Project+2-+Body

Project 2 The Body

Performance art and the body, usually the body of the artist, heavily influenced early video art. The works were often documentations of performance or a record of the artist interacting with the technology, using the camera as an appendage of sorts. Later, video installations incorporated the body of the viewer as well.

In this project, you will explore the body as a generator for a video work. You may explore the body as form, as content, or in a contextual sense. The body may be explicit or implied. You do not have to show an actual body in your video.

Some terms to think about:

Holding, Augmenting Defining Directing Binding Re-forming, Replacing Restriction, Interfacing, Mediating, Extending, Prosthetic

Some questions to ask:

How does the camera relate to the body? Is it held a certain way? Fit a certain bodily space? What is the function of this particular body? Why is this function important? Does it enhance or impair? Does it accentuate or hide? Does the concept of the work function visually independent of the body? Or is the video only complete when both are present?

In addition to the conceptual aspect of the project, you will be exploring Final Cut Pro more in-depth. We will be focusing on layers, key framing, masking and exporting, all of which will be on your first test.

You are required to include these techniques in your video, though they may be rather subtle.

For next class: Look through the links on the front page of the wiki, or on other places on the web, and find some art work (video or otherwise) that explores a non traditional idea of “body”. Post these examples on the “Conceptual Body Examples” page of the wiki. We will talk about these examples in class.