Vladimir and her Vladmasters!

This week I saw the awesome work of artist Vladimir, from Portland Oregon. Her art medium is View Masters. I had the privilege of seeing her twice in one week while she was here. We witnessed four of her six works that she has made for the view masters, which she has renamed vladmasters. The four presentations were Lucifugia Thigmotaxis, A story about a curious cockroach that ventures beyond his borders and learns a lesson of the hierarchy of the food chain. The second was The Pubic Life of Jeremiah Barnes, A fictitious story about a man who has an odd relationship with heavy earth moving machinery. The third was Actaeon at Home, A story birthed from the Greek mythology about the man Actaeon, a hunter who was torn to pieces by his own dogs after having been turned into a stag by Artemis, the Mistress of the wilds, whom he had seen unrobed. The final piece that we saw was Fear and Trembling, A piece of non linear images where composition and color rule the impressions of the artist and viewer. The thing about theses pieces is that they are not viewed on a screen with the lights down and everybody starring straight forward. These are viewed using ViewMasters with our heads positioned up looking towards a light source. The stories go along with a soundtrack sometimes narrated and sometimes not. The amazing part of the Vladmaster experience is that there is a theatre full of people all using a ViewMaster and everyone is following the story by clicking to the next slide. The community of the event is enough to get excited about. The nostalgia effect is also very cool. I had not picked up a viewmaster in years and now I am watching serious art through them. The one thing about Vladimir is that she is very honest about her work. She realizes that people like the ViewMaster already as a way of telling kids stories and now she takes them to the next level and tells interesting stories and shows artful compostions through a once thought dead medium. I was curious to see how ViewMasters were continuing on in culture and I went to Fisher Price’s website and found out that the art form is alive a booming. In summation I loved Vladimir’s presentation and I think people should support her work. Check out her website. Also visit The Paper Boat to buy locally.

Ethan Jackson and Camera Obscura

This past Wednesday I went to Inova Gallery, which is apart of the UWM Peck School of the Arts, to witness Ethan Jackson’s installation of Panopticon I. From my first walk towards the buildings east entrance I was greeted by Carl Bogner who alerted me that we were, at this very moment, apart of the camera obscura. I entered the building and turned into the large drapes that we hanging from the ceiling. When I entered immediately to my left was the camera obscura. When I stood there against the window watching this live presentation of the outside world I was thinking this was super cool. The scene that we witnessed was of the road directly outside from us. We could see many buildings that were across the street in a hazed form of their color. The weather outside was very cloudy so it allowed the scene presented on the wall to have a cool haze brought on by tints of blues and hints of grays. I saw a bag that was stuck in a tree directly across the street and thought at first of a tell-tale sign of the decay of Milwaukee’s beautiful city, then I realized that watching the bag in the tree being blown but never leaving gave the scene a reality that could have been lost if there was nothing imperfect on the wall being presented before us. After standing there for a little while I began to think how this made me feel very voyeuristic, in a sense, because people walking by and driving by had no idea they were being watched. I was my very own L. B. Jefferies from Rear Window. I was watching everything going on outside from me and no one had a clue they were being watched. I envisioned seeing a murder in the far distance of the camera obscura’s reach. Back to reality, I began to think how this very amazing feat before me was simply by bending light. I thought about the complexity of the human eye and the simplicity of the source being the sun. I wonder if people hundreds of years ago who developed this way of bending the light to project an image realized how groundbreaking this discovery was. Man I love cameras.

Film Screening

1. Lace of Summer (Storm De Hirsch)

1973, S8mm, 4min

This film, as Carl Bogner told us was a look at the lace that was on Storm’s window curtains. In all honesty my first impression of the film was that it was about voyeurism. If you look past the lace that we are supposed to look at we see what looks like a dock of some kind. Where there are many boat tents. In the distance we see a ship sailing at times and then just the ocean at other times. Half way through the film we see that director, Storm De Hirsch looking back at us through the lace. I, still thinking it was a film on voyeurism, felt these shots only confirmed by idea. We, the audience, were now being looked and peeped at. Then when Carl told us that her intent was for us to look at the lace I was confused with myself. Why had I come up with all these ideas on voyeurism? Was it some subconscious Freudian display that was coming up? Why didn’t I focus on the lace? The lace was right in front of us and I completely took it as a cue that we were trying to conceal ourselves from the outside. Odd it seemed that I had completely lost the original meaning of the film. I wanted to watch it again, only with the understanding of looking at the lace. Then I thought Hirsch might be interested to know someone thought she was being voyeuristic with her Super 8 camera. I am curious to know what other people thought of the films purpose.

2. Third Eye Butterfly (Storm De Hirsch)

1968, 2x16mm, color, sound, 10min.

The viewing of this film was a unique experience for me. I have never seen a film that required two projectors going at the same time. Very cool concept. Carl Bogner mentioned that the film gave a presence of the old “Drum Circle” ceremonies that Native Americans continue to this day. I have a deep interest for the Native American people and have witnessed a live drum circle. The importance of the circle is to hold the traditions of cultural oneness and use the drum to tell a story. Each time the story is told it is improvised and put in a different order, but it still holds the story. This film was displayed for us with a somewhat “drum circle” like soundtrack, there was no dialogue. The image of a butterfly would find its way onto the screen at many different times. Also a bulbous form would be displayed for us and moved about on the screen. The poster, for lack of a better word, of “third eye butterfly” would come on and fade in and out numerous times throughout the film. The screens also took turns, I noticed, displaying different things at certain times. One screen would be blank while another would show something and at other times the screens would be going back and forth with one another, displaying identical images while zooming in and out in an asynchronous pattern. Also the screens would go from two images to eight images, four on each screen. The pattern would be like a window pane with four smaller glass panes. This also reminded me of the drum circle idea because each member in the circle would not play at the same time. Town leaders would play first and then younger members would play after them. Each member has their own part of the song to play and each song is passed down in the family.

DEAR GOD,
Please help me recover from the insane Exam that I just took. I know I failed this first half of the Exam. Help me to be able to write a good paper to justify giving me a passing C for the semester.

Ok, how many of you in this class were like, "what the heck is this". I felt like I was supposed to dictate down every artist and the name of their work instead of write about their work. I am not a mnemonic machine. I don't remember people's names and I hardly remember title's of works, unless they are awesome ones. So I have to forget the questionnaire of intelligence I just took and try to finish my written work for the exam. I am not even going to explain myself and where I am coming from in regards to this first half of the exam, it can't change anything.