The Passing - Bill Viola
The Passing, at first, unnerved and confused me. The flickering white body slowly appearing out of the contradicting darkness instantly asks questions of the audience. Who is this woman. Why is she here. And what is she showing us.
As she reaches the precipice of the camera shot what appears to be flames arise from where she is stood although at first they rise somewhat erratically. As the flames subside the women left arm appears to start pouring away. Soon after this point her entire body appears to liquefying before the viewers eyes, with flames appearing intermittently. The water appears to have altered its focal point from, initially, the arm now to the top of the head.
As the audience i perceived this, given the name of the piece, as the everything the women is pouring out of her. Much as if she was dying, the self pouring away from her with none of her control.
The water begins to flow aggressiveness as the subject appears to show agony across her face, the first time we are allowed to identify her physical features. Her body engulfed by water her she appears to literally disintegrating before the audiences eyes. Nothing left but a ravaged empty shell. Nothing of her actual self remains. Much like in death.
In my opinion they achieved this in a way that conveys its ideas on to the audience. Of course the images presented to you are interpretable given the audience member viewing it. But i think that's one of the positives of this film, its pleasing in its aesthetics but is so open to interpretation that it works regardless of who is watching it.
Sam Taylor-Wood - A Little Death
This film is shocking. Immediately it shocks the audience. What can only be described as a dead body is the main focal point of the only shot used. For the first ten seconds you see movement across the abdomen of the corpse, one recognizes this as maggots. As the film progresses the corpse becomes more and more decomposed, to the point that its literally a mess of hide and fur.
To the left of the corpse there is an untouched peach, to me this acts as a framework for life and vitality. A comparison of the brutality of death to the richness of life. What interests me most about this video is the ease to focus on the death of the animal but in actual fact the insects that are eating the corpse live. I think this is integral to the feel of the video yet so easy to over look.
While this film at first screams darkness, as the film draws on it evokes more positive feelings and realistation for the audience, at least it did for me.
The use of no sound of visual effects your only really allowed to focus on the staunch image in front of you. One of the main things i took from this video was that how quickly something once so beautiful can be reduced to nothing with in the space of 4 short minutes. As humans we indulge our inner-selves and fears by continuing the lie or neglecting the fact that we know that everything is transitional, this film forces that on you. Forces you to deal with those fears.
Sam Taylor-Wood has taken something most would shy away from and turned into a piece of art someone can take something from. The ability and creativity it takes to do this is nothing short of incredible. To present an audience in this day and age with the corpse of an animal being eaten by insects and still have them sat there at the end of it, let alone take a meaning from it, is nothing short of fantastic.
Its beautiful in its simplicity, no sound, no filters and no distractions just the image and the point it entails. It gives you no choice but to accept its point. These reasons alone make this film genius.
Sam Taylor-Wood - Still Life
Still Life is almost a direct contrast to Little Death. The setup is the same with a different subject. The layout is the same. Its as if the two are entwined but with a different meaning and the same meaning all at once.
The most interesting thing is the Biro pen sat just afoot of the bowl of fruit. At first it confused me. You instantly want to know why is that there ? It has no immediate relevance to the picture ahead of you. Then it dawns. Slowly but purposefully. To me this dawning signified Man against the immaculate form of Nature. One inspiring awe in its aesthetic and perfection. The other a simple tool of necessity devised by a more complex product of nature.
The things that needs to be acknowledged within this image is that the natural aspect is finite, it has a life span and ultimately that will come to an end. Contextually the pen represents items of a non natural basis but man made, items with an unnatural longevity thus signifying our legacy outliving our physicality.
Succinctly each of these subjects optimize the factuality that all natural life is finite, and all man made items have a life span often out running their creators.
Alternatively it could just be a nice film about a bowl of fruit....perhaps we shall never know.
Thomas Edisons - Electrocuting An Elephant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bowA1xUZpmA)
While this film doesn't strictly operate under the guise of "Film Art" I have included it anyway. To justify my inclusion i need you to imagine existing over 109 years ago, for this is the very first piece of film ever made and released to the public on a piece of technology created by Thomas Edison. This piece of film is, in its own right, a piece of film art.
If you presented this clip with no prior-knowledge this film could easily pass for art, that isnt enough to make it art just because it looks a bit like it. But looking at it now whether it was created for the purpose of art or not it (ignoring the content) still looks fantastic in its aesthetics. Its raw, the content of the film takes concentration and strain to figure out exactly what is going on. The music is typical of the age adding to the feel of the film and the mentality of the people within it. A mentality that is scorned upon today. Yet this was a little over a century ago and then, to those people, at that time would have been an afternoon out. 1,500 people gathered to witness the making and the content of this film.
Many aspiring film makers, photographers and artists strive to achieve the sort of washed out grainy filter that , in 1903, was an invention.
This film is obviously a horrendous aberration of arguably one of the most gentle creatures known to man, because of that this film has exactly the same effect as the rest of the films discussed above. It evokes a genuine emotive reaction. It does something to the viewer. In this specific case it fills one with sorrow. Sorrow at the state of things on this planet. It begs questions, intended or not, about the integrity of man kind. About our morals as a race and our seemingly unquenchable desire to dominate every thing on the planet, often ending it stomach wrenching results.
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