Decay

I was watching tv the other day and found that katy perrie used a decaying fox image in her music video ET, the same one that was used in the intro of the show True Blood.
from that i decided to look up decaying animals, as i found it rather strange that this would be used all the time.
I also played with the "jazz teeth" footage that i filmed

what came out was something that i think was a comment on life after/ from death, not in a depressing, way but in a light humorous way. for me it shows that the world will keep on spinning no matter what happens to you personally, life is cruel but you can't let it get you down. It'll be interesting to see where i go from here.

Jillian Mayer

As before mention my previous video was made after i saw this video by Jillian Mayer

I thought this was very cool, and was glad to see the idea of image that is portrayed by you or others as obscured after you die. Frankly after viewing a few other videos that she is done, i am left fairly speechless about how witty and well constructed her works are.

The Sound tracks she uses are amazing and effective. I'm truly in awe. i love the fact that they can make you so uncomfortable by simple images and an effective soundtrack. I la la Love it!!

References:
Jillian Mayer (2011) I Am Your Grandma accessed the twenty fifth of may 2011 http://www.jillianmayer.net/index.php?/teaser-of-mrs-ms-an-experimental-musical/i-am-your-grandma/

The Spirit of Jazz teeth Baby

I decided to play around with some 'make up' to try and make myself rather creepy. I filmed the whole process, which was fun, and then at the end decided  to make some creepy faces that are based of Charles Manosn himself in this video

and then reversed it as i thought it'd make it a bit more interesting. also i used the starts of two White Zombie songs, a very cool band, whose lead singer Rob Zombie directed and wrote house of 1000 corpses, the devils rejects and the recent Halloween film. He is really quite amazing at making the weird, dirty sub-genre of an underground metal/goth fellowship that i've only just started scraping the top of. Also this was inspired after watching the work of Jillian Mayer, whom i found on my friend Ryan's blog that you can view here:
http://with-you-friends.blogspot.com/
His stuff is very cool and he has a great taste in artists. ;)

Can't wait to see where i'll go from here. just really, for once in my life, enjoying my artistic practice, making things that are for/interest me, no one else.

More Films=More Fun

So as i posted before (my exorcist video) I've done a little more looking into creepy things
it really started when i drew a clown the other day, which i thought was rather creepy. so i looked up creepy clown paintings and came across some done by John Wayne Gacy, who, for those who don't know, is a convicted serial killer. this led me to do a little research into various serial killers, one be Charles Manson. What interested me about him was his music. It is the most disturbing thing, even before you find out that it him. doing a little research into him i found that these disgusting Helter Skelter things he preached have wormed their way in enough for people to still want to join his 'Family". What i found more interesting though is that these wierd little songs Manson had created even got covered by Guns 'n' Roses, in which they then had to pay royalties to the Tate family.

the thing is though that they could've released this song and had people like it, like the song of a serial killer who couldn't even get a record deal before he was convicted.

anyway i found this song called 'Mechanical Man' by Manson and thought it's add an interesting quality to a video. so i decided to combine it with some old home movies and see how just changing music really changes how we view something.

I then took what i like best form this a combined it with some recent film to make a conceptual comparison between then and now. i really like this because it disturbs me .

the i decided to combine the song the exorcist spider walk and the video text form 'wath my face to read my thought' that was previously mentioned

I hope you like them in a weird horrible way :)

Weird

I'm enjoying looking at the 'weird' in the world. one thing sprang to mind today whe i was trying to think of weird things i could explore before this friday's tute at uni.
that is:
- hair
- fences
- bugs
-movies/horrors


i want to explore all of these at one stage but the easiest to do was edit a little bit of ready film supplied by horror films. i chose one particular scene that was in my head for weeks after seeing it. i'm not sure if it's because it's a great bit of horror or just my fear of creepy children, but the spider scene form the exorcist is one you don't easily forget.
so here's my vid:

  what is did was mess with the soundtrack and video that was provided. adding no sounds or effects-except for one...reverse.
so each clip has the original track playing both forward and backward at the same time. i found it interesting how both the reversed and the original visual matched well with the messed up track.
i enjoyed this and i think that maybe using film people have already seen and playing on expectations or references attached to it may be interesting to play with. be on stand by i'm sure there's many more to come.... Bruce Willis maybe?

Nam June Paik

I first saw this artist in 2009 when I viewed his piece TV Cello , in the The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT6). I later went on to do my year 12 assignment on Paik and his work. He in many ways may have been the father of video art for the fluxus movement and for the whole art community, but Paik was the father for my love of video art. From viewing his pieces in the perspective of someone who has accessed to far superior technology that a Sony playback recorder Paik work is still as relevant as it was in the 60’s. His juxtaposition of religion and naked women, music and tv, and performers, he is still a solid inspiration in my practice. Although my work to me feels as though it is not worthy to be considered video art among those of Paik it is his defined style that gives me hope for the development in my practice and eventually my own recognisable style like Paik. Today I had a laugh when I found that in every book that has “video” and “art” in the same title always have Paik in the book somewhere, and Bruce Numen, but hey he’s already been blogged.

