week 12

"Duck Soup" and "The Way Things Go" are similar because they both, to one degree or another, intervene on what we are familiar with by putting a new spin on it. In the case of "Duck Soup" the various comedic skits acted out draw our attention away from the all important narrative and sometimes intervene with the plot directly. These frequent bursts of comedic value delightfully interfere with the motives of the characters. However, it is fair to say that they major strength of "Duck Soup" lies in its eccentric humor which greatly distances itself from its cohesive narrative. Though hilarious and very enjoyable to watch "Duck Soup" does not offer much beyond the realm of comedy.

In the case of "The Way Things Go" spectacle plays a key role in its overall value as a film. It works with a continuous narrative that never ceases to hold our attention for a second - the viewer is always anticipating what will happen next. The massive chain reaction is easy to marvel but the film offers more than just spectacle. It gives a new perspective on the potential of household items beyond their intended use. In this sense alone "The Way Things Go" could be considered an intervention by using items out of context not for their intended use and, in terms of how narrative is effected, expresses the conventional "cause and effect" plot, usually involving a protagonist and antagonist played out through characters, through objects which are often thought of only as insignificant or necessary tools for serving an intended purpose.

week 11

I would just like to comment on the film we watched in our discussion sections this week about the invasion of privacy harbored by the common presence of security cameras in America. Since the film presents a rather elaborate skit played out by several characters through a public security monitor a student claimed this type of conveyance defeats the purpose of the artistic statement. Speculatively the statement could just be giving us an opportunity to look back at those watching us. I did not voice my opinion in class so I will give it now and disagree with that student. It does not really matter that this single monitor is accessible to the public because who knows how many hundreds of cameras are out there invisible to us. Even so, the monitors could be visible or they could be hidden, either way this film urges us to commentate on the factual and general presence of security camera in any case. It allows us to question the moral and ethical necessities of such an abundance of "security" and where the line should be drawn between safety and invasion of privacy.

week 10

Andy Warhol is most well known for his pop art with which he became very successful early in his career as a commercial artist working for companies such as Vogue magazine in New York.  In addition to his main emphasis on the art of painting and graphic design, one of his most famous works being Campbell’s Soup Cans, Warhol experimented with 16mm film creating Empire which is an eight hour long static shot of the Empire State Building as dusk turns to night.  At the peak of his career Warhol began to commentate in the repetitious and product-nature of pop art.  His painting Marilyn Monroe, consisting of a portrait of the actress replicated four times each with different color schemes, identifies with Warhol’s view on what he believed pop art was becoming.  I’ve included a YouTube video in this blog of a 1964 interview with Andy Warhol about the debut of his new design for Brillo.  The video offers a somewhat humorous look at Warhol’s behavior on camera but also succinctly affirms his conviction of the repetition of pop art.