Made science fiction and

fantasy films• A Trip to the Moon

– His most famous film– Astronomers launch

themselves from a cannon• Crash into the moon’s right

eye– Méliès moves time forward

using • Multiple settings, repeated

scenes, cuts

2.98 D. W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation, 1915, publicity poster

D. W. Griffith, Birth of a Nation

• Birth of a Nation– Hollywood’s first

blockbuster film– One of the first films to tell

an epic story– Innovative editing

techniques• Transitions between scenes

– Silent• No spoken dialog• Tells story with symbolism,

gesture, and intertitles– Now controversial for its

reinforcement of racist views

2.99 Orson Welles, Scene from Citizen Kane, 1941, 112 minutes, RKO Pictures

Orson Welles, Citizen Kane• Orson Welles

– Writer, director, actor• Citizen Kane

– Widely considered among the most important films of all time

• Revolutionary techniques– Fabricated newspaper

headlines and news reels– Dramatic lighting– Innovative editing– Natural sound– Elaborate sets– Moving camera shots, deep

focus, low camera angles




Sound and Color

• Color films– Beginning in the late 1920s– Novelty to attract audiences

• Sound– Before 1927: sound performed live in theaters– 1927: integrated sound

• Dialog• Background noise• Music

2.100 Victor Fleming, scene from The Wizard of Oz, 1939, 101 minutes, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Victor Fleming, The Wizard of Oz

• Black and white/color used to distinguish locales– Kansas (black and white)– Dorothy Gale transported

by cyclone– Land of Oz (color)

• Ruby slippers• Yellow brick road• Emerald City

– Characters• Dorothy, her dog Toto, Tin

Man, Scarecrow, Lion, Wizard

2.101 Stanley Donan and Gene Kelly, still from Singin’ in the Rain, 1952, 103 minutes, produced by Loew’s Incorporated, distributed by MGM

Stanley Donan and Gene Kelly, Singin’ in the Rain

• Looks back to the time when the film industry made the transition to using synchronous sound

• Musical– Tells the story with

dialog, song, and dance




Animation and Special Effects

• Animation– Creates the illusion of movement

• Still images created separately (drawings, photos, etc.)• Shown in a sequence

• Special effects– Models– Props– Make-up– Post-production

2.102 Wladyslaw Starewicz, Mest Kinematograficheskogo Operatora (The Cameraman’s Revenge), 1912, produced by Khanzhonkov Company, Moscow, Russia

Wladyslaw Starewicz,The Cameraman’s Revenge

• Stop-action animation– Figures photographed in a

pose, moved very slightly, photographed again

– Process repeated until all movements have been recorded

• The Cameraman’s Revenge– Characters are insects– Story of infidelity– Slapstick quality– Like many animated films,

more for adults than children

2.103 Hayao Miyazaki with Kirk Wise (English version), still from Spirited Away, 2001, 125 minutes, Studio Ghibli

Hayao Miyazaki with Kirk Wise, Spirited Away

• Cel animation– Most common technique for

making animated films– Individual drawings called ‘cels’

• Spirited Away– Oscar-winning film– Hayao Miyazaki: writer and

director– Story influenced by Japanese

mythology– 125-minute film

• Required between 90,000 and 200,000 drawings

• Storyboards: drawings used to show the progression of events

2.104 George Lucas, still fromStar Wars Episode IV—A New Hope, 1977, 121 minutes, Lucasfilm

George Lucas, Star Wars Episode IV—A New

Hope• Earned $194 million at

the box office– New standard for

blockbuster films– Brought science fiction

into the mainstream

• Special effects– Super-realist paintings– Detailed models– Computer-generated

images – Digitally timed effects

2.105 Jean-Pierre Jeunet, still from Amélie (The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain), 2001, 122 minutes, Claudie Ossard Productions

Jean-Pierre Jeunet,Amélie

• Reveals the magical qualities of everyday life– Intense color

• Exaggerated elements help tell the story– Amélie’s heart beats out of her

chest– Amélie melts into a puddle

• Inanimate objects, such as Renoir’s Impressionist painting Luncheon of the Boating Party, almost take on the significance of characters




