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News & ArtsFriday, September 4, 2009
Visual Art Puppets Are Better Than Humans, Finale Editions
Posted by Jen Graves on Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 9:49 AM
You must see William Kentridge's What Will Come (has already come).
Lucky for us all, it is at the Frye in the exhibition The Puppet Show—closing September 13. (You know the Frye is free, right?)
It's a steel table, a cylindrical steel mirror, 35mm animated film transferred to video and projected onto the cylinder, which then reflects the images onto the table's surface. It's 8 minutes long.
Remember all that William Kentridge that came to Seattle a few months ago? Well, I didn't see the opera or the lecture—but I'd say this is the single best gallery work that's been here.
My review of The Puppet Show here.
1
Ms. Graves wrote: "It's a steel table, a cylindrical steel mirror, 35mm animated film transferred to video and projected onto the cylinder, which then reflects the images onto the table's surface"
I need a point of clarification here. I haven't seen the piece in situ but it just makes more sense if the images are projected, or drawn, onto the table top and then these images are reflected on the cylinder. At least that's the usual way anamorphic art has been done. Which ever is the case this appears to be a mighty fine piece. Maybe I'll hit the Frye this weekend to see what's up.
I need a point of clarification here. I haven't seen the piece in situ but it just makes more sense if the images are projected, or drawn, onto the table top and then these images are reflected on the cylinder. At least that's the usual way anamorphic art has been done. Which ever is the case this appears to be a mighty fine piece. Maybe I'll hit the Frye this weekend to see what's up.
2
FS: I'm checking into it. That's exactly the sort of thing my malformed brain would screw up. Let you know when I hear...
3
Way off-topic, but relevant: Fuck you, football fans! I wanted to get downtown last night to meet TFMDA for First Thursday, and maybe check out some other stuff (like the Grey Gallery show posted above). And I heard there was a healthcare gathering at Cal Anderson park.
You fucking football fans, clogging all the freeways, bridges, and surface streets made it impossible to get downtown. Yeah, I'm full of misplaced anger, you have a right to see your shitty football games, and all that. The readerboard over I-5 in Lynnwood stated "89 minutes to Seattle". So fuck you, football fans. I'm calling today Be A Dick On Slog Day, and I'm calling all of you dicks. Yeah, I went there.
I don't get the chance to get into Seattle much anymore, so to be frustrated on the one night in a long time when I really wanted to go just chaps me. They shoulda built the goddamn football stadium out in Auburn or some other useless far-away jerkwater town.
You fucking football fans, clogging all the freeways, bridges, and surface streets made it impossible to get downtown. Yeah, I'm full of misplaced anger, you have a right to see your shitty football games, and all that. The readerboard over I-5 in Lynnwood stated "89 minutes to Seattle". So fuck you, football fans. I'm calling today Be A Dick On Slog Day, and I'm calling all of you dicks. Yeah, I went there.
I don't get the chance to get into Seattle much anymore, so to be frustrated on the one night in a long time when I really wanted to go just chaps me. They shoulda built the goddamn football stadium out in Auburn or some other useless far-away jerkwater town.
4
Jen,
I saw that exhibition and that particular piece. It was outstanding. You are correct. The Frye Art Museum is free. That's FREE folks.
I saw that exhibition and that particular piece. It was outstanding. You are correct. The Frye Art Museum is free. That's FREE folks.
5
Okay, FS: Here's the word from the museum. Looks like it is projected onto the cylinder.
"The DVD player is mounted above the table. The images (which were originally film transferred onto DVD), are projected onto the metal cylinder (which has a mirror-like surface). Those images are then reflected via the cylinder onto the surface of the table which is not
steel, but has a white surface -- which is where the images appear.
The actual label reads: Anamorphic film reflected in cylinder, 35 mm film transferred to DVD."
"The DVD player is mounted above the table. The images (which were originally film transferred onto DVD), are projected onto the metal cylinder (which has a mirror-like surface). Those images are then reflected via the cylinder onto the surface of the table which is not
steel, but has a white surface -- which is where the images appear.
The actual label reads: Anamorphic film reflected in cylinder, 35 mm film transferred to DVD."
6
It sounds like the Frye is wrong too. You can't project an image onto all sides of a cylinder from above. It must be projected onto the table and reflected by the cylinder.
8
I saw this particular piece as part of a larger William Kentridge exhibit in San Francisco, and it blew my mind. This guy is a genius, and this piece in particular is mesmerizing.
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