Unit 35: Producing Video Installation Work

Unit 35: Producing video Instillation Work

Jeff Keen-

use of technology and techniques-

Jeff Keen was a film maker who in his day was regarded as one of the best creative artists of his generation. Jeff Keen would use film to show poetry and meaning with color's and shaped that many believed to defy categories.

He was a pioneer for his time using cuts and sounds over images that had never been seen like its kind before. One of Jeff Keen most famous and influential pieces would be his work called Flik Flak, this piece to watch is still very interesting to watch in 2017 which shows just how its stood the test of time. 

The video was made in 1962 and refers to cultural iconography from that time period, this includes images of cars, populated streets and places with people walking around and also pictures that seem to have been taken from magazines. The music that is used in the video seems to also be very much from the time period as well. The music would be described as jazz that fits the time period. 

Flik Flak has many different meanings for people however one that is little well known would be that the video resembles PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) another not very well known fact would be that Jeff Keen fought in ww2 which would give him a clear vision and understanding of what it may be like to live with PTSD. The sharp cuts and use of colourful imagery as well as the background music  maybe be used to indicate what its like living with the disorder. I feel that this is a very fair way of looking at the video because for me it represents what someone who lives with the disorder feels out and about possibly if they may be in a city or a populated, crowded place.

Jeff Keen incorporated collage, animation, found footage and live action – often all in one work. Keen used highly innovative techniques of superimposition and editing, and frequently etched and degraded the film surface, all these made Jeff Keen a maverick for his time as know one had ever used things like this before. Flik Flak has been praised for its sharp cuts, a reason for Jeff Keen to use such a technique would be so the audience stays focused on the video and dose not lose any focus, we see this implemented even in filming today. an example of this would be vine, vine videos are only designed to be 6 seconds long so the maker needs to keep the audience entertained as well as portraying the narrative in a short space of time. 

In my opinion Flik Flak has a narrative, this is shown via different music and sounds being played as clips start which the user has to identify to. 

I see many similarities from Flik Flak to what I plan on using in my video from the varying emotions from people laughing and then seemingly crying and possibly bleeding. I really like the juxtaposition used and would like use methods like this.

Georgina Starr-

Georgina Starr born in 1968 is an English artist and one of the Young British Artists. She is best known for her video, sound, performance and installation works. An amalgamation of dream, fiction, memory and re-enactment, Starr’s work has been described in Art forum magazine as exploring "the imaginative self’s ability to make something magically complex, layered and densely referential out of virtually nothing but its own 'stuff'".

One of Georgina Starrs most well known pieces comes from the year 1996 and is called bunny lake drive in. The instillation was set very much like 60s American car cinema that included 3-screen video installation with illuminated drive-in screen, drive-in speaker posts, popcorn, dry-ice machine and a customized 3-wheeler Thundersley Invacar.

Georgina Starr created the set so the audience could go back in time to the 60s and really feel what its like to visit a car cinema which in the 60s were very prominent and a massive part of society.

Georgina Starr uses video to help the audience understand the narrative toward the installation as seen via the top image. The video she used allows the audience to understand greater what it may be like to be sat in a car cinema during that time period.

My instillation will have many similarities with Bunny Lake drive as we have been asked to produce a video with the instillation. The video Georgina Starr created showed a location that could have been seen as hosting a drive in cinema so the audience could get a better understanding of what it would have looked like. This is similar to my idea as I would really like to let the viewer into an African mud hut and experience the surroundings very much like this piece. I would also like my instillation to feel real and not just seem like an exhibition, Georgina Starr made this very well because from photos you can see that she has used a lot of space up with things that make the set seem even more real so no stone seemed to be left unturned. I hope on transforming the space that I am given into a space that truly feels real.

Audiences

Art for many people is what you make of it and how you perceive the piece personally, this means that everyone has their own opinions on all types of art. Art takes many differing forms, this could be either visually or sound. An example of visual art would be both Bunny Lake drive through and Flik Flak. Audiences in many differing aspects such as film or art flock towards their personal preferences so depending on what you like you will feel differently towards it. When I went to the Tate Modern earlier this year I found this to be true, the overall response to the exhibitions was of ore. People would sit down and look at the subject piece for a good amount of time studying it and ponding what the meaning behind it may have been, however some people would just look at it in confusion and walk away, so with anything its what attracts you and what you make of it.