Throughout the spring 2010 semester many artists and artworks were covered. There were many that I enjoyed, others that I did not, some that required me to think deeply about the concept or meaning, and others that were simply pleasant to look at. As the semester proceeded and the lessons became more focused on recent works rather than the beginnings of digital media, I found myself becoming further interested in the subject. It’s my belief that to understand where something is going, such as digital media, you must first understand where it came from. That is why I believe that as the semester proceeded and I began to understand further how digital media came about, the more I became interested in the subject.
The three artists that I am choosing to research and compare works are Eddo Stern, The Yes Men, and William Kentridge. All three of the artists were covered in the final weeks of the semester and are three whose works I found appealing.
Eddo Stern works on the disputed borderlands between fantasy and reality, exploring the uneasy and otherwise unconscious connections between physical existence and electronic simulation.
His work explores new modes of narrative and documentary, experimental computer game design, fantasies of technology and history, and cross-cultural representation in computer games, film, and online media. He works in various media including computer software, hardware and game design, kinetic sculpture, performance, and film and video production.
After attending Stern’s lecture in mid-April and researching more of his work, I found his ideas and concepts intriguing. I also enjoyed the idea of physical interaction, like the electronic stimulation in Tekken Torture Tournament, in the ever-expanding world of video games.
After researching more of Stern’s works I found many that I found compelling, such as the series of Kinetic Shadow Puppets. The shadow puppets were narratives consisting of plastic, paper, and electronics. According to Stern, he spent a year-and-a-half playing the online-game World of Warcraft, and after that was struck with many ideas to create new works of art, including the Kinetic Shadow Puppets.
The shadow puppets were a different type of work compared to most of Stern’s other works, which dealt with hacking or programming video games. The puppets were a simple way to tell a narrative, such as “Man, Woman, Dragon” which was based on World of Warcraft. It is a representation of Chuck Norris fighting a dragon, with a she-elf doing what looks like casting a spell, but I’m not certain.
A collection of Eddo Stern’s work can be found at: www.eddostern.com
The Yes Men are a group of culture jamming activists who practice what they call “identity correction” by pretending to be powerful people and spokespersons for prominent organizations. They create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. They express the idea that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public.
Elaborate props are sometimes part of the ruse, as demonstrated in their 2003 DVD release The Yes Men and their 2009 film The Yes Men Fix the World.
After watching a short clip of The Yes Men Fix the World in class, I proceeded to rent the film and watch it in its entirety. I must admit that it was a film I found intellectually stimulating that really required me to think deeply about many of the “identity correction” schemes they were participating in.
The film The Yes Men Fix the World starred Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, and Reggie Watts. Perhaps one of the Yes Men’s “identity correction” plans, in my opinion, was Andy Bichlbaum appearing on BBC World on the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal disaster as a Dow Chemical spokesman.
Bichlbaum announced Dow was accepting full responsibility for the chemical disaster that killed thousands and left over 120,000 requiring lifelong care. Bichlbaum went on to announce Dow planned to liquidate Union Carbide, the company responsible for the chemical disaster, and use the resulting $12 billion to pay for medical care, clean up the site, and fund research into hazards of other Dow products.
These announcements caused the Dow stock to decline in value of more than $2 billion in just over two hours. After the original interview was revealed as a hoax, Bichlbaum appeared in a follow-up interview on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 news. During the interview he was asked if he had considered the emotions and reaction of the people of Bhopal when producing the hoax. According to the interviewer, "there were many people in tears" upon having learned of the hoax. Bichlbaum said that, in comparison, what distress he had caused the people was minimal to that for which Dow was responsible.
The Yes Men claim on their website that they have been told by contacts in Bhopal that once they had got over their disappointment that it wasn't real, they were pleased about the stunt and thought it had helped to raise awareness of their plight.
It seems to me that this is the goal of The Yes Men; to raise global awareness about the way corporations and governmental organizations act in dehumanizing ways. I really enjoyed the film and plan to continue to follow their work as it has caused me to question the way corporations and governmental organizations act.
The Yes Men’s official website can be located at: www.theyesmen.org
William Kentridge is a South African artist perhaps best known for his animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two seconds' screen time. A single drawing will be altered and filmed this way until the end of a scene. These drawings are later displayed along with the films as finished pieces of art.
After watching a short clip of one of Kentridge’s works in class, I was immediately reminded of watching more of his work the previous semester while in Jeremy’s art class. I remember seeing it for the first time and wondering how much work must go into each one of his films. Although most are moderately short, it still seemed to me that the processes that Kentridge must go through would be long and tedious. But the finished piece is astonishing and worth the monotonous work put into it.
The political content and unique techniques of Kentridge's work have propelled him into the realm of South Africa's top artists. Working with what is in essence a very restrictive media, using only charcoal and a touch of blue or red pastel, he has created animations of astounding depth.
A theme running through all of his work is his peculiar way of representing his birthplace. While he does not portray it as the militant or oppressive place that it was for black people, he does not emphasize the picturesque state of living that white people enjoyed during apartheid either; he presents instead a city in which the duality of man is exposed. In a series of nine short films, he introduces two characters - Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum. These characters depict an emotional and political struggle that ultimately reflects the lives of many South Africans in the pre-democracy era.
Most of all though, I really just enjoy watching Kentridge’s films and imaging the processes that he must go through to get a work completed. It inspires me to create something as magnificent as his films and makes me hope that someday I may inspire someone the way Kentridge has inspired me.
