I thought that I would write a bit on the idea of video art that was presented in class. I suppose these video art examples are difficult to wrap my head around. There is no real story to speak of, which I expect from this medium. They work hard to keep things in the abstract, to disorient the audience, and to attempt to evoke a reaction based on slightly disturbing images and sound that are difficult to comprehend the meaning of.

THey could be quite interesting though. For example, the Bill Viola piece called Ascension. I realized pretty quickly that it was video of a person falling into water, but running backwards. Throughout most of the piece, I found myself trying to visualize the movement of hte bubbles if the video had been running the normal direction, which I had a hard time accomplishing. That was pretty much where my mind was at throughout almost the whole piece, the movement of the bubbles. It wasn't until the very end when I felt like the man was about to fly, which was an interesting feeling. However, I simply found myself wondering, why he had jumped in the water and what he had been doing. My mind wanted to know his story, or make up a story for him. Somehow, I'm not sure if my reaction was really the one the artist was going for. At least I could have ended up with a pretty interesting story though if I had wanted to.

Video art such as this certainly has its place, and I like knowing that artists are attempting to experiment and try new and interesting methods. However, I don't really think that I am cut out for this particular kind of art. Knowing more about what is out there, though, is a good thing, and being a little confused, well that can be a good thing too.