Art :: Experimental
Voyeur
Through a pinhole, a window and a crack on a hole in a bag, a camera captures the movements of women walking along the sidewalk, woman getting ready for a shower, and moving around inside her home. The screen is divided into four compartment, each representing a different scene, conveying synchronous nature of the events. The eeriness and intrusion of voyeurism reveal the psychology of the person behind the camera.
Mass
Shot, edited and scored by Caroline M. Breece, this short experimental film explores issues of rape. It starts with a naked female body. It plays like stream of conscious thought - fragments of memories and scenes. The music adds drama to the video as one image flows into another. The video evokes a contemplative mood.
What is love?
What is love? See what a group of four to eight year old children think. Each child has something deep and thought-provoking to say. To Chris, 7, "Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." What is love to you? May we fill our heart with love.
Heaven
What is heaven? Is there such a thing as heaven? Is heaven a place on earth? These are the spiritual, existential and philosophical questions that children and adults try to answer in this video. Heaven can be a big palace, a playground for people, anything that people love, anything people imagine. A place where there's not a lot of sadness. There's no such thing as heaven. What do you think heaven is? Do you believe in heaven?
Speed Painting with Ketchup and French Fries
What do you do McDonald's French Fries and 10 packets of Ketchup? Not get fat off them. Draw and paint with them. Be creative and make some art. One artist did just that. Watch the painting he did of Ronald McDonald and the man who starred in "Super Size Me." To finish the painting, the artist stuff some french fries in the man's mouth. The process is quite fun to watch. This 50 min. speed painting plays in 4 min. The painter shows us that creativity is all we need. We can use anything as paint and paintbrush. Let's try that next time we are at McDonald's. These art supplies are definitely cheaper than acylic or oil paint. The idea is to have fun.
A Psychoanalytical Neo-Feminist Film
Experimental, artistic and thought-provoking, Brian Gothong Tan, created this 16-mm student film, performance art piece, under the guidance of Kate McCabe in CalArts. It explores the psychological issues such as conscious and unconscious thoughts made famous by Sigmund Freud. Do you experience obsessive compulsive disorder, psychosis? Are hunted by your subconscious, hear voices in your head? Let Id out. Let's expose our repressions.
According to Freud, the terms id, ego, and super-ego to represent the divisions of the psyche in his "structural theory." Freud coined the terms in 1923 to explore human motivations and behavior. The super-ego and id are part of the unconscious whereas the Ego is part of the pre-conscious. The id governs our drives or instincts. The super-ego acts as the conscience. The Ego mediates between the id and super-ego, striving to strike that balance between primitive drives and reality, between sanity and insanity. Freud contribute much to the understanding of the mental health of humankind.
Pipilotti Rist - "Lullaby"
With dizzying imageries of flowers and buildings and a female singing a lullaby, Rist's 2002 video explores the trapped female that looks out the window of a tall building. She presses her face and hands against the window pane as though asking for help.
Yoko Ono - "One"
Artistically crafted, this short black-and-white film by Yoko Ono, 1966, provokes thought. It's one candle, one flame, one life.
Yoko Ono - "Cut Piece"
Famous for her marriage to John Lennon, Yoko Ono, the artist, is quite intriquing. Through her performance art, she tests people's limits and in process learn much about herself and others. "Cut Piece" performed at Carnegie Hall in 1965 still offers insight into human nature and behavior today.
Shirin Neshat - "Zarin" clip
Born in Iran and living in New York, Shirin Neshat's work deals with cultural and religious Muslim code. Through film, photographs, and video she creates stark visual images showing contrasts between male and female, light and dark, and repression and freedom. Her recent work "Zarin" is a short film that deals with these issues. Here's an excerpt from "Zarin", shown at Gladstone Gallery October 15 through November 12, 2005.
