Kerri Roberts

Article

Video installation is a form of exhibition which is used to show case videos in an

arty way. They use all aspects of the surrounding environment to help affect the
audience. An example of 3 different artist who have done this are Bill Viola, Matt
Mullican and Tacita Dean.
Matt Mullicans art is in many different forms like drawings, sculptures, videos,
paintings, electronic media, and installations. Since the 1970s he has used
different types of mental states in his work which he uses to help inform and
explain his idea. In Mullicans exhibitions, which have been set in a studio and a
home, his trance state can last many hours and include a range of different
behaviour, such as boring or surprising and engaging. During his installation in
the video, he will pour himself a drink, walk across the room, sing, chant phrases,
and draw or paint in black acrylic ink on large pieces of paper, bedsheets, and the
wall itself. An example of a piece of his work is Psycho Architecture. This is in a
narrative form as it is based around a real person. It shows the way in which a
person may attend too closely to things around them. This exhibition consisted of
only two TV screens. On the first screen is Mullican moving around in his studio
while he is looking at and studying the items in there very close-up. And on the
second screen it is actually from Mullicans perspective. This helps to portray the
curiosity of a person, and how certain things may draw their attention.
Mullican has used technology and technique to install his work by having multiple
screens. This helped the audience to see his actions from different angles. He also
uses television monitors and headphones/speakers. This helped to make the
audience feel more connected to what was happening on screen with him, and also
made it a bit more personal. This was installed in Production O.K Center for
Contemporary Art and Casino Luxembourg - Forum d'art contemporain and
created meaning by having only the two screens there which drew the audience in
and made them look closely at the screens due to their curiosity. Mullicans work is
similar to Bill Violas in a way as they both express their views on deep subjects
through the use of art. The type of audience for this sort of exhibition would be
people who are interested in trance like experiences, and how people act when in
certain situations and places whether it mental or physical.

Kerri Roberts
Matt Mullicans work has also been exhibited in very famous museums, such as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Haus der Kunst in Monaco, the National
Galerie in Berlin and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Matt Mullicans works
have been exhibited in many other shows as The Meaning of Things at Spazio
Culturale Antonio Ratti in Como (2013); Vom Ordnen der Welt and Haus der Kunst,
Munich (2011).

Bill Viola's work usually revolves around human consciousness and experience birth, death, love, emotion and humanist spirituality. Mystical traditions has
helped him find meaning throughout his career. Viola likes to explore the theme of
dualism, which is the idea that you can't understand what you're looking at unless
you know its opposite. For example, a lot of his work has themes such as life and
death, light and dark, stressed and calm, loud and quiet, etc.
His work can be divided into three types of categories- conceptual, visual, and then
a combination of the two. Art critic, James Gardner of the National Review, feels
Viola's conceptual work is forgettable just like most video art. But, others have a
different opinion to this. Gardner does, however, feel that Viola's visual work such
as "The Veiling", and his combination of both the conceptual and visual such as
"The Crossing" are impressive and memorable.

Kerri Roberts
An example of a piece of Violas work is The Sleep of Reason, which is a narrative
as there is a story to it. It was created for the 1988 Carnegie International, and
installed in Carnegie Museum of Art. When you first enter the exhibition, there is a
wooden chest with a screen on it in the middle of an empty room. On the screen,
you can see either a male or female with the sounds of someone sleeping which can
be heard through the speakers. There is also a lamp, a digital clock and a vase
with white roses. During the installation, there are moments where the lighting will
go off then on. Large moving images appear which cover three of the walls. These
images consist of burning buildings, fierce dogs, a forest at night, an owl, and
underwater views of fish and a sinking man. After these appear, you will then hear
a loud roaring sound. This lasts for a few seconds and then the lights come back on
and the room returns to normal. These moments are like random "photo seizures",
which capture signs of an incurable sickness in the room

The technology and techniques used in this exhibition is a monitor and projector
screen, which enlargers the image, bringing the audience into the scene. He also
uses speakers to project the sounds, and really capture the audiences attention,
making them feel they are a part of the exhibition. Viola managed to take advantage
of the space and objects by making the room feel empty, and the audience member
feel they are in a type of dream. The audience for this type of exhibition would be
people who are drawn to experiences of human consciousness, and enjoy this type
of realm exhibition.

Tacita Charlotte Dean OBE is an English visual artist. An

example of a piece of her work is Film. Film is a silent
35mm looped film projected onto a pillar
standing 13 meters tall, and is of a
narrative form due to it having a story. It is
about the reality from her perspective of
film dying as digital form is taking over, and what we need
to do in order to stop this from happening. It shows that
even though times are changing and technology is taking over, film should still be
used as its an important part of the industry and a reminder of how things started.
Without it then we wouldnt have films like we have today.
The technology and techniques Dean used in this exhibition was a projector which
helped to capture the eye of the audience with the large image, and also the
different colours used. She also used the technique of having a film strip shown
through a video exhibition. Dean decided to have no sound playing as it will show
the audience to watch, and able them to concentrate more. Also, film strips never
had sound at a time. I feel this technology was used as it helped create a more
realistic and visual approach to her message and installation. Dean managed to use
the space she had by making the film strip very large and projected onto a pillar to

Kerri Roberts
help represent the length of a film strip. Film was exhibited as Turbine Hall, Tate
Modern. The audience for this would be people who are interested in the history of
film, and people who enjoy watching this type of montage. Also, who want to know
more about the changing industry and technology, and why things should/
shouldnt change.
All these different installations relate to my own ideas as they are creative and
stand out. It shows what you can do. No matter what type of stuff you have access
to or size of room, you can still make it interesting, unique and memorable like
these examples.

References:
https://www.dma.org/art/exhibition-archive/sleep-reason-video-installation-billviola
http://www.cmoa.org/CollectionDetail.aspx?item=1026526
https://www.google.co.uk/search?
q=where+was+psycho+architecture+matt+mullican+installed&safe=active&bi
w=1280&bih=899&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjuhf3YionNAh
XqLMAKHTK6CI8Q_AUIBigB#safe=active&tbm=isch&q=psycho+architecture+m
att+mullican&imgrc=_
http://www.kunstbeeld.nl/nl/nieuws/22361/curiosity-de-appel.html
http://www.capitainpetzel.de/artists/mullican-matt/
https://desingel.be/nl/programma/dedonderdagen/matt-mullican-usa-psychoarchitecture-experiment-in-the-studio-november-5th-7th-2001
http://archiv.ok-centrum.at/english/ausstellungen/larsen/mullican.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/8818298/Tacita-Dean-FILM-atthe-Turbine-Hall-Tate-Modern-review.html