Philippe Parreno

Artist's Site:

Wiki Article:

Kunsthalle Space:

I'm Thinking...

Thinking Steak - 4'40"

             James Dunn investigates the meaning of self-image within his film Thinking Steak.  Various scenes of his dwelling (many of which are obscured and vague) are coupled with a steady, pulsing soundtrack to evoke a particular mood from the viewer.  These elements all culminate in a looping sequence towards the end, which provides yet another ambiguous theme.  The imagery in this film is largely left open-ended, causing the viewer to question what exactly is the narrative of this piece.

"I'm done..."

I do not like talking about myself.

I really don't.

If I have anything to say about myself, it would be that I am always changing.  Sure, there are traits that die hard (and we all have these, I'm sure), but my tastes, interests, ideals and whims have surely changed during my lifetime.  My religious beliefs have varied - I was brought up in a Catholic household, I have delved into Buddhism, read up on Shintoism, Judaism, Islam, and currently practice Taoism.  My musical tastes have ranged from country and rap, jazz and punk, to screamo and dubstep (to name a few).  Perhaps some of this comes from the constant change of residence experienced in my life.

Sure, I have had people tell me that I am this or that, things such as "smart...creative...goofy...responsible...overachieving..." etc, but there have certainly been times where I disagreed with what someone has said of me.

On top of the ever-changing nature of my self-image, I really think that my own thoughts of myself are a moot point.  I can claim all day long that I am smart, cute, and funny, but that may not be the case.  I honestly believe that what defines me is what other people see - actions speak louder than words.  What I do, and what I believe is right, is more important to me than "who I am" or anything like that.

Now, I may be out of line, and totally contradictory to what I have said, and I think that further proves my point - I do not know how to define myself to somebody else, but I can *be* myself.


Just to live, and let live.

How Appropriate...

Banksy's Napalm piece is a simple yet effective example of how to appropriate media and incorporate it into an artist's own work.  In this image, the artist has rendered a small (yet substantial) portion of a rather famous photo taken by Ron N. Timberlake during the Vietnam War in June of 1972, pictured here:

Along with the girl in the photo, Banksy has added the figures of Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald, two very recognizable characters created for large, commercial businesses.  The original photo was initially used simply to document the events occurring at the time, but was itself later re-interpreted and largely believed to depict American atrocities, when the people involved in the accident were all Vietnamese.  

So, amongst the appropriation committed by the public at large, Banksy adds his own character of use to the piece.  What once was a dramatic, heart-wrenching photo, has become a comment on atrocities in our own country - he has kept the critical nature of the original work, but the message is different.  Also, the purpose of Banksy's piece was not largely for commercial use.  Like most of Banksy's work, it was meant as a commentary on society, much like his more public graffiti art on the streets of London.


As an interesting side note, while learning about this piece and the original photo appropriated, I found that Banksy's piece was in turn appropriated by another artist, Van Thanh Rudd (seen below).  However, Rudd had stated in an interview that it was done in homage to Banksy.

Handy-Dandy!

I was actually quite surprised at how fast we cranked out our first project.

We were tasked with coming up with a short film that incorporated the use of blue screen.  My teammates and I joined forces, brainstormed, and - *shazaam*!! - we quickly came up with a really good, amusing idea.  Our film briefly went something like this:  A person in the wood shop is working, accidentally chops his arm off, and casually walks over to glue it back on.  

heh...

I think it was a really great exercise to quickly get an idea of some things we can do with Final Cut, a program I had been eager to delve into.  After this, I was reminded of why I had been looking forward to taking this class, and am definitely going to enjoy it.

Hey Video Class...

I'm happy for you guys, I'm a let you finish, but uh...James had one of the best blogs of ALL TIME!  




OF ALL TIME!! 
:P