Please view the linked video and read the short reading on Blackboard.
Choose a scene scene from the clips above, and describe how Kentridge’s animation style helps to communicate the themes of pain and suffering.
Please respond below with one well-considered comment (about 100 words).
It might help to refresh your understanding of apartheid in South Africa:
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ReplyDeleteSamantha Tutino
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ReplyDeleteKaila Fearey
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ReplyDeleteI found the part in the movie where the eyes were looking in the rear-view mirror very interesting. The way his evebrows were furrowed showed discontent and displeasure in himself, and the sorrow in his eyes was impossible to miss. And the whole aspect of looking in a rear-view mirror is another metaphor, as if he is looking back on his life and his past, maybe with regret? The black and white part of the film helped the viewer focus on just one thing, being the black, and when there were the few moments of red they really stood out against the rest of the film.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be extremely depressing. At first it just seems to be focusing on death but then it gets into a gruesome attack on people. I found it hard to watch. It almost appeared as though the people who were being beaten were of different races and ethnicities. I have to disagree with William Kentridge about one of his ideas. He said “every artist uses other’s pains as raw materials”. I feel this is incorrect because I find that more often than not we use people’s joys to express our self’s with art and even writing. I feel we thrive not on each other’s pains but rather our accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Kentridge reaches the viewer in a shocking, yet profound way with his style of animation. He shows a person's traumatic experience, getting hit by a car, and the aftermath in the hospital. He also includes the perspective of the driver, who hits the victim. He illustrates the impact of the hit in a deeply emotional way rather than portraying it as something instant and jarring. He includes other visual elements to emphasize this emotional experience, such as what lay before the driver and the victim in the road.
ReplyDeleteKentridges's uses of sketching and film (In my mind) really reinforce the artistic narrative of the themes and feelings he is trying to display to the viewer. Rather than capturing the scenes of a man driving past the beaten bodies lying on the street within a single still frame, the motion of the vehicle accompanied by the straight, unwavering stare captured within the rear view mirror really speak towards the indifference and loss of apathy towards those struggling under the reign of apartheid. Even more interesting is the fact that in the short work, the only man being hospitalized is a white man, who dreams of himself (Though they are likely memories) in the place of the driver, yet wakes with the same unmoving stare of the driver, reinforcing further the themes above.
ReplyDeleteStarting at 1:30, where two people start to beat up another one who ist lying on the floor, Kentridge uses red crosses to mark the part of the body that got hit. Inbetween the hiting and kicking we see an x-ray which shows the inside of the body. There we also see the red marks on the bones that probably broke. Everyone knows that broken bones hurt and just from the crosses on the x-ray one can tell that this torture is very painfull. The music during the scene underlines the suffering, because it is usually played and sung in church and presumably stands for the suffering of Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Kentridge did a very good job at putting me in a place of unease. His video almost made me feel as if I was the white man observing and watching over all these scenes of abuse. Clearly the people in this South African society were being treated unethically and harshly. Being the viewer or the white bystander, these images were impactful because of the difficult dangers and hurt facial expressions I was forced to view. The style of the drawing was rough and colorless which also brought a dark and gruesome mood to the art. Lastly, the loud harsh sound effects made certain scenes feel even more extreme. Hearing the kicks, punches, whips and slashes made everything feel more real and present. I actually felt so uncomfortable watching and hearing some scenes that I felt the need to turn my volume way down.
ReplyDeleteA huge part of the piece portrays a sort of sympathy dialogue in my head. one tends to feel the emotion of the artist in a way that they could actually put themselves in the characters shoes. i feel this is what the Artist was trying to get out of the viewer and it was a job well done. in short quotes "sympathy and empathy"
ReplyDeleteWilliam Kentridge drawings were able to capture the pain and suffering of his subjects. I think the scene that impacted me the most was when the old man is driving the car and he seems people getting beaten to death. I believe that such physical pain captures the essence of pain and suffering. Also I found it interesting how when the person got beat up we saw their wounds placed on their skeletal body. There was also the emotional pain when the old man on the hospital bed was witnessing the attacks, he put more pain upon himself emotionally.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think that Kentridge did a good job in combining the music with the animation. I, as the viewer, found this video quite depressing and deep. The scene at 1:35 got my attention. In the mirror is the image of a pair of eyes that I think belong to Kentridge. The person in the clip was looking out of his car, watching a man beating the other man up. He was sad and angry, but did nothing to help simply because there was nothing he can do to help. I think this is a message that Kentridge tried to sent. He is sad and angry about the society but all he can do is watch and there are nothing Kentridge can do to change
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ReplyDeleteIn this piece there is constant motion, with shading, lighting, and random objects. Everything has a purpose and every slight bit of motion in the images really grab you and take you somewhere else, which is almost what Kentridge wants. All the scenery that is shown becomes demolished and forms into some other structure. Even the wounds from the man hit by the car, they are shown up close and form into something like a telephone or a cash register. The whole piece has a very deep and meaningful layer. The man in the hospital bed cannot see all the chaos because he refuses to pay attention to anything besides his own well being.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that I found to communicate the pain and suffering of the victim the best in this particular piece began at about 1:30 when a seemingly helpless man lay on the ground and was brutally beat by two other men. The sound effects that were heard as each blow landed did the scene justice but it was not until Kentridge actually showed the x-ray that appeared to be of the victim that the intensity of the scene became amplified. As each blow landed Kentridge showed you exactly where it landed on the helpless man and the amount of physical damage it produced.
ReplyDeleteA scene that really communicated pain and suffering was the one where it shows these miserable sad eyes through a cars front view mirror. The use of harsh line and scribble like essence to create the form of the eyes and area around the face really create an inconsistency and pained look in the eyes. Also, being that eyes are like 'windows to the soul' peoples eyes reveal a great deal of how their feeling and so I thought it was interesting that Kentridge chose to reveal the sad eyes in the mirror of a car. I personally think this was a great scene to reveal the suffering eyes because when someone is driving alone it's like their in their own sheltered world and can express and really reflect on whatever feeling is consuming them that day and be completely vulnerable and raw. Therefore since eyes are the most expressive organ in every human being it made sense that Kentridge animated them closeup in a car where ones suffering/and or emotion is most likely to be heightened due to the fact that being completely alone causes us to reflect on our emotions and be totally raw in letting it consume the way we look.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this scene for a number of reason. It was really able to clearly communicate the emotions the artist had in mind. The entire time watching you are always given something to look at and focus on while there is always a dark and intense mood. Its definitely a shock and at some times hard to watch but I believe that exacted what he was going for successfully.
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