From: Steven Budden (email suppressed)
Date: Mon Sep 05 2005 - 09:46:43 PDT
Many of these installation artists are working to destroy the myth of genius
and the myth of art in general. In this way I sometimes think when the work
is bad it is supposed to somehow negate being lumped into the tradition of
fine art. I know many video artists loathe the idea of the classical and
modernity (and many don't). Granted most installation art is terrible, but so is
most of all art.
While a few examples are time based in a traditional film sense, other
examples operate on another level... the minimalist, Judd/ Turrel/ Irwin sense,
where the time it takes you to move your eyes around the room makes it a "time"
based art. Most of the installation artists I know came out of painting/
installation/ sculpture (pre stardom but having some sucess).
I should say I've also seen many video installations that were brilliant in
the traditional fine art sense. For these artists the room just opens up a
host of possibilities.
But personally I don't see it as the film tradition being destroyed or
resuscitated. I see it as a completely different genre. I think artists and
curators who show films in this context are film lovers that want film to be seen
in any high profile venue (and any form) they can get.
What I personally don't like about most video installation (and some film)
art is the rapidity of the imagery or form/ the lack of attention span. This
mood has already been so thoroughly absorbed by television commercials that I
can often think of nothing else.
Viola vs. Brakhage? One is underground and one is mainstream new york fine
art. But I agree filmmakers need to create more opportunities for their work to
be seen. I think colleges are a good venue... as in an artist lecturing
with a body of work and discussing their influences.
Steven
"High-finnish weirdness has never been so boring."
-Kenneth Baker's review of Matthew Barney. Ouch.
In a message dated 9/5/2005 7:57:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
email suppressed writes:
Maybe there's something else going on in these video installations that
I'm not understanding. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they are "conceptual" and
I don't get the concept. But good conceptual art, all the way down to
Yoko Ono's early 1960s index card descriptions of performances, takes
care with its materials, however limited.
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