Jackie Goss

Well the films and videos we watched today weere not as inspiring to me as the last few visiting artists have been. It makes me wonder if perhaps watching a film some guy once did once is as interesting as having the actual artist there in person. I don't think it compares at all. I think the artist's passion for his ir her work is probably the most important aspect of engaging in any kind of art. Perhaps this works well for galleries, then. When it comes to Hollywood film, no one cares really who made it, because it isn't about that. In experimental film, however, I find myself bored to tears because I don't get the meaning behind the films as well as if I had the artist there to tell me and show me with how they talk and such. Imparting one's passion to another is a wonderful experience, and it can be just as fun from the receiving end. But just watching a film just isn't the same.

That said, I did enjoy Jackie Goss's animation. Unlike her last animation, this one was engaging and actual animation. It really made me think, too. I wondered over and over how she made those scarey characters. Was is paint? Illustrator? An animation program? And how did she get all those interesting camera angles in the video game? How did she even edit the video game into a video at all? If she had been there I could have asked those questions and learned about her new techniques. I probably would have been as inspired as I was with Vladmir, but I was not quite as interested because I had no one to ask.

I also liked the subject matter of her video. I am personally very interested in the direction our government is going, and I can see it isn't positive. I thought it was intriguing that Jackie would use this approach to the new government's rules, like US Visit. They do some crazy things to immigrants! And because we are not immigrants, we do not know what our government is doing. I have a small idea, but I have not experienced the big picture. If I was inspired by anything today, it was this. I could make a video like this, too- a subtle way to figuring out what the government is up to, and a way to expose it to a close-eyed public.

And as for the Jane Fonda video...well....I liked the idea, but in application I thought it failed miserably. Perhaps it was the poor use of font, or seeing the filmmaker's scrawny body in tight pants, I'm not sure exactly. The music was engaging and the constant change of sceenery was timed to the music, which helped you stay interested, and I loved watching the big group of people try to copy the moves behind the filmmaker, but other than that, I was just disturbed. There was no image on the tv's he was dancing to, he was dressed in disgusting outfits, and the text was just ugly. He should have scratched onto film or used a different color or integrated it better somehow. I'm not sure exactly how, but he could have split the screen or something. It just didn't work. The text did not add, it took away. I liked the idea, it was just not artistically put together.