"Our Political Work""Five Small Videos About Interruption and Disappearing"
MTAA (M. River & T. Whid Art Associates) is a conceptual and net art collaboration based in Brooklyn, New York. They do performances which are played out on the internet, in installations, through print media, documentation, and other mediums. They use aspects of conceptual art, popular culture, and performance in order to create a different dialogue with the viewer.
"Five Small Videos About Interruption and Disappearing," were commissioned by The Alternative Museum. It is a work inspired by early video performance work where the artists were intrigued by repetitive actions and everyday gestures. The first video is called "Sliding Compression" where the artists look away from the viewer, towards the viewer, and to the side, while smiling and blinking. Their expressions are hard to read, they look as if they are almost annoyed, but they also look as if they are in deep thought or contemplation. The second video, "On Then Off," is interesting because the viewer has some control of the artist. When "on" is pressed then T. Whid appears and reaches over the screen hitting the "off" button. The same holds true for the video "Lights On, Lights Off." M. River is asleep, but when you turn the lights on he awakes confused. These videos show the repetitiveness of everyday actions, but they also display how people can control each other in little ways.
I was specifically intrigued by these videos because they are process oriented, but also interactive."Our Political Work" was a process because the artists had to do continuous moments of screaming and laughing. This video is made from 141 filmed moments. What most people try to hide, these artists throw out there. The videos of interruption and disappearing need a viewer to be fully appreciated. Someone must be there turning the lights on and off to see the complication.
"Five Small Videos About Interruption and Disappearing," were commissioned by The Alternative Museum. It is a work inspired by early video performance work where the artists were intrigued by repetitive actions and everyday gestures. The first video is called "Sliding Compression" where the artists look away from the viewer, towards the viewer, and to the side, while smiling and blinking. Their expressions are hard to read, they look as if they are almost annoyed, but they also look as if they are in deep thought or contemplation. The second video, "On Then Off," is interesting because the viewer has some control of the artist. When "on" is pressed then T. Whid appears and reaches over the screen hitting the "off" button. The same holds true for the video "Lights On, Lights Off." M. River is asleep, but when you turn the lights on he awakes confused. These videos show the repetitiveness of everyday actions, but they also display how people can control each other in little ways.
I was specifically intrigued by these videos because they are process oriented, but also interactive."Our Political Work" was a process because the artists had to do continuous moments of screaming and laughing. This video is made from 141 filmed moments. What most people try to hide, these artists throw out there. The videos of interruption and disappearing need a viewer to be fully appreciated. Someone must be there turning the lights on and off to see the complication.
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