Here are some of my favorite pieces by him:

Nam June Paik: Reclining Buddha, 1994

2 color televisions, 2 Pioneer laser disk players, 2 original Paik laser disks, found object Buddha, 20 x 24 x 14 inches

Electronic Superhighway

TV Cello and TV cello performance 

TV bra for living sculpture. 

:)

References:

Popper, F (1993) Art of the Electronic Age. Page 60. Thames and Hudson Ltd.: London

Likeyou-the artnetwork (n.b) Nam June Paik accessed 12/5/2011 http://www.likeyou.com/en/node/11119

Killahbezz (2011) The Electronic Superhighway accessed 12/5/2011 http://www.killahbeez.com/2009/01/06/the-electronic-superhighway/

Roland Baladi

I saw an image of Baladi’s work in a book today and had to check it out. The film is called Telepathy (watch my face to read my thoughts) and consists of Baladi staring at the screen. This is accompanied by text that runs across the screen. 

-View video here-

http://vimeo.com/9978462

I found it interesting that there was no sound track but, text was used to engage the viewer in a humorous way. I thought that this was a very intelligent way to broche the subject of communication. I really liked it.

References:

Popper, F (1993) Art of the Electronic Age. Page 59. Thames and Hudson Ltd.: London 

Roland Baladi (n.b) Roland Balandi accessed 12/5/2011 http://rolandbaladi.org/index.html

Vito Acconci

I looked up a video for Acconci, and was pleasantly surprised. I found it very uncomfortable to watch but also thought that it was constructed conceptually well. I loved that he relied on speech rather than interesting images and fast editing.

This makes me think that I can maybe construct a soundtrack that is purely speech and play it in a room with no visual and from all corners. I think this would be very effective.

References:

Popper, F (1993) Art of the Electronic Age. Page, 54. Thames and Hudson Ltd. : London

Youtube (2011) Vito Acconci- Undertone 1972 (extract) Accessed 12/5/2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZaD9CHZecE

Margaret Benyon

Whilst going through a book I found, I came across works by Benyon. These were Richard Hamilton (1991) and a picture of her cosmetic series and others (1987-88) . 

I found that I was instantly drawn to these images by their intense colour and haunting imagery. I love the way she constructs colour in her images, bringing out emotions that would otherwise be unnoticed.

I would like to be able to get this type of colour in my films, to add a weird texture the footage.  I wonder if I can use fluro paint? Now that is something to consider.  

References:

Popper, F (1993) Art of the Electronic Age. Page 39. Thames and Hudson Ltd.: London

Jonathan Ross (n.b) Margaret Benyon.  Accessed 12/5/2011 http://www.jrholocollection.com/catalog/benyon.html

Jonathan Ross (n.b) Margaret Benyon. Accessed 12/5/2011 http://www.holonet.khm.de/jross/collection/benyon.html

My 'Weird' Video

I was given the challenge to create the 'weirdest' video i could. and here it is. it encompasses all my previous posts with the use of my own lyrics and myself. i chose to film myself as what could be stranger than the external of yourself being viewed from the outside? i see myself everyday, but from the perspective of looking out, never truly looking upon from perspectives different to my own. so for me it was the weirdest and strangely most personal film i have down, how unnerving.

Candice Breitz

i relation to my previous post, i realised i had seen a work that could relate to the concept of it only being memories of you that are left to represent yourself after death.
when i went to GOMA to view the 21st Century Exhibition i found a work by Candice Breitz called 'King'(a portrait of Micheal Jackson)

Candice Breitz | King (a portrait of Michael Jackson) 2005 | 16-channel video installation: colour, sound, 42:20 minutes, colour, sound ed. 3/6 | 1200 x 500cm (installed, variable) | Purchased 2008 with funds from Tim Fairfax, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery

it was the one work i truly enjoyed at the exhibition and i liked the concept  of it. this really encapsulates the idea that it is not you as a person that is remembered after death, but the perceptions of others. and even if they are your biggest fan, they can never truly represent what you were.


refrences:

Gallery Of modern art, 2011, Candice Breitz King (a portrait of Michael Jackson) 2005. Accessed 11/5/2011 http://21cblog.com/candice-breitz-king-a-portrait-of-michael-jackson-2005/

and a trip to the Gallery of modern art.

What is original?

A while ago i responded to this quote:

WE ARE ALL BORN ORIGINALS. WHY IS IT SO MANY OF US DIE COPIES?

Edward Young

This was my answer:

This is a statement that can be interpreted into many meanings by different points of view. To me this means through life many of us lose our identity to trends, other people and to the fact of life it self.

