Ethan Jackson and Camera Obscura

I find the use of camera obscura to be one of the most interesting forms of art because like Jackson explained, everything is left up to chance; the artist has literally no control. In "Panopticon 1," Ethan Jackson explained how he was forced to let go of all his previous intentions. He had to let small changes or intuitions take place, whether he wanted them to or not. He did also say that most of the time he enjoys the changes that are made and that with the variations of light, something can be made much more beautiful. Comparing this to the use of a regular camera Jackson said that with a camera, he can control variables and everything is very much about control. The limitations of photography show him just how little he can do.
In some of the cloud installation clips he showed, he explained how in the room, you could feel yourself shifting because of the actual movement in the clouds. It was the same effect that one would get when looking at a body of water, but more fast paced. When the mirror on the outside of the lens would rotate, color was picked up from the mirror twice, altering it. The color of the clouds appeared realistic and natural, I wouldn't have known they were changed. I would have loved to see the real installation of the clouds because it seemed like one could be engulfed in clouds, kind of like a dream state for me. They were beautiful on the rippled cloth and they looked as if real clouds were coming at you from every corner.
The instillation shown today(wed. 14) of the street traffic and people walking was fun to watch because at first, it was confusing. It looked as though the people and cars were coming or fading in and out, then disappearing. Trippy. The color was dull but that made it realistic, kind of a dull day today. The repetition of the same image was cool because even though I knew what was further down the wall, I skimmed every part of it.
The way Jackson creates a dark empty room into an alive square of imagery is definitely something worth seeing. It's also interesting to know that so much went into making the piece. Actually just a light ray, small opening, mirror, and a dark room. The continual projection of images makes it like the viewer is experiencing an optical illusion or magic trick. The visual effects and varying light make the camera obscura experience show the ordinary world in a new way. I think this is a good example of how watching Jackson's work is such a different experience from looking at a photograph or watching a video. We are looking at the same material that could be seen in both but the camera obscura and the different angles result in a new experience. Its like looking at a moving photograph or a video of the outdoors but all around you.

Lights and Sounds

This week's screenings had an interesting variety of length, color, sound, and subject. Some of the films gave me a headache, one in particular, was soothing. My favorite by far was "The Dark Room," by Minyong Jang. With the use of camera obscura and a rotating lense, Jang uniquely captured the flow of the ocean. It felt as though we were surrounded by water, surfing in slow motion. Carl described this experience as being in "a container of the ocean," I agree. I can't even remember if it was a silent film because I was so involved with the image, which rarely happens. Usually whether or not a film has sound determines my liking it or not. Altogether, Jang beautifully filmed the peacefulness and delicacy of water.

One thing I liked about "Lace of Summer" was the way it reminded me of a home-made movie. With the super-eight film and "cinema songs"(?) the filmmaker realistically showed the feeling one gets when they think of summer. I liked the repeated images of tents and how the film appeared colorless but there were hints of mint green and light blue at certain times. At first I didn't understand why there was a scene with a woman behind a curtain, later we learned this was the filmmaker. The film reminded me of what you see in a feature length movie, a snippet of someone else's memory of childhood, but this was sincere.

"Third Eye Butterfly," by Storm De Hirsch was intense. The combination of color and sound was incredible. I think my favorite part was how the music sounded so much like a drum circle and no color was left out. I felt like the film was all over the place, my eyes jumped all around the screen. The multiplication of the images created a unique experience for each viewer. I liked how Carl put it; "one could look across the screen, side to side, or combine all of the images into a single frame." Also, the hints of a butterfly that appeared once and a while(eye, wing, color, or an entire butterfly) was a nice touch.

"Available Light Shift" was probably my least favorite simply because I kept nodding off. I don't have much to say about it because I feel like there wasn't a lot to it. No offense to the filmmaker, of course. There was a thin amount of random color kept me going, also I thought it was interesting how the entirety of the film was based on the element of chance.

I definitely enjoyed "Night Flight Transmissions," by Brent Coughenour because of the bursts of light correlating with the bursts of image and sound. I liked how he paired the random images and constructed a harmonizing feel altogether. The innocent image of the child riding the bike became somewhat scary because of the sounds behind him. I think the uneasy feeling it produced is what was so likable. At first I didn't know what or if someone was talking in the background, then the noises became recognizable numbers. The noisy sounds that turned into words, finally eased its way into what sounded like church music. At the end, we learned that Coughenour wasn't just pulling random images, he was using family members and personal ideas to construct actual memories.

On "Letters From Beirut"

Before reading some of the letters from Laura Marks, I tried to answer the questions about what comes to mind when I think of Beirut and Lebanon. I thought of the news, history, as well as stories I've heard from a friend of mine that is from Lebanon. Sadly, this is all I could come up with before reading.

Images: bombing, sand, death, blood
Words: war, kill, pain, threats, injury, pray, tourists, oil, fragile, religion, protest, strike
Sounds: BOOM
Facts: Middle East, Confessionalism, civil war, Rafik Hariri, Israel-Lebanon conflict

After reading Marks' letters, these views didn't change much. These are some of the things that really shocked and stood out to me in her letters.....

She talks about "A quiet day, other than two big bombs in Dahiyeh at 2:30 at night and another just now." wow.

"Lebanon has approximately 3.5 million people. On a per-capita basis, that means that as of Wednesday, the rough equivalent of 9/11 has happened here for eight days."

"I only learned today that almost half of the Lebanese dead are children. There's a picture going around of an Israeli girl writing on an Israeli rocket, 'To the children of Lebanon from the children of Isreal.' Well, children were buried in a mass grave in Tyr in the south today." She said how she can't believe this. I too cannot imagine such hatred.