WORK PROPOSAL : SEMESTER 1 2011

Over the past 4 months I have developed a strong interest in web-based media. This led me to develop work that is based on the Internet as both a root for my work, but also a display platform. I have produced mainly images/photo collages and video works. Both have been displayed on my personal blog, and the videos exist on YouTube. Much of the work holds a comedic value that echoes the shallow entertainment one seeks when surfin’ the web.

My video ‘Modified V8 Supercheap Auto Holden Commodore RC Racer’ is a 4-minute clip of my friends Dave and Andy, as well as myself modifying and playing with a remote control car. We took a crap toy, and spray painted it, increased the speed, added a sound system, added police lights and raised the rear of the car. The first minute shows the modifications to the viewer, than it if followed by 3 minutes of footage of the car doing tricks, such as driving through flames and doing burnouts. Naturally, it is accompanied by a soundtrack consisting of dirty gangsta and heavy metal. The video was inspired by over 100 RC videos I had seen one night while wasting time on the Internet. Like many YouTube home made videos, most of the RC clips have tacky effects, lame music and a real sense of fun about them. They are not well-refined ideas or even well made videos, they are just honest about the subject matter and the creators interest in their hobby. I am not a dedicate RC fanatic, so therefore this video is not a true representation of what a RC video should be. With a detached sense of irony, it mocks the RC videos I was inspired by, however in the same respect, one would also be able to see that at the same time, it glorifies them.

My video ‘Taco Bill Training Challenge: Burrito’ is a short 5-minute documentary my friend David and I made while training for the 2.5kg Taco Bill Burrito challenge. The challenge is to finish a 2.5kg burrito in 25 minutes , and you get the meal free. We were determined to complete a series of training challenges in order to accomplish this feat, and our first was the 1.5kg burrito. The video begins with a short description of our plans, then followed by a time lapse of the making of the burritos, then the footage of the eating event. The video references the homemade nature of amateur filmmaking as well as the ever-present videos of people doing crazy things to gain notoriety online. Like the RC racer, I created it with a background understanding of what was expected online, and I played up to those expectations. This puts the video in a unique light that slightly separates it from the videos it has been linked with online.
I have chosen YouTube as the host as many of the videos mimic YouTube trends, such as ‘how to..’ videos or ‘RC (remote control) racers..’ Had I hosted the videos on Vimeo, a site dedicated to artists and filmmakers, the works would be reflected in a different light. I want them to be engulfed in the online universe that is YouTube, with comments added by strangers and the voting system that decides if the videos are well received ort not. In hosting them here, my view count is nearly at 20,000, whereas if that is to be compared to my view count in the real world, my art would sit at under 1000. I see this environment as an exciting new display platform. A platform, which encourages audience participation much more than any gallery space can offer.
Aside from the videos, there have been a series of images I have recently created and collected. Most are from facebook, however a large percentage are from viral sites such as reddit.com. My own creations use the meme of white text over the image, making a comment on it’s hilarity. One example is ‘Better luck next time,’ which has two images side by side, one of a guy looking up in hope, and the other of a girl looking at him with a ‘WTF?!?’ face. Over the image of the guy, I put in the text ‘Better luck next time’’ which alludes to his unsuccessful effort to get the girl. The images were gleaned off my friend’s facebook account, and are of a house party she attended. In the daily ritual so many people go through of flicking through facebook photo albums, it has become practice to re-live a party, or attend one you were not invited to, online. I was not invited to this party, and through being the third person, I exercised my right to use the images of two people I do not know.

This semester is going to be an exciting opportunity for me to develop the ideas I have been working on. However, as much as I love web based art and netart, I do not want ot commit myself 100% to the online art world. I still hold much faith for my work in the ‘real world’ and I have interest in creating sculptural and special work. There are four artists in particular who I feel use internet aesthetic/inspiration well both online and in their works offline. Justin Kemp, Martin Kohout, Zach Shipko and Zach Gage all embrace technology and the online world, yet keep traditional art practicing techniques in mind when creating their work.

Kouhout’s untitled work (2011) is a photograph of a family standing around one of Kohout’s sculptures in a gallery space, The sculpture is a towel dryer, with each cross-bar holding a print out of the YouTube play/pause bar, which decrease in size the further they are situated on the towel dryer. It references an earlier video of his, where he creates an infinite pyramid of YouTube play/pause bars on top of each other, which work on a timer system so the red play line works across all at the same time, creating a visual effect. Kohout adopts the image of YouTube and employs it in works that exist in gallery spaces.

Justin Kemp’s work ‘Proclaiming my love’ is a site-specific work accompanied by documentation of a tree with a love heart engraved into it, with the word ‘INTERNET’ in the centre. The artwork reflects his love for the online world, in the most natural setting, overlooking a vast horizon of green pastures and a blue sky. The accompanying documentation is a photograph of the tree, as well as a video of the scene (including tree) and a backing track of Whitney Houston’s ‘I will always love you.’ Like Kohout’s untitled work, it has a detached comedic value and it works well in its favour. I feel my works have a similar value to them, yet at present they are unrefined, and need tailoring.

Throughout this semester, I hope to push beyond the spot I am sitting at the moment, to further develop my work. I want the work to exist with Internet inclined ideas, however, use the internet as a starting point. Like Shipko, Kohout or Kemp, I aim to use it as a muse that will aid and create more solid work. At present, I can say that I am interested in text, photography, video, the Internet and special sculptural work. I predict these elements will intertwine and the work will develop from there.