BIVOUAC

I believe that the three pieces I have written about below are good examples of how the exhibit as a whole coincides very well with each other. They each brought about the idea of playing with their medium and letting their guard down, which allows for a free form to appear as the final product.

The pieces were intriguing and once Andrew told me the background behind most of the works, it made me like them even more. For example, Steve Roden's work's "my doubt, a mass of ancient night, concludes in many a subtle branch" and "so I loved a dream? aimai-je un reve?" looked like any contemporary 20 something artist working with the standard bright colors that is "hip" today, but Andrew explained that there was a process of mathematical equation, which was how he made the piece. I guess it is a little sad that I could not appreciate this work fully until I knew the background behind it. I'm excited to see Angela take this approach because I feel like it would be really interesting to see this all happen in person. I actually feel like I did this process a bit when I was younger. I used to come up with my own alphabet and tried to make them combine with the numbers they were associated with (A would be with 1, B with 2, etc, etc.).

Meiro Koizumi's piece "Craftnight" was intriguing as well. I caught the video in between and had no idea what was going on, but as I watched a little more I assumed he was talking about his father and the troubles in the past he’s had. I believe that the actor was partially acting and partially bringing out some deep personal emotion, but I guess that’s what good actors have to do. I felt like the premise of the video was to connect these sad memories we all have as children to the way we turn out as adults. Everyone has their stories of heartbreak from their parents and some are way worse than others, but some people should realize they have it a lot better than some people. Maybe Koizumi was trying to connect the actor to everyone who has had these bad memories of their parents but chose the actor as a symbol for the people who really don’t have it that bad and are seeking someone to listen to them bitch and moan. So many people are great at acting out their emotions and getting people to feel sorry for them. I love the title when I think about the piece in this way because its as if people use their hands so much in order to relieve stress and what a better way to relieve it with clay. The title “craftnight” makes it seem as if these are daily meetings like AA or Bingo night which has people socialize and work together in some instances. Other than that, I thought the lighting was very appropriate and made the entire situation seem a little grimmer.

Alex Hubbard’s “Cineopolis”, “Untitled Red Herring”, and “Dos Nacionales”, were all really great films. I wish I had a room where I could play it all day in my home. The premise of the work was what attracted me because at first I thought that Hubbard had everything magnetized, but then I realized that he was filming a table from a bird’s eye view. The piece seemed to be slightly planned, but also had a bit of random placements added to it. I took it in as an experience that solely paid attention to sound and visuals. I did not question myself to figure out what concept was behind the video, I just took it as it was. Seeing the video as one single form brought about more emotion in me than any of the pieces in the exhibit. I thought of it as Hubbard testing the senses, almost making us feel like we have Synesthesia. The constant change in colors and form made me feel different emotions. I assume if I were high it would be quite a potent sensory experience. I wasn’t sure if the sounds were made on location or if they found different samples because the sounds were so clear and crisp.