Omer Fast ‘The Casting’
Written on August 13, 2008
As an update to my previous post on Omer Fast, I realise that I did actually see one of his works, titled ‘The Casting’ at the most recent Whitney Biennial. It was a very exciting piece of video art and I’m glad I came across the video below because in it he is able to explain the piece quite well. It’s often quite ridiculous to try and relate to someone who hasn’t seen a particular work of video art exactly how it was set up and how it has impacted you, but this video does a very good job of explaining things. I also enjoyed his observation about the myriad of decisions that are made when speaking about a memory.
wow, this is a really nice piece of work. I think he really did capture that kind of intangible process of picking out pieces of memories.
Err.. If you can capture something intangible…
That other work of his is amazing too. Albeit terrifying…
Yeah, the other work is chilling! I think this one though was one of the best from the biennial. Video art is so often a chaotic jumble that it was so refreshing to see it done so well.
Agreed! I think people find it so isolating because we are rarely ever challenged as viewers of television. I mean, its really, really passive. Like we expect to be engulfed, engaged, showered with a narrative and visual stimuli. And then, when we have to work for it, it leaves us feeling like we missed something.
That’s why so many people go to the movies. No-one hates the movies, right?
Yeah, I agree. Cinema most often requires very little effort on the part of the viewer, and that’s not a criticism. But I think it’s difficult for a Video Artist to successfully communicate to the viewer as they have to address in some way the visual language and the bias of interpretation which people have been educated with, through Cinema and Television, for so long. I think that’s part of the reason why we don’t see a whole lot more Video Art, because people are so discerning and cynical where the moving image is concerned. And the rise of Youtube has had an impact on the aesthetics of video art as well, so as now I think it’s much harder to draw clear boundaries between what is shown in a gallery and what watched for entertainment.
There are some artists who play this up (like Olaf Breuning who was excellent and was in the same show) and co-opt the youtube, home video style, but I’m generally more interested in artists who do engage the viewer in other ways. Such as Omer Fast’s sculpture like video or Bill Viola’s surrounding screens in ‘Five Angels.’
Anyways, it’s very exciting to see great work!