Film Genres

• Genres are categories of film – Established conventions, plot lines, character

types• Musicals• Science fiction• Romantic comedies• Westerns• Horror• Documentary• Experimental film

2.106 Robert Weine, still from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1919, 80 minutes, Steiner

Robert Weine,The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

• One of the earliest horror films

• Characters:– Francis, Dr. Caligari,

Cesare, Jane

• Innovative plot– Framing story

• Sets and mood– Inspired by German

Expressionist forms

2.107 Davis Guggenheim, still from An Inconvenient Truth, 2006, 95 minutes, Lawrence Bender Productions

Davis Guggenheim, An Inconvenient Truth

• Documentary film– Based on actual people,

events, subjects

• Presents facts about global warming– Issue of concern to

former Vice President Al Gore

– Also includes Gore’s lectures, life, political career




Film as Art: Experimental Films

• Non-mainstream approaches– New technology and subject matter

• Inexpensive equipment• Using various methods to achieve desired effects

– Visually compelling and poetic• Manipulating filmstrip itself• Layering images

– Unusual content• Dream sequences• Fantasy imagery

2.108 Maya Deren, still from Meshes of the Afternoon, 1943, 16mm black-and-white silent film, 18 minutes

Maya Deren, Meshes of the Afternoon

• Co-directed by Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid

• Repeated sequences– Cloaked woman with a mirror

over her face walks down the road

– Woman enters a house and walks up the stairs

• Repeated objects– Flower, key, telephone, large

knife, record player, billowy curtains, rumpled sheets

• Time is circular, elements change

• Reflects a state of mind, like visual poetry

2.109 Sadie Benning, still from Flat Is Beautiful, 1998, Pixelvision video with sound, 56 minutes

Sadie Benning,Flat is Beautiful

• Challenges societal perceptions

• Uses innovative visual techniques

• Grainy black-and-white images– Made with a toy camera

(Fisher Price PixelVision)– Sections shot on Super-8

film– Animated collages

• Main character: Taylor– Issues of identity and

sexuality




Video

• Often made for art-related presentation– Art galleries or art events– Television monitors or projected onto walls– Installations to transform the space

• Relatively inexpensive equipment– Medium commonly used for experimentation




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2.110 Nam June Paik and John J. Godfrey, still from Global Groove, 1973, single-channel videotape, color with sound.Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York

Nam June Paik and John J. Godfrey,

Global Groove• Nam June Paik

– Pioneer of video art

• Global Groove– 30-minute video

recording– Combines recognizable

and distorted pictures– Comments on role of

media in daily life– Foreshadows music

video

2.113a Bill Viola, Going Forth by Day, 2002. Installation view, video/sound installation, five-part projected image cycle

2.113b Bill Viola, The Raft, May 2004. Video/sound installation, color high-definition video projection on wall in darkened space, screen size 13’ x 7’3⅞”

2.113c Bill Viola (on the right) in production for The Raft, Downey Studios, Downey, California, 2004

Bill Viola: How Did Video Become Art

• Bill Viola– One of the world’s leading

video artists– Working in video since the

1970s• “New electronic communication

technologies played a central role in re-imagining not only what a work of art could be but also how it could reach beyond the art world to engage life and society directly and transform the world”

• “Video as art exists somewhere between the permanence of painting and the temporary existence of music”

• “The medium of video, where images are born and die every instant, has brought a new humanism to contemporary art”




Interactive Digital Media

• Artists involve viewers as active participants– Interact with the artwork– Choose different paths to follow– Help determine the outcome

2.111 Constance de Jong, Tony Oursler, Stephen Vitiello, Fantastic Prayers, 2000. Screenshot from CD-ROM. Courtesy Dia Art Foundation

