"Consolation Service" is a 23-minute video, with two different projections shown simultaneously on adjacent screens. This interesting effect accentuates a theme of voyeurism that begins with the narrator looking out of her window, describing her neighbors, and continues when several people in a waiting room crowd around a private therapy session. But the truly amazing scene in this piece shows several friends walking across an ice-covered pond, discussing in detail what happens to the human body when it falls in freezing water. Suddenly the ice cracks, everyone falls through and both cameras cut underwater to the murky darkness. I was immediately hit with a strong feeling of suffocation, a very powerful effect considering my seat inside on dry land. Great skill must be used to produce this kind of sensation for the viewer.
"Stereoscope," an animated film by the South African artist William Kentridge, is a beautifully flowing piece that builds momentum as it progresses. A peaceful black-and-white beginning is altered when a blue line emerges and jump-starts everything in the film. Electricity, telephone lines, population growth and pages and pages of numbers all emerge upon contact with the blue line, until at the end everything blows up in a series of explosions. What's the message here? Is this piece about a fear of technology, a call for awareness or perhaps the explosive nature of South African apartheid? Whatever it is, the viewer pays attention because the film itself moves swiftly and captivates.
Roman Signer, a Swiss artist who utilizes simple physical properties to uncover beauty in the natural world, reminds me of my 7th grade science teacher. But when one sees his "experiments," ten of which are exhibited here on video, which he uses to document these process-based pieces, the allure of his work is quickly apparent. In one, a large inflated ball is placed into a flowing stream, where it is stopped by a wall with a hole smaller than the ball can fit through. Several seconds pass until the water pressure builds up and the ball pops through the hole. Signer uses this simple natural event to create suspense, a sensation usually associated with much more complicated situations.
Finally, in another event captured on video for documentation and display, Chinese performance artist Zhang Huan lies face-down and naked on a block of ice for about 10 minutes as his body heat confronts the resistance of the intense cold. An impressive feat, and one we can only see because it has been preserved on tape.
In a sense, this use of video to preserve and distribute artistic works is what binds the exhibit together. Making one's work visible is extremely important, especially for artists like Signer and Zhang whose ephemeral pieces cannot easily be displayed. Even with van Warmerdam, Ahtila and Kentridge, it is video and film technology that allows their work to be distributed and appreciated by a wide audience. Although the category of "video art" is incredibly broad and includes so many contrasting artistic styles, the video medium has enabled a whole generation of artists to be artists.
7 Thoughts: Maijke van Warmerdam and Video via Venice: Hightlights from the Biennale: Eija-Liisa Ahtila, William Kentridge, Roman Signer and Zhang Huan are showing at the ICA through July 2. The ICA is very near the Hynes/ICA stop on the Green Line. Hours are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m., Thursday, 12 to 9 p.m. and Friday, 12 to 7 p.m. Admission is $4 with your student ID and free on Thursdays after 5 p.m.