Time-Based Media

Photography Film and Video Performance Art Computer/Internet Art Illusion vs Truth • Photography = “Writing with Light” • Photography = The artistic practice of taking and processing . • Camera = A device for recording visual images in the form of photographs, film, or video.

Paul McCartney selfie, 1963 Early Days of Photography Pinhole Camera ,

Later Days of Photography

Film Photography Color Photography Digital Photography Pinhole Camera = A box with a hole on one side, used to capture a Daguerreotype = Photographic process that yields a positive image on a treated metal plate. – Invented in 1839 by Louis- Jacques-Mande Daguerre. – Democratized portraiture: whereas only the wealthy could afford a painted portrait, everyone – rich, middle class, and the poor – could afford a daguerreotype portrait. – Difficult to prepare the plate.

– Could not be reproduced. Richard Beard, “Maria Edgeworth,” 1841 Early Roles of Photography • Captures the “soul” of the sitter • Photojournalism reveals the horrors of war • Can simplify reality • Aestheticize the mundane – Elements an principles, composition are still important when taking a photograph – Organize objects in the frame of the shot • These roles are still pertinent today • People had (and still have) very mixed feelings about the role of photography in the world of art – Competes with and sometimes replaces painting – Too easy – is it art? What makes it art? Portraiture captures the “soul” of the sitter

Tintype, Blacksmith with Dog Tintype, Private George A. Stryker Photojournalism gives the public insight into the horrors of war: Crimean War, Civil War Simplify reality – replace 3- dimensional space with 2-dimensional representation.

Abstraction: emphasize formal elements over realistic representation.

Paul Strand, “Abstraction, Porch Shadows,” 1916 Aestheticize the mundane – reveal beauty in the everyday, capture a moment.

Keliy Anderson-Staley http://www.andersonstaley.com/index.html Contemporary artist who uses old photography techniques) Film Photography • The technology for film cameras was first developed in 1885-9. • A film camera has a roll of film inserted in it; the roll advances manually or automatically with each photo • One-time-use (disposable) cameras today still use film. • Film can be expensive if you’re buying large quantities of good film • Film = A thin flexible strip of plastic coated with emulsion; used to produce photographs or motion pictures in a camera • Emulsion = Light sensitive chemical, coated on film • Film records a of the image – the positive image on paper is later developed in a Dark Room. • Dark Room = the room where rolls of film can be developed. Used by artists and professionals. Requires professional training. • Editing = the process of working in a darkroom to develop and process a roll of film.

Color Photography

• Artists could not control color until 1970 when Kodak designed reliable color film • Color had been associated with advertising. • We can use our visual vocabulary to talk about color in photography the same way we’ve used it to talk about paintings and drawings. • Digital photography is the overwhelming choice Digital today for photography. • Film and older processes Photography are not, however, totally obsolete – most photography programs still teach film photography and darkroom techniques. • Can shoot multiple scenes and combine images later in photo-editing software • More people have access to digital technology – cheaper. Affordability democratizes the medium and process. • Nickelback Instagram Spoof Early Cinema

• The word “Film” also refers to early cinema! • Film (in Cinema) = A series of “stills” (frames, photographs), that make a sequence of events. • Sergei Eisenstein, The Battleship Potemkin: Odessa Steps Sequence • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v- kZzfec • First films = Studying movement in sequences of rapidly exposed photos – Eadweard Muybridge studies animal movement – Etienne-Jules Marey studied human movement – Public and artistic interest: Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Decending a Staircase • Editing = the process of assembling a film by collaging negatives together. Popular Cinema • Film transitions to cinema (as we know it today) after World War One: it’s all about Entertainment. Emergence of the culture and economy of Hollywood. • Silent Movies – The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/307945/Passion-Of- Joan-Of-Arc-The-Movie-Clip-State-Of-Grace.html • Sound introduced to film in 1926: “Talkies” – First film with sound was “The Jazz Singer” – Singing in the Rain (1952) – Spoof of the turmoil of 1920 Hollywood during transition from silent films to “Talkies” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTFCctdiS04 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3OkXi5osfU • Color introduced in 1939 – The Wizard of OZ was made using Technicolor (3-strip color, get the whole rainbow on the screen) – Prior to technicolor, there are a few examples of color films that were hand-colored • Video = A digital recording of an image, Video set of images, or of motion; for use in television and, more recently, the internet • First video camera marketed in 1965 – Much cheaper than film – Immediacy – Gives artists access to technology, means of production (similar to printmaking) – Contemporary Cinema Nam June Paik, “Video Flag,” 1985-96 Fast-paced world of technological advances make electronic equipment obsolete quickly Performance Art = Theatrical art that is time-based and often site-specific – Short lived – Temporal – Video and photography are often used to document performance art

Trisha Brown, “Walking on the Wall,” 1971 • David Hammons, “Phat Free” 1995-99 • Kick the can = death • Musical rhythm that alludes to Jazz • Walks through neighborhoods to show the changes and lasting effects of gentrification • “Phat free” relates to removal of black culture Computer and Internet-Based Art Media • Digital Photography • Computer-Generated Media and Imagery • Animation • Video • Sound Art/Installation • Online/Web Based Art • Digital Installation • Eva Sutton, “Hybrids,” 2000 • Brenna Murphy, “Expanding Labyrinth” • http://www.bmruernpnhay.com/key.html • Maurizio Bolognini, “Programmed Machines,” 1992-1997 • Bill Viola, “The Reflecting Pool,” 1977-79 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHdX7sApIMc • Same way that digital imagery can be manipulated in photoshop (digital editing software) – he spliced together three different videos. • Or the way printmakers use registration to line up prints • Non-linear editing, was very new technology in the 70s. • CGI = Computer Generated Imaging Staging and the Illusion of Truth • Framing a photograph to have a particular impact or effect on a viewer. • Decision to include/exclude information. • Facts versus emotional truth. Timothy O’Sullivan, “A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863” Roger Fenton, “Valley of the Shadow of Death,”1854-56 http://sbp.so/fenton • Walker Evans • Farm Security Administration – document the Great Depression • Illustrate rural poverty • Staged to look like people were struggling more than they were William Wegman, “Rage and Depression,” 1972- 73 – Undermines authority, “truth,” and objectivity in visual experience– you cannot necessarily trust what you see. – We cannot trust the objectivity of photography, television – Addresses the same issues we have seen with Magritte and Juan Gris An My Le, “Small Wars (ambush 1), 1999-2002

• Abu Ghraib – detention center in Iraq • Human rights violations exposed in Fall 2003 • Sabrina Harman – implication in the photo is that she killed Manadel Al-Jamadi, a suspect in a recent bombing in Iraq. • Actual enjoyment versus a “social smile” • http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05 /19/the-most-curious- thing/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 • “Believing is Seeing” Errol Morris