...which reminded me of this beautiful, hypnotic multiple screen installation piece he did a few years ago of animals trapped in motel rooms. Watch the whole thing - there's a buffalo!:
Watching the Migration video wasn't like anything I ever seen or would normally see. It had a calming transe element to it from the music, pace of each scene and whether the zoom was used on certain parts of the animals. Seeing animals being trapped in a hotel room was odd and comical to see because you would not expect that on a normal basis. At few times in the video it got disturbing for me to watch especially the scene with the owl. It was such a long time frame of just the owl staring dead straight at you, it almost felt like it was going to attack you or do something.
Reading how the scene plays out and the elements in it there is a sense of being trapped and an ongoing journey to find an escape. Since it starts off in third person it automatically brings the reader into the scene like it is happening to them. Just like in the Migration film he gives the us the sense of the music or sound effects that are used which only heightens the trapped element.
I am still unsure at how exactly to experience performance art and video art. I think I simply just haven't gotten into it enough to appreciate it, and realize how to look at it. Aitken seems to be thriving on monotonous and eerie tones. His use of the black mirrors to project a receding video clip seems mesmerizing to me. The article didn't have many images to go on. But the mirror trick reminds me of a fun house, with my own reflection receding into infinity. But Aitken's use of the video on these mirrors can add another sort of dimensionality to the video that could never be achieved without these mirrors. -Daniel Edward Gerlach
Watching “Migration” I was tempted to be mesmerized but that was undercut by a kind of anxiety at seeing these animals in their upscale cages. This was especially true when Aitken intercut views of the animals in their natural habitat—the horses running, the birds flying—with them in the room. Sometimes they seemed anxious, too . . . the raccoon. As the piece moved forward, though, the animals were put in more specific contexts. The deer at the swimming pool is actually familiar to anyone in suburban NJ. The beaver in the bathtub looked trapped at first, but when I saw that shot of him waddling out the door, he became someone who had just taken a bath. By the time I got to the buffalo he looked almost at home, a big guy on a business trip scoping out the accommodations. But the owl brought the anxiety back. ???
I thought about the human migrations implied by motel rooms. We fly all over the place, largely to stay in these familiar spaces. The animals in the film have crossed the border into our habitat. Here we all are watching them, trying to figure out what they mean in their new surroundings.
The film definitely has a beautiful hypnotic quality that becomes very calming despite the ridiculous subject. The animals convey a kind of sadness that is highlighted by the juxtaposition of animals in their natural habitat. The setting gives the animals a human quality, that suggests possibly how far we have distanced ourselves from our roots as a society, or perhaps the strain we have put on the environment forcing animals out of their habitats.
The article was written in a similarly beautiful way, describing a scene that was captivating, startling and seemingly unattainable all at once.
Very much a piece that makes you want to watch. I found it so stunning the contrasts of the synthetic worlds we as humans have created as we migrated to every corner of the world. Would early man have looked at us in the futuer and thought why are they watching themselves on TV. The contrast of hair- fur and sharp white hard edges is so mesmerizing to me. In the end when we make everything completely inorganic and void, will we all become boxed in animals.
I sometimes have problems with some video installations. i found this one transitioned very nicely and allowed me to get more emotion out of it then trying to figure out for 10 min what I sm even seeing. The buffalo was amazing. being the largest animal however looking the most content or amybe the most subded - zoned out. Is that what we have become content to serach the world - conquer it and sterilize it. The way the images were done they will remain in my head as striking as they were.
Doug's strange placement of animals in a household is further enhanced by his video placement in a gallery. The house in Migration seems vacant of humans but the audience is introduced to a familiar world. We are humans that can identify with the surrounds and automatically place ourselves in this world, at least I would if I viewed this in person. With the help of Doug's hypnotic sounds the audience interacted with the video, sitting and staring, becoming apart of the video is beautiful. I feel a sense of sorrow for these animals and guilty of how dominant humanity has become.
I did not pick up on any content behind Doug's use of three screens but his video was executed lovely in this manner.
Out of the article and the instillation piece, I really liked the migration piece a lot.
It was a beautiful balance of nature vs man-made enviourments and as clashing as they seemed they worked in such great unity and made the artwork even peaceful despite it's clashing nature.
It sounds like an issue of artistic style not following conceptual purpose. If Aitken proposes that "...political and geographic boundaries have become so porous that we often get caught in the place of no-place, these in-between areas of transit", he is definitely not considering the political, geographical and tangible meaning of "borders". Berardini is right to point out that Aitken is romanticizing the idea of travel. True freedom of movement is only a reality to a very select few that can travel at will at any point to any place..
Unfortunately, "no-place" can easily represent places in which human rights are violated, in which "no-place" becomes a codeword for a lawless land, and "in-between areas of transit" and "porous borders" are only open pathways for criminal cells.
The truth is that the illusionist or hypnotic qualities of his work serve only an escapist purpose, a beautiful way of coating horrible issues with rosy colored lenses..
Even the internet, the tool that we claim has connected us with the entire world, is another illusion of freedom. At times it feels as a way to calm the masses but that can easily be taken away... China anyone?
All around this installation piece is erie and ambient to say the leat but for some reason i just picked up on this one idea. I'm not sure if Aitken was implying the idea, but i got the feeling that he was insisting that us humans as a mass have been uncontrollably building and progressing, slowly dimming out our resources and takeing out large quantities of forrest, which would obviously be home to the animals he had chosen. Maybe i'm looking at it through a more vague perspective but i believe its saying that these animals are losing there natural habbitat. The filming techniques and lighting helped give each animal a more personal feel.The way he created each shot gave the viewer a chance to really catch a feel for the animal and really appreciate it, in a domestic atmosphere.
