Wrapped time & space
Another fine contemplation on time, space, city ruins and the insertion of subjectivities...
To play, to rest, to get lost, to find oneself...
A prototype of my student TAN Xue's MFA thesis, a work-in-progress:
WRAPPED (January, 2008)
Some thoughts on the work:
I appreciate the attempt to explore the soundscape...minimalist, which works well with the image...
I like the set-up of varied movements spinning off around a still centre. The piece has a very consistent mood and a distinct personality.
The piece deserves more contemplation on the actors' actions. A minor change in activity may result in a totally different world. It is very pastoral now, perhaps a bit too pastoral... There is room for more personal thoughts -- about the city, urban ruins, youthfulness, the loss of youth, the sense of loss, femininity, and many things that have impressed the maker as a human being and as an artist. I don't mean one should stuff a work with messages. I mean artistic sensibility always finds its root in our everyday experiences and existential presence, and they often find their way into our art work as small fragments, truncated, elliptical... even when the art work itself has other manifest purposes.
The musicality of the piece can also improve via more carefully considered orchestration of the different components, especially performance... Varied speed in different actions strung together or juxtaposed results in dynamics. Image composition and action can be thought of in terms of (dance) choreography.
Location as a STAGE... This is a great location. The skyline in the background deserves more attention rather than just being set aside as a significant background: it has a defining presence/function for the identity of the space chosen. Without that background, the location would only be an ordinary piece of disused land. In a way, the presence of the skyline of a bustling city enhances the foreground as "ruins." I could not help imagining/seeing minute changes in the background. Now I have the feeling that by chance or by mistake, some changes were accidentally captured in the harbor -- sometimes there's a ship, sometimes there's no ship...
The masking effect brings disruption to the surface of the image especially to the background. Defects can be used creatively.
To play, to rest, to get lost, to find oneself...
A prototype of my student TAN Xue's MFA thesis, a work-in-progress:
WRAPPED (January, 2008)
Some thoughts on the work:
I appreciate the attempt to explore the soundscape...minimalist, which works well with the image...
I like the set-up of varied movements spinning off around a still centre. The piece has a very consistent mood and a distinct personality.
The piece deserves more contemplation on the actors' actions. A minor change in activity may result in a totally different world. It is very pastoral now, perhaps a bit too pastoral... There is room for more personal thoughts -- about the city, urban ruins, youthfulness, the loss of youth, the sense of loss, femininity, and many things that have impressed the maker as a human being and as an artist. I don't mean one should stuff a work with messages. I mean artistic sensibility always finds its root in our everyday experiences and existential presence, and they often find their way into our art work as small fragments, truncated, elliptical... even when the art work itself has other manifest purposes.
The musicality of the piece can also improve via more carefully considered orchestration of the different components, especially performance... Varied speed in different actions strung together or juxtaposed results in dynamics. Image composition and action can be thought of in terms of (dance) choreography.
Location as a STAGE... This is a great location. The skyline in the background deserves more attention rather than just being set aside as a significant background: it has a defining presence/function for the identity of the space chosen. Without that background, the location would only be an ordinary piece of disused land. In a way, the presence of the skyline of a bustling city enhances the foreground as "ruins." I could not help imagining/seeing minute changes in the background. Now I have the feeling that by chance or by mistake, some changes were accidentally captured in the harbor -- sometimes there's a ship, sometimes there's no ship...
The masking effect brings disruption to the surface of the image especially to the background. Defects can be used creatively.
Labels: Thought on the spot
posted by Linda C.H. Lai at
12:01 PM
2 Comments:
hello~
i am the actress in the video. so nice to see you put it onto your blog.
i think you have made very significant comments on the work.
maybe i can tell a little of my feelings too:
in the long shot, i sit on the chair. my eyes was covered. i sense without my eyes. i was surrounded by cool air, sounds of grass, constructions from far away, birds, insects, remote controlled planes,talking, echos. i think the film can use either totally the environmental sound captured there, or use no sound from there totally. now it's a little ambiguous.
anyway, i see the real video now. it's totally a different experience, which is quite interesting.
yes i wish i could act better, with plenty of guidance given. it's quite confusing what i should "do" in this film actually.
i think the film could work out better, maybe in a more surreal way. but i think 77 has done a quite nice job already.
furze
furze,
It's nice to meet you and hear your silent speeches... Your account of your being there is extremely interesting. Yes, that should form a direction for a possible revision of the soundscape.
For the acting...
I think you have done quiet well...professional management of your body, and your actions are delivered with great clarity.
It would be a great experience for both you and Kylie to "negotiate" -- to think of what to do, also to exchange views on what the space means to you and other associated thinking of city and culture and life in general...
The model of collaboration is ofen something we neglect, but an area of with many hidden energies.
linda
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