U35 LO1 Article
In this article, I will be explaining
the differences between past and
present day video installations
and how the audience responded
to them. Firstly, according to
Wikipedia, video installation is a
contemporary art form that
combines video technology with
installation art, making use of all
aspects of the surrounding
environment to project an image,
affecting the audience.
It was 1895 that the Lumiere
brothers demonstrated the first
moving image projected onto a
screen for a paying audience of
more than one person. It was
their invention of the
cinematograph that birthed the
motion picture era. The
cinematograph was a new and
improved version of Edisons
model the Kinetograph. The
Cinmatographe photographed
and projected film at a speed of
16 frames per second, much
slower than Edisons device. It was
a 3 in one device that allowed the
Lumiere Brothers to record,
develop and project motion
picture for the first time to an
audience. This was a turning point
in the history of film because the
idea of watching something on
screen was completely alien to
them.
One of the brothers most
memorable film is called arrival of
a train a la ciotat (1986), however
in the UK we call it Train pulling
into the station. The title doesnt
give much to imagination however
it was mind blowing to the
audience. The film shows the first
examples of cinematic techniques;
long shot, medium shot, close-up
and forced perspective. The
camera was placed on the
platform to capture the size of the
huge train. This was done on
purpose as the brothers knew
that it would make an impact on
the audience, which it did. After
the screening the audience were
left in fear because they just saw a
life-size train coming towards
them. The illusion of a moving
image was astonishing to them,
and to be so immersed in it for the
first time must have been an
awesome moment.
I would say that it was a non-
narrative film. The brothers
thought it through, but it was un
scripted and showed real people
getting off a train, so in sense it
was raw.
Andy Warhol was another pioneer
of early video installation. He is
known for his screen tests which
are still displayed at museums
today. His motivation for
filmmaking drew from his
fascination with individuals. He
has once stated, "What I liked was
chunks of time all together, every
real momentI only wanted to
find great people and let them be
themselvesand I'd film them for
a certain length of time and that
would be the movie."
Warhols screen tests were made
between the years 1964 and 1966
and were captured on his 16mm
Bolex camera. The films were
projected in slow motion so that
each screen test lasted for
approximately four minutes. The
camera almost motionless for the
film, Warhol
wanted them to look as much like
living portraits as possible.
He would place the subject under
different lighting. This either
allowed the audience to see the
subjects every move and facial
expression, or hardly get a
glimpse. On the other hand, there
are one-takes start with a close up
on a facial feature, for example
and eye or lips. The camera would
then slowly zoom out allowing the
viewer to see the subjects face.
This created a much more
personal experience for the
viewer. There was no narrative
and hardly anything going on the
screen because you couldnt see
that there was any relationship
between the subject and Warhol.
A quote from Jonathan Jones on
Warhol, these films are not easy
to watch. He then said we are
irritated to be confronted by
heads that simply stare back at us.
Warhol challenges us to be
bored. This review is taken from
The Guardian in 2001, Jonathan
also claims that if the Screen
Tests tell us one thing, it is that
Andy Warhol was a mystic. To
want to challenge someone to be
bored wont take you long,
however I think that more than
anything, Warhols screen tests
just made people feel
uncomfortable and paranoid.
I will now talk about the more
recent video installation artists
who are still producing work
today.
Bill Viola was born in 1951 and has
worked in the establishment of
video for 40 years. His work has
been a vital part of expanding
contemporary art in terms of
technology and content. Viola is
specifically well known for his
state-of-the-art video
installations. If you go to a Bill
Viola gallery, you can expect to
see video installations with total
environments that envelop the
viewer in image and sound that
are well though through but carry
direct simplicity.
In 2001, Viola debuted
Catherines Room. It was a split
screen installation showing the
female protagonist at 5 different
times of the day. It was extremely
well researched because the tree
outside her window also adapted
to its natural cycle. This
broadened its context to match
the cycle of nature. Its the first
video installation that not only
shows a narrative, but covers a
full circle.
Bill Violas The Crossing is a
room-sized video installation that
comprises a large two-sided
screen onto which a pair of video
sequences is simultaneously
projected. It was shot using high-
speed film capable of registering
300 frames per second, more than
the naked eye could register. Viola
reduced the motion later on,
giving it some dramatic effect.
Water is common feature in
Violas installations, so putting it
against fire in The Crossing is
quite interesting as they are
natural opposites.
There was a quote from the
independent by a man named
Sturgis. "Even if you don't feel
moved or react emotionally, the
pieces are visually mesmerising -
this is the first time that moving
images have been of this quality.
Seeing Viola's work is genuinely
seeing a new kind of picture." I
would have to agree, Viola shares
ineradicably private things about
people to his audience, allowing
them to feel completely absorbed
by the video. Some may even
leave feeling touched or moved to
tears. I think people felt a similar
feeling with the Lumiere Brothers
train screening. Fascination.
The last video artist I will be
talking about is Douglas Gordon,
born 20 September 1966.
Much of Gordon's work is seen as
being about memory and uses
repetition in various forms. He
uses material from the public
realm and also creates
performance-based videos. He is
experimental with his videos by
playing with time elements and
employing multiple monitors.
Gordon has often reused older
film footage in his photographs
and videos. One of his best-known
art works is 24 Hour Psycho (1993)
which slows down Alfred
Hitchcock's
film Psycho so that it lasts twenty-
four hours. He gained recognition
for this techniques used as people
associate his work with repetition,
time and memory.
Michael Craig-Martin of Criticism
described it as 24 Hour Psycho is
both generous and cruel. It
torments the viewer with its
impossible duration and at the
same time promises us saturation
with one of the most analysed
movies of all time. It must have
been horrible to sit though the
knife scene, it almost seems like a
bit of a social experiment to the
audience. For those who managed
to last the whole 24 hours.
Gordons work is much similar to
Warhols work in the respect of
the techniques used. They both
used speed and repetition in their
videos to add dramatic effect.
Therefore, the audience are left
feeling a similar way, even if one
of the videos is a film and the
other is a screen test. They are
both impactful on an audience.
After looking at all four video
artists, I can say that I prefer the
work of Bill Viola. With my own
video installation coming up in a
few weeks time, Ive got a lot of
inspiration taken from him. In
particular, the layout of his work
Catherines Room and the use of
his split screen projection.
Rosie Blake
Henley College