Readymade777: Video Assemblage
Our exclusive interview with Readymade777, an anonymous video artist whose unique style works much in the way the mind delivers seemingly arbitrary experiences and associations.
Los Angeles is a natural incubator for the development of video art, with more working artists than any other U.S. city and greater access to the converging influences of the entertainment industries - television, movies, music, and technology.
Readymade777 is one of an emerging breed of Los Angeles video artists who have been quick to adopt video as their medium of choice, and develop a unique style he refers to as “assemblages.” Although carefully orchestrated, each video works much in the way the mind delivers unexpected associations, forgotten memories, random thoughts triggered by seemingly arbitrary experiences.
We sat down with RM777 to discuss his work and influences.
AWLA: It appears that video art is not only making a “comeback” of sorts, it seems to be evolving into many sub-genres. How would you define video art?
Readymade777: 'Video art' begs to be defined. Defining any form of art, however, violates every rule in the book. (There's a book?) An art piece should speak for itself, so when someone finds that they have to explain themselves in order to make the experience more palatable it destroys the initial unique experience. As an anonymous video artist, I believe that the identity of an artist shouldn't speak for the creation. The creation should stand alone as a genuine artwork.
AWLA: Describe your work for us? What makes it distinct from the work of other video artists?
RM777: In my “assemblages”, I have integrated my love for Marcel Duchamp with my own collected found footage. I wanted to essentially incorporate the concept of the "readymade" (which describes art created from the undisguised, but often modified, use of objects that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a non-art function.) Duchamp was the originator of this idea in the early twentieth century. In my case, I take existing pieces of visual media, and edit it into a flow that feeds into the subconscious. I want to allow the entire process and experience of video art to evolve into a new form. There is no right or wrong way to watch the work. Some forms of experiencing it have included installations, on television, in shop windows, and on YouTube (which was what they were originally designed for). YouTube seems to have become one of the primary ways of absorbing our visual media, whether it be news, dramas, silly skits, daring stunts, or video letters to loved ones. I think there is a lot of conceptual ground to be covered in that space where people go to get their visual fix.
AWLA: So then, what would you say is your objective, your intention in piecing together these appropriated video clips? What response, if any, are you aiming for?
RM777: I try to take a little bit of everything and crank it all up into a form that is so fast and so vibrant and sensational, that I almost dull one's senses, hopefully causing those who watch my work to be painfully well-aware of the way we are manipulated daily by images and advertising. My primary goal however is to entertain. Bombarding a person with messages can be insulting or pretentious, and so I usually try to abandon all forms of obvious messages.
AWLA: Can you give us an example?
RM777: In Readymade777's inception, I wanted to create an experience that is evoked when you find an old VHS tape. You have no idea what is on it so you curiously watch it. Upon playing the tape, the realization is immediate. This is one of those tapes that you have used to tape at least 100 shows. As you watch, one layer after another is peeled away, and each show blips to another, each reminding you of what your interests were at the time. You see all the things you used to watch. The "monster" film, Cloverfield is based on this concept. You are watching a found tape for 90 minutes. In my work, there may even be a quick little blip from your video-taped birthday that got erased. It's all there, a minor history of the things you used to love, being quickly laid out for you in a span of minutes. THIS is the experience that I wanted to create. THIS is a new exploration of old treasures. THIS is what I want the viewer to feel.
AWLA: How do you accomplish this and, maybe more important, what have you found is the best way to deliver this concept to your audience?
RM777: As a result of this fascination, I digitally recorded all the VHS and static I could get my hands on. The idea was to use each piece of noise as a transition that takes you to the next place. The work appears totally random, but there is in fact a very well calculated symmetry involved in each work.
Curators of this readymade video art have put their own visions and ideas to use. Some have looped a few of my pieces onto one DVD so as to make a 1/2 hour work that repeats itself. This concept actually works quite well considering that I like the idea of the work hanging on a wall appearing much as an intriguing painting might appear. There is a plethora of different intricate brush strokes. Each stroke typically isn't questioned or analyzed, rather one is made to step back from the work as a whole and take it in...as a whole. Each time one passes it, hopefully you will see something different. It is with this idea in mind, and the combination of sound and visuals, that I hope to create a hyper-real experience.
AWLA: One last question. Who are your influences in the field? Which video artists’ are you interested in and moved by? Why?
RM777: My influences range far and wide. The whole idea that we are influenced by all sorts of media around us holds true to myself as well. If I fall in love with the shape of a Coke bottle, it immediately influences how I make my work. Other video artists that I have been primarily moved by include Pipilotti Rist, Bill Viola, and Michael C. McMillen. My main influences, however, lie in cinema. Ever since my parents took me to my first Ingmar Bergman film in a theater, I have been hooked. The main reason why I took on art in a video form though was so I could shape it into my own idea what is fun, relevant and interesting. I had no interest in following guidelines of what video art should be, because as I mentioned before, there should be no rules.
To view more work by Readymade777 go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/readymade7777
Comments(2):
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art
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 D
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READYMADE777 FAN SQUEAKS...
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 choggie
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