Today I'm writing an article about an artist that I discovered two weeks ago in art-class: Peter Campus.
Born in New York in 1937, he has studied psychology, and then he began to make movies, and became an assistant director. After, he realised his first films, playing with the effects of split images and superimposition permitted by video technology.
By using his artistic skills , he often plays with the individual’s perception of a body in space but also adds an idea of fragmented images in his films.
He defines his videos as a ‘function of reality’, and wonders about the differences between
subject/object, interior/exterior or conscious/unconscious.
The video that we studied is called Three Transitions, from 1973.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar99AfOJ2o8
It is his first video made in colour,and we clearly see the notion of the double that is made visible, in a very explicit way, through the use of a new technology (with the ‘blue box’ technique permitting the superimposition of one sequence on another and so the two images create the illusion that he is tearing his own body, while he is in fact tearing the paper spread in front of him.)
We can say that Three Transitions moves between humour and self destruction, and so Peter Campus explores the limits of our perception of the reality.
Later, he did a lot of exhibitions, notably at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, but also in Germany, in Berlin.
Moreover, his films were projected continuously on a monumental scale in a dark room, and so it created a striking effect on the spectator.
Anyway, I found this video really surprising.
Tell me what you think about it,
Eléa
Thank you for makin me discover an artist ! I feel (this is just my opinion after watching the video, I don't know anything more about Peter Campus than what you said) like this is about self-destruction (as you said) but also about changing and evolving. In the first part it's like he's tearing himself to find another self, in the second part he's erasing himself but there's another him behind so he doesn't disappear. The last part is indeed more about self-destruction (well maybe you already had this reflection and my comment is not really useful).
ReplyDeleteIska
I really liked the concept of the video, and for me it looks like how experimental music sounds (but in a visual way, of course)... Peter Campus experiments the video material in a new and different way, and makes you wonder what's going on in your screen while watching the video. ;)
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