Exercise 2: Interpreting video art
Watch the video of Sam Taylor-Wood’s Still Life:
Notes:
Initial response after viewing:
I was surprised by the first imagery, a cliche still life bowl of fruit that looks as though it could have been painted, except for the placement of a blue biro pen adjacent to the bowl. I was impatient to see something happen within the first half of the video after my initial viewing because the changes had been so subtle.
The media and form of the piece:
i I think to assert the piece within modern times. At first i found myself waiting for something to happen when the picture changes from day to night/light to dark, so i realised that it was a time delay video and expected to see the process of the fruit decaying. Because the video is a sped up process of a long time period, i was surprised by the actual movement in the piece as the fruit rotted. It really brought the piece to life, as it began to change so slowly at first and then at a surprising pace.
Contextual information – what do you think has influenced this piece? Have a quick look at some of Taylor-Wood’s other work. Does this piece fit with those? Are there other artists working in a similar way?
- Different to her other work, she mainly focuses on movie type videos and photography involving people.
- She works with famous actors as a director.
- She uses dance and motion in a lot of her work, particularly bold and striking movements. Compared to this still life it is quite different.
- She followed up this work with a piece called ‘A Little Death’ that involved a decaying rabbit.
- Hard to find similar work
- Many many people are becoming artists at home with the use of modern smartphones and capable of creating their own versions
- Similar to many artworks using wicker bowls and fruit, similar lighting to the classical paintings i.e. caravaggio’s still life with fruit on a stone ledge.
How does this piece comment on ‘time’?
- Similar to previous paintings studied in part 1, relating to death and decay and the inevitability of it and not being able to ‘stop time’
- The first time the picture darkens gives the viewer recognition that time is moving from day to night and therefore this has been recorded over a long time.
- The classical painting look with a ball point pen is contrasting and modernising
My Interpretation of Sam Taylor Wood’s Still Life
When first watching the video, I actually double-checked that I hadn't accidentally paused it as within the first half of the 3 and half minutes, not much happens. I acknowledge that the layout of the imagery reminds me of carravagio’s ‘Still life with fruit on a stone ledge’ because of the lighting and the wicker basket. However the artist has created a modern version by including a blue biro.
As the video progresses, we are taken into a very subtle change from light to dark which establishes the impression of time passing, and as viewers familiar with what a ‘time lapse’ video looks like, we begin to understand what is happening. In the middle of the video, there is a surprising amount of movement from seemingly inanimate objects. While the surroundings remain still and only change in lightness, the fruit physically shifts, dissolves, transforms and grows before shrinking into dusty spores of rot. Compared to the artist's other work, this is remarkably different. Most of her prior work involves famous actors, dancing, theatre and movement within those contexts. However, this work was followed by her work titled ‘A Little Death’ which was a similar process that involved a decaying dead rabbit.
This piece is similarly relatable to previous studies of artwork relating to time, death and decay. For example in part 1 where I looked at Hirst’s shark. It invites very similar thought processes, though this ‘still life’ is not still at all and the reference to time is not in any way attempted to be slowed or halted but quite the opposite.
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