Watching the Migration video wasn't like anything I ever seen or would normally see. It had a calming transe element to it from the music, pace of each scene and whether the zoom was used on certain parts of the animals. Seeing animals being trapped in a hotel room was odd and comical to see because you would not expect that on a normal basis. At few times in the video it got disturbing for me to watch especially the scene with the owl. It was such a long time frame of just the owl staring dead straight at you, it almost felt like it was going to attack you or do something.
ReplyDeleteReading how the scene plays out and the elements in it there is a sense of being trapped and an ongoing journey to find an escape. Since it starts off in third person it automatically brings the reader into the scene like it is happening to them. Just like in the Migration film he gives the us the sense of the music or sound effects that are used which only heightens the trapped element.
I am still unsure at how exactly to experience performance art and video art. I think I simply just haven't gotten into it enough to appreciate it, and realize how to look at it. Aitken seems to be thriving on monotonous and eerie tones. His use of the black mirrors to project a receding video clip seems mesmerizing to me. The article didn't have many images to go on. But the mirror trick reminds me of a fun house, with my own reflection receding into infinity. But Aitken's use of the video on these mirrors can add another sort of dimensionality to the video that could never be achieved without these mirrors.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Edward Gerlach
Watching “Migration” I was tempted to be mesmerized but that was undercut by a kind of anxiety at seeing these animals in their upscale cages. This was especially true when Aitken intercut views of the animals in their natural habitat—the horses running, the birds flying—with them in the room. Sometimes they seemed anxious, too . . . the raccoon. As the piece moved forward, though, the animals were put in more specific contexts. The deer at the swimming pool is actually familiar to anyone in suburban NJ. The beaver in the bathtub looked trapped at first, but when I saw that shot of him waddling out the door, he became someone who had just taken a bath. By the time I got to the buffalo he looked almost at home, a big guy on a business trip scoping out the accommodations. But the owl brought the anxiety back. ???
ReplyDeleteI thought about the human migrations implied by motel rooms. We fly all over the place, largely to stay in these familiar spaces. The animals in the film have crossed the border into our habitat. Here we all are watching them, trying to figure out what they mean in their new surroundings.
Barbara
The film definitely has a beautiful hypnotic quality that becomes very calming despite the ridiculous subject. The animals convey a kind of sadness that is highlighted by the juxtaposition of animals in their natural habitat. The setting gives the animals a human quality, that suggests possibly how far we have distanced ourselves from our roots as a society, or perhaps the strain we have put on the environment forcing animals out of their habitats.
ReplyDeleteThe article was written in a similarly beautiful way, describing a scene that was captivating, startling and seemingly unattainable all at once.
Brooke
Very much a piece that makes you want to watch. I found it so stunning the contrasts of the synthetic worlds we as humans have created as we migrated to every corner of the world. Would early man have looked at us in the futuer and thought why are they watching themselves on TV. The contrast of hair- fur and sharp white hard edges is so mesmerizing to me. In the end when we make everything completely inorganic and void, will we all become boxed in animals.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes have problems with some video installations. i found this one transitioned very nicely and allowed me to get more emotion out of it then trying to figure out for 10 min what I sm even seeing. The buffalo was amazing. being the largest animal however looking the most content or amybe the most subded - zoned out. Is that what we have become content to serach the world - conquer it and sterilize it. The way the images were done they will remain in my head as striking as they were.
Apisack bumpkins124
Doug's strange placement of animals in a household is further enhanced by his video placement in a gallery. The house in Migration seems vacant of humans but the audience is introduced to a familiar world. We are humans that can identify with the surrounds and automatically place ourselves in this world, at least I would if I viewed this in person. With the help of Doug's hypnotic sounds the audience interacted with the video, sitting and staring, becoming apart of the video is beautiful. I feel a sense of sorrow for these animals and guilty of how dominant humanity has become.
ReplyDeleteI did not pick up on any content behind Doug's use of three screens but his video was executed lovely in this manner.
Out of the article and the instillation piece, I really liked the migration piece a lot.
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautiful balance of nature vs man-made enviourments and as clashing as they seemed they worked in such great unity and made the artwork even peaceful despite it's clashing nature.
- Jennifer Edgerton
It sounds like an issue of artistic style not following conceptual purpose. If Aitken proposes that "...political and geographic boundaries have become so porous that we often get caught in the place of no-place, these in-between areas of transit", he is definitely not considering the political, geographical and tangible meaning of "borders". Berardini is right to point out that Aitken is romanticizing the idea of travel. True freedom of movement is only a reality to a very select few that can travel at will at any point to any place..
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, "no-place" can easily represent places in which human rights are violated, in which "no-place" becomes a codeword for a lawless land, and "in-between areas of transit" and "porous borders" are only open pathways for criminal cells.
The truth is that the illusionist or hypnotic qualities of his work serve only an escapist purpose, a beautiful way of coating horrible issues with rosy colored lenses..
Even the internet, the tool that we claim has connected us with the entire world, is another illusion of freedom. At times it feels as a way to calm the masses but that can easily be taken away... China anyone?
All around this installation piece is erie and ambient to say the leat but for some reason i just picked up on this one idea. I'm not sure if Aitken was implying the idea, but i got the feeling that he was insisting that us humans as a mass have been uncontrollably building and progressing, slowly dimming out our resources and takeing out large quantities of forrest, which would obviously be home to the animals he had chosen. Maybe i'm looking at it through a more vague perspective but i believe its saying that these animals are losing there natural habbitat. The filming techniques and lighting helped give each animal a more personal feel.The way he created each shot gave the viewer a chance to really catch a feel for the animal and really appreciate it, in a domestic atmosphere.
ReplyDelete-Bobby