Video 101 at the wag
Creating a new art form In the Blink of an Eye
ASHLEY SY
The challenge for video artists trying to reach a mainstream audience is to have their work viewed and understood outside the realm of film. This is difficult, because it means overcoming the expectations that are commonly applied to works projected onto a screen, accompanied by audio (i.e. film). The latest exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery seeks to reach that mainstream audience by playing into those expectations and simultaneously challenging them.
In The Blink of an Eye comprises 12 works by Canadian video artists. These snippets (only two videos go past the two-minute mark) are played one after the other on televisions situated throughout the WAG. Patrons are able to take a seat and put on headphones, and can view as little or as much as they would like. The order of the works is listed on the televisions’ pedestals, as well as on handouts, giving the viewer the freedom they expect when visiting a gallery. Unlike the experience of watching a movie in a theatre setting, where one feels obliged to stay for the entire duration of the film, the information given to a viewer of In The Blink of an Eye, allows him or her to skim through the works — much like wandering by numerous paintings.
At the exhibition opening, the works were screened in the WAG’s auditorium. The videos that received the most applause were Sandee Moore’s “I’m BOHUNKy-dory with It (My Nose),” and Daniel Barrow’s “Artist Statement.” It’s telling that what these two had in common was a linear narrative; Moore’s endearing piece shared a lighthearted tale of her attempt to connect to her Ukrainian heritage, and Barrow — as the title suggests — discussed his artistic motivations while poking fun at artist stereotypes. The humour both artists/narrators expressed came through visually as well (Moore, for instance, replaced her cartoon self’s nose with a perogy), which made both videos easy to enjoy. Barrow and Moore appeared to actively seek a connection between artist and audience. Rather than accept that the general WAG crowd would be difficult to appeal to, the honesty they put forth without pretentiousness made for effortless discourse.
Collin Zipp and Simon Hughes, with their works “Get Up and Dust Yourself Off” and “Cold Satire,” respectively, attempt to examine, through deconstruction, the form of music videos. Hughes takes the bare bones of the music video (visuals designed to accompany music), by using ice sculptures that rise and fall to a chilly piano composition. The result is an organic version of watching the digital bars on your stereo bump to the bass of a song. To get away from the direct representation rut that music videos have fallen into, Zipp creates an aural experience. He uses photo negatives and CDs to force the viewer into an isolated state where what they are seeing and hearing saturate each other to a point beyond distinction.
At its very core, video has the advantage of being able to utilize the movement of time. Three works in In The Blink of an Eye show that this is the heart of video (Rebecca Belmore’s “Untitled,” Erika Macpherson’s “You are here/We are there,” and Ken Gregory’s “Untitled”). The videos themselves are unadorned; with little manipulation, the content has to speak for itself. The most successful work is Gregory’s, a video of a kite flying. All Hallmark sentiment aside, the simplicity of Gregory’s works shows that not all video artists are consumed by the medium’s technical merit.
In The Blink of an Eye is a huge step forward for the WAG. Although the exhibit might ruffle feathers with the old patrons, the works have been wisely and carefully chosen to be an introduction to this innovative art form. The exhibit showcases what it is that makes video exciting: it asks audiences to look at art without pre-conceived notions of what has been done in the medium before. Because, chances are, In the Blink of an Eye will be the first encounter many WAG patrons have with this particular art form.
