hurricane3 (2008, 1.7MB, 47 sec.)
From Dutch artist Constant Dullaart.
Category Archives: observational
Three from Aaron Valdez
Imitations of Life – Mike Hoolboom
Imitations of Life (excerpt) (2003, 35MB, 4 min.)
Imitations of Life is a ten-part video that strains childhood through a history
of reproduction, culling pictures from the Lumières to
the present day in order to find the future in our past.
by experimental filmmaker Mike Hoolboom.
Lucy Mills – Sunday Afternoon Narcissism
Sunday Afternoon Narcissism (2012, 190MB, 2:46 min)
Hypnotic and disorientating chunk of enchantment from London artist
Lucy Mills.
Only one cavil and that’s the title – the self-deprecation involved might
serve to camouflage the actual richness of this piece, at least from the
casual viewer*.
Let’s be optimistic and assume careful viewing, which work of
this quality certainly merits.
* Although, on reflection, the ‘Sunday Afternoon’ also suggests a certain
dreamy languor quite in keeping with just how gently ravishing it all is.
More from Kevin Flanagan
Grass Barbed (2008, 13.8MB, 41 secs, silent)
Grass In Wind (2008, 20.4, 48 secs, silent)
Utter loveliness from Irish artist Kevin Flanagan in 2008.
Utter loveliness never something to be disdained in my view, but here it’s also allied to a
steadfastness of purpose & well, just simple old fashioned
courage of conviction.
Richard Jochum – Cell Portraits
Cell Portraits (2005-7, 28.7MB, 4:18 min)
Beautifully assured piece of documentary film making from Richard Jochum in 2007,
a portrait of the scientist Jan Schmoranzer preparing microscopic images
of cells (& and eating lunch, drinking coffee &c.)
I particularly like the lighness of touch shown here, the gentle wit.
Jochum’s openness to the humanity, the quirkiness and individuality of the
participants ( the..um..dance), raises the level of the piece from
an interesting educational short to something much richer.
To be slightly controversial, it’s dully predictable someone left
a comment on Jochum’s site along the lines of ‘I’d like to get some of those
images for my wall’ The final slide images, laden with scientific interest as I’m
sure they are, are in my view the bit of the piece with the least artistic
interest (or at least such interest as they have derives from their place
in the process and the film’s account of it rather than their pretty-pattern-ness).
Dan Osborne – Behold the Light (at Night)
Behold the Light (at Night) (2008, 87MB, 6:27 min)
We initially posted this in 2008 when we encountered Dan Osborne’s work
for the first time.
Recently he seems to be actively rejecting some of his earlier work so I hope
he doesn’t mind us reposting this. In my view he’s a very talented artist
with a quite singular vision.
We said then:
There’s something pleasantly reminiscent of Linklater’s Slacker
in this piece from Dan Osborne.
I don’t mean to suggest it’s derivative; I don’t think it is, or only
in the completely unescapable way of coming-after. This piece
has it’s own identity, which at first I wasn’t sure whether it was
completely random, but then little bits of structuring begin to
assert themselves. In particular I like the fades which occur
immediately prior to anything substantive happening.
A lot of it looks very good too – there’s no doubt the man
has an eye – the 3-D glasses sequence, the fire women,
the musical instruments procession (although am I alone in
finding something slighty snotty about the shot of the bemused onlookers?).
That little cavil aside this is interesting stuff & I look forward to seeing
how Osborne’s work develops.
More from Duncan Speakman
The Delicate Museum – What Everyone Else Was Talking About (2006, 13MB, 1:21)
The Delicate Museum – A Suggestive Manifesto (2006, 9.7MB, 1:32)
Two more breaths of fresh air from 2006 and The Delicate Museum,
also known as Duncan, formerly of 29fragiledays.
Said before, I’ll say it again: such beauty in the small things.
Unattended Body
Arzu Ozkal Telhan – Unattended Body (2005, 56MB, 5:00)
Arzu Ozkal Telhan’s “Unattended Body” is a
spectacular meditation on public space,
observational video at perhaps its finest.
The artists also says:
“Unattended body mainly discusses how an
existence at it’s most banal (Heidegger) can
be simply perceived as a disturbance or a
potential threat if it does not act in its expected
way for the society.”
Normally three long segments, they’ve
been edited together here as a five minute
clip, all shown at once, which I actually prefer.
What is so painfully boring to others is ever
so exciting for the rest of us.
'Paola e Bettino' – Lanza brothers film their parents watching the world cup..
By brothers Marco and Saverio Lanza.