existential luminance - part one
some responses to the video «digital expressionism- gideon obarzanek» (part one). all the quotes in the following text were spoken by gideon in the video.
with the title «digital expressionism», marlon is suggesting that «the medium is the message» (mcluhan). the claim is simple; through the use of digital technologies we have created new type of expressionism.
the claim is flawed.
expressionism is not defined by the medium, but conceptual principles. in simple terms, expressionism is the subjective representation of internal feelings/emotion.
marlon’s use of the digital prefix is an attempt to move expressionism beyond modernism. using «glow» to try and demonstrate this (alleged) progression is a bad idea.
the projections used in «glow» are examples of figurative and symbolic expressionism. the constant referring back to the dancers body prevents any notion of abstract expressionism. for example, the geometric shapes are body frames, symbolic structures/representations. all these features are indicative of modernist expressionism.
it is tempting to think of the shifting styles of projection as non-narrative abstraction. that would be a mistake, they are metaphors:
we use [the projections] as a visual metaphor of what may be going on inside, both visually and kinetically. it can reinforce and amplify kintetic movement and also have this visualization of what may be within. its almost turning the body inside out.
the dancer is a constant within the projection, the background may be black or white, and there is a variety of content. the relationships between these elements points to neo-structuralist metaphors.
in a (structuralist) metaphor the meaning is found in the paired structure. it is a fixed entity. neo-structuralist metaphors are dynamic, meaning is found in the structure of intertexts. change a single node at the metaphor shifts too.
neo-structuralism is a reclaiming of authorship through and intentional writing of intertexts. the resulting metaphor points the reader to particular meanings.
i chose elements that i felt were meaningful, that i could create some element of expression [with,] beyond just the visual effect
the use of real-time tracking and graphics is to «free the dancer in time and space». this is not a «no fixed points in time and space» freedom (einstein / cunningham), the freedom lies only within the projected frame:
the dancer is mostly lying down so she kinda floats in the frame rather than having a bottom and a top […]
[i wanted] to free the body in the frame, it was an easy thing to lay the frame on the floor so that the body is free to move around.
«glow» indicates a return to the renaissance perspective. works that use single camera tracking and projection often exhibit this classical presentation. the result is that space and time have a fixed point.
symbolic and figurative expressionism, authoring meaning via metaphors, a fixed front … these principles / features are not reliant on technology. they are contexualised and implemented by technology.
[I] wanted to work with video projection mostly as a form of lighting and actually using it from the top looking down
«glow» uses performance technologies to contextualise (post)modernist concerns. it is not the use of technologies as concept or for their own sake. the projection allows gideon to «keep [the] human form» but also show the «otherness of ones self». this is not a tension between body and technology, the tech is simply a tool for representation.
i will follow up on this post when part two of the video is available.
update: part two of this post can be found here. the second video is less informative, but supports the above critique.