Constance de Jong, Tony Oursler, Stephen Vitiello, Fantastic Prayers

• Constance DeJong (writer)• Tony Oursler (visual artist)• Stephen Vitiello (sound

artist)• Started as a performance• Virtual artwork on the

internet– Fragments of text, images,

sound– Constantly shifting and

changing elements– Not restricted by fixed

boundaries• Eight environments

2.112 exonemo, The Road Movie, 2005. Mobile installation system (MobLab on the road in Japan, October 18–November 6, 2005) and online artwork

exonemo, The Road Movie

• Interactive Web project– Bus called “MobLab”– Japanese and German

artists traveled across Japan

• Trip tracked by GPS

• Viewers invited to make their own road movie– Print out and fold digital

origami replicas of the bus




Conclusion

• Film and video– Sequencing of still images– Replicate the appearance of life moving

around us– Believablity and appeal

• Sound, color, animation, special effects• Establishment of genres• An artistic medium




This concludes the PowerPoint slide set for Chapter 2.6

Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts By Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields





2.95 Ralph Larmann

2.96 Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-45683

2.97 Star Film Company

2.98 akg-images

2.99, 2.100 British Film Institute (BFI)

2.101 M.G.M/Album/akg-images

2.102 British Film Institute (BFI)

2.103 Disney Enterprises/Album/akg-images

2.104 Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox/The Kobal Collection

2.105, 2.106, 2.107, 2.108 British Film Institute (BFI)

2.109 Image copyright of the artist, courtesy Video Data Bank, www.vdb.org

2.110 Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York

2.111 Image courtesy Dia Art Foundation. Courtesy Tony Oursler, Stephen Vitiello and Constance de Jong

2.112 Courtesy exonemo

2.113a Photo Mathias Schormann © Bill Viola

2.113b, 2.113c Photo Kira Perov © Bill Viola

Picture Credits for Chapter 2.6




1. Among artistic media, one that was developed relatively recently is ______.

Topic: n/aa. oil paintingb. charcoal drawingc. marble sculptured. movies and filme. none of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 228




2. One of the first moving subjects to be captured in photographs was ______.

Topic: n/aa. a camerab. a horsec. a jetd. a surfere. imaginaryFeedback/Reference: Page 229




3. Photographs by Muybridge could be put into a ______ to create the impression that they were actually moving.

Topic: n/aa. spinning zoetropeb. hand-colored framec. light-safe darkroomd. busy race tracke. all of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 230




4. The earliest films did not have ______ such as we experience in daily life.

Topic: n/aa. evolving eventsb. musical accompanimentc. ongoing dialogd. believable characterse. all of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 230




5. A musical tells a story using ______.Topic: n/aa. dialog, dance, and songsb. brilliant color contrasted with black-and-white

scenesc. famous actors and popular musicd. distant locations and unexpected weathere. none of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 232




6. The main difference between the animation used in The Cameraman’s Revenge and Spirited Away is that The Cameraman’s Revenge was made using ______.

Topic: n/aa. drawingsb. computersc. live actorsd. historical re-creationse. puppetsFeedback/Reference: Pages 232–33




7. One important difference between The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and An Inconvenient Truth is that ______.

Topic: n/aa. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is based on actual eventsb. An Inconvenient Truth is entirely fictionalc. An Inconvenient Truth is based on actual eventsd. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was made much latere. there are no significant differences between the

two filmsFeedback/Reference: Page 235




8. The sequences in Meshes of the Afternoon are similar to ______.

Topic: n/aa. record samplingb. dream imageryc. weather mapsd. X-rayse. toy video camerasFeedback/Reference: Page 236




9. Technology is used in contemporary video artworks, like those made by Bill Viola and Nam June Paik, in ways that ______.

Topic: n/aa. emphasize the way the medium is inaccessible to

most peopleb. revive art-making practices from the pastc. create a boring viewing experienced. relate to people using imagery and a medium they

can readily understande. none of the other answersFeedback/Reference: Page 238




10. Artworks made for the Internet encourage ______.

Topic: n/aa. collaboration among different artistsb. interactive experience for viewersc. real-time updates of art actionsd. increasing diversity in the possibilities for artworkse. all of the other answers

Art 110 2.5 & 2.6 (only)

Art & Photos

Transcript of Art 110 2.5 & 2.6 (only)