On your website, most of the videos seem to be excerpts from full performances. Do you think that only seeing a part of the whole matters to your work? Or are your concepts and ideas portrayed effectively through these excerpts? And do you think there is a difference for the viewer between being present and viewing a recording?
Kathy Rose’s lecture was definitely an interesting one. I’m not even sure if lecture is the right term. Maybe viewing? She didn’t really explain her work that much, it was simply just video clip after video clip, etc., which bothered me because I can do that online, and I did on Wednesday. Video art has always been hard for me to grasp, especially something as experimental as her work is, and I was disappointed that she did not have much to say about it. I do understand that she is trying to create some sort of “alternate universe,” yet this universe, to me, requires some sort of hallucinogen to fully understand and appreciate. Meeting an artist usually makes or breaks a work, and I think this one was broken for me. I was expecting to hear some sort of extravagant conceptual backing to all of her wild visual work, yet it seemed to be simply visual. Perhaps it’s because I have no education in kinetic imaging. Who knows. I would describe her work as vibrant, syncopated, and experimental. I think that the most interesting and educational part of the lecture was her short note on being inspired by Jackson Pollock’s paintings, which drove her to place strings in water for a visual effect. She also mentioned how she was inspired by Butoh Dance and puppetry, which were good points, yet I feel like more could have been made in an hour and a half. I suppose I did learn the answers to my questions. She didn’t do a live performance, but played video clips, so the difference between live and recorded must not be an issue. And as far as her performances being premeditated or not, I can tell that her earlier work is definitely premeditated, as she must move seamlessly with the projections, yet her later work has a lot of post production, maybe too much for me, which would allow her to be more free with the performance. Out of all of her work, I would have to say that the “Oriental Interplay” is my favorite one. The projection consumes her body and becomes her clothes, a part of her. In her other projection works, she just interacts with the projection, rather than letting it consume her. Her later straight video work did not work for me at all. It was way more experimental than the rest of her work, and way too obviously cut out in post production for me. I think she should keep doing live performances. They’re much more intriguing, truthful, and personal.
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