We copy others to make us fit in and in doing so lose our originality, but the ones that die copies are the ones who lose their originality not to other people but to themselves. If you lose yourself to others you may not be able to find yourself again and to do so you must not find your old self be in turn create an original. But can any one be original? No, to be original you have to be the first one to live your life like no one else you have to have new ideas and a new life path. In birth no one is original we are all born the same way by our mother and others before you have learned to walk, talk and become ‘human’. An example of this statement is religion; you are born atheist not believing anything than you are brought up like many others and in the end are all copies of that one belief and most likely will die as a copy of that lifestyle. Humans are all copies of each other we learn to be like others, we may be very diverse but we are not original.

In conclusion I think we are born copies and only some of us die original.         

although this was awhile ago i find what i wrote no less relevant to how i feel towards this now, however, i do see what Young was trying to say in this quote and no less is the same conclusion i drew in the end anyway. on the other hand, be it now that im older or just more cynical, i think that it really doesn't matter what you are in life, as the act of both life and death are the same for everyone-messy. you come in covered in shit and you leave the same. they are not pretty things by any definition, but are an inevitability. and that all that is left by you is either your career, a bloodline or your moral teachings to younger people, it is not you that will be remembered, it is just your name, memories and interpretations of others.

hummm...let's hope one day i can turn this into an artwork aye? 

Lyrics 9, 10 ,11 and 12 : Ego Loser, Satisfied?, Three and Title.

Ego Loser

Shoe on tongue

I dropped my glass

Not full

Not empty

Only half

Half you, half me

Under the eyes of scrutiny

Living for pleasure

Destroys the idea of acceptance

And acceptance is our only normalcy

Let them take us

They’ll soon fall

Let them fake us

Cause they’re nothing at all

Hardwired to the system

False beat of a heart

Never stop them

Let them take us

They’ll soon fall

Let them fakes us

Let’s face it they’re nothing at all

  

Satisfied?

I am the red

I am the weird

I am the retched

I am the smeared

If I was bald would you still call me pretty?

I am inevitable.

I cannot be unmade

In the end, I won't save myself.

What do you call someone who impersonates an impersonator?

A copy?

COINCIDENCE?

Humans are all copies of each other

You should eat the shit you speak

I am inevitable.

I cannot be unmade

In the end, I won't save myself.

Humans are all copies of each other

The wedding's off

He left me

She left me

Are you all satisfied?

Three

The words almost came out

But I choked them down

I will always watch from a-far

Never view the situation normally

To fucked up to care

I like boy bits

I like girl bits

I like your bits

I like my bits

Show me yours

And I’ll rip off mine

Rationality is my only crime

How can I have something perfect, undefined

When all I want to do is feel

Normal

How can they do it?

It does not exist for me anymore.

I like boy bits

I like girl bits

I like your bits

I like my bits

I’ll show mine

And rip off yours

Rationality is your only crime.

The harder I try

The further away it is

Normal, normal, normal

Now our bits are ruined

Boy

Girl

All because of three words

That I choked down

I love you

Title

Did you feel tired today?

Like the world you once knew got washed away

A feeling of utter desolation

The people around you stuff your mind with their fears

And your heart with uncertainty

Cause you’re the shit of the world

The un-beloved

The forgotten

They are the just patriots of a lie

A world that has no mind

Evolution does not discriminate

Only the most intelligent will survive

We are the air in which you breathe

And we’ll choke you mother fuckers down

The children of the discarded

Shaped and scared by society

Bet you wish you wore protection now

We’ll wear smiles when you drown

Eating your own shit!

Now, now no call for that

Control the idiot center of yourself

It’s running wild

Trying to crush the innocence

Of our deprived minds

Yeah!    

- Please know that this is in no way intended to offend, and was written for myself. This has now become, i think an important part of my work and therefore is why it is now posted.

Lyrics 6, 7 and 8 : Children, Darlin' and A Child's Game

Children

Kiss the children on the head

Every second they become more dead

Decaying, empty and alone

They smile and pretend

Everything’s,

Okay, okay, okay

It’d be a shame if you died out

I’d miss your lies

Of love, virtue and trust

It’s be a shame if you died out

I’d miss your cries

Of devotion, emotion and my name

Oh please

Just take your self away

So I can pretend

Everything’s

Okay, okay, okay.

Darlin’

Oh honey

With that tight

Demonic smile

Your leather’s worn out

Oh sweetheart

Forget modesty

I’ll see you inside out

Inside out, inside out

Oh lovely

I wanna taste your flavour

Rise that skirt up

Off your…Thighs

I can see your…smile, ha

Oh Darlin’

So sweet and petite

I’ll do that slow dance you like

As long as your mine

Just for tonight

Pull the sheet higher

I can see your shame

Oh sugar

Apply your lipstick

Get on your game

Your damaged and done for

And I never even knew your name.

A Child’s game

You wanna play?

Come on it’s a new game

Your mumma won’t mind

It’ll be fun

As long as you comply.

Bile claws up your throat

Child innocence, trusted, devote.

Take my hand

It’ll be alright

I protect you day and night

No matter what kind of fight

I’ll protect you

Day and night

Sick with the truth

Denial, mute

A child’s cry

A sadistic adult’s lies

Spew forth

The liquid truth of horror

Everything’s now…

Alright