The Hood Museum at Dartmouth had an installation a few years ago by a video artist named Bill Viola.  It was a ~40 inch plasma TV with a silent video playing on a loop and it showed 5 guys in primary-ish color shirts moving from one expressive pose to the next.  Except they were filmed at very high speed.  What took 45 seconds to film ended up being 10 times that in length on the screen. Super slo-mo seems to be one of his tools.

The first time I saw it they were all in a particularly inactive period. The effect was like a still life.  I passed it off as stupid – a TV on a wall with 5 guys standing. The lighting and composition is nice, but meh.  I went about my business.  But when I glanced back again they were in a completely different pose.  I thought maybe it was a slide show so I watched and waited for the next slide.  As I stood there I began to perceive what I thought was some sort of special effect.  Like my eyes were playing a trick on me.  Something that only got worse as I strained to make sense of things. They were moving so slowly, and the frame rate at which the video was taken was so high that motion was only barely suggested.  Then as their transition from one pose to the next naturally picked up speed you could then start to see movement more clearly and actually the effect that I found so stirring was lost.  But I did stare at it for 5 or 10 minutes.  And I returned many times to watch it.  I’ve never wanted a piece of art in my house so badly.  There were moments initially when I thought it might be easy to obtain. On the one hand, you just print DVDs. You already have a TV and DVD player. On the other hand though, you don’t show your art in museums if everyone in America has an ‘original’ at home until it becomes a classic.  His website at the time was vague and unproductive. The website now suggests there are ways to purchase at least some videos but I haven’t pulled out my magnifying glass to crack that code yet. I doubt this particular video is for sale.

I think my initial interaction with it and the way I discovered it only helped to heighten my experience. Otherwise I think you have a feeling of like – hurry up, what’s happening?! It was just one of those things.

Anyway, I don’t remember what the name of the piece was and I haven’t spent enough time on his site looking for it but I stumbled on this video today on YouTube.  Also by Bill Viola, it features the same scenario and at least two of the same actors (red and blue) as the one I saw before in the museum.  The very beginning exhibits a little bit that aspect of moving so slowly you can’t quite tell what’s happening.  I’m not very good at dissecting what the different characters mean.  Why is the guy in the back so happy?  I don’t know.  I just know that I like the aesthetics.  Enjoy.