Consider the piece Barrier at the Johnson Museum and one single-channel video from the artists’ website. Identify the ideas and concepts that are similar between the pieces, and discuss how the different mediums affect the way that ideas are expressed. Your response should be 150-200 words.
Artist Website: http://www.typea.us/
Johnson Museum: Type A-Barrier
In Type A’s “Barrier” the piece is representative of, “boundaries of government and corporate control” after 9/11 barriers were often set up as a form of protection or they were used as a way to separate the highway from construction. The barriers give off the feeling that someone or something in a higher power such as the government has control over you. This concept is similar to Type A’s piece, “Spit.” The video, “Spit” symbolizes when ones childhood bully would hold them down and spit on there face. The bully has more power than you and that is why they are able to spit on you. Both pieces give off strong feeling of being overpowered. Despite, the similar concept seen in both pieces the medium used in each are very different. In “Barrier” there is an actual physical barrier it is not just an image that is presented. However, in “Spit” despite how real it may look you are not actually getting spit on therefore they are not creating anything physical they are just bringing up an unpleasant image or memory.
ReplyDeleteType A's piece "Barrier" is an example of the obstacles that get in our way. By placing these barriers outside of a main entrance to a museum it causes visitors to have to find an alternate foute, either through or around the barriers, to the door. This is like their video "Action", in which the two men are both racing on foot through a city to reach this certain point, but they have to deal with walls, stairs, and other people that get in their way, as well as they get in each others' ways.
DeleteI viewed the piece "toss" from the website's single channel section. It appears that much of the work that the two artists do have a lot to do with competition between two males. In the video, the two men begin by taking a step back and tossing the camera to one another to see how far back the other one will go. The competition then progresses to the two disrobing and running around a park while they throw the camera to one another. This is similar to the piece barriers because it simply involves the stubbornness of men while in competition. The barriers are the exact same thing and take up an entire walkway yet it seems like neither artist wanted to quit. Much like the camera, neither would back down until either the camera broke or until the walkway was entirely covered. The artists capture the essence of a competitive man, essentially what they're saying is, "never give up, never back down".
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ReplyDeleteThe two pieces by Type A, Spit and Barrier, have different themes yet convey something similar. The video, Spit, shows two men spitting on a piece of glass, so that it seems as though the viewer is being spat on. The sound of their spitting is very clear, distinct, and slightly threatening. Type A are imitating the act of spitting on someone in this piece, it is typically an offensive act, but in this case they are playing on that idea. Barrier is a piece consisting of fifteen barriers that you would normally find lining a highway road, arranged in 4 rows; they are all facing the same direction. There is something slightly army-like about the arrangement of these barriers; firstly they are uniform and are made of concrete. They are a dull white and impose on the viewer. They seem to threaten, just as the spitting does. Both of the pieces are overtly against the viewer. On the other hand, although spitting is an unfriendly act, in this case it is like a prank, whereas Barrier intimidates the viewer.
ReplyDeleteI watched Mark by Type A, and found that both this and the barrier piece shared the ideas of boundaries, and dividing lines. in the piece at cornell barriers are a physical thing. the steps are blocked partially by the barriers on them. also the barriers are not straight meaning you have to walk around them. Mark Type A creates the same idea. by starting with two different circles based on height and then slowly filling in the gaps between them a barrier is formed. the idea of impassability is not literal in the case of Mark, but it is a fundamental difference between the interior space of the circle, the exterior space, and the white space in between. in Barrier the idea is created by physical highway barriers that are placed in front of a museum to impede the progress of the people entering. the physical presence of the piece however is far more menacing then the piece itself. because there are gaps between the blocks it is easy to pass through the piece. with both pieces Type A created a mental barrier for the viewer.
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