The three videos I will be responding to are as follows. “The Passing” by Bill Viola, Boston Dynamics Big Dog, and Butoh Dance Performance in Japan. I will be talking about why these stuck out to me, as well as the ideas that they present and how they outlined them for presentation.
To start with, “The Passing” depicts a nude female figure walking towards the camera in a dark environment. As she comes closer, fluid cascades down her person. This stuck out to me due to it being a very striking visual, as the figures body stands out against the darkness, even more so as the liquid (presumably water) splashes down on her. I believe what the artist was trying to highlight was the way water seems to almost trace the anatomy of the figure. This had emphasis put on it by having the figure in a dark room, forcing the viewer to identify the figure, the fluid and nothing else.
The Boston Dynamics Big Dog is a video that showcases the Big Dog in question, that being a quadrupedal mechanical being which is capable of walking like a four legged creature. The video showcases the machine maneuvering about various trials and tribulations. One of the major ideas that the video was trying to convey was how lifelike the machine was. This was shown in it’s uncanny lifelikeness, as it was able to recover from being shoved, able to maneuver over obstacles in a manner similar to that of a deer, and even avoid falling due to walking over black ice. The manner at which the machine moved was very similar to that of an animal, but with precision and stiffness that only a human design would be able to do, truly conveying the idea of the designs of man encroaching on what it took millions of years of evolution to craft.
The third video that caught my eye was Butoh Dance Performance in Japan, which is of a man who is performing some kind of uncanny dance which involves him moving his body in precise, inhuman ways. The main idea that this style of dance seemed to be focused on is the precision, fluidity and unnatural way the dancer moves. The lack of clothing or decoration on the dancer only seems to put emphasis on his striking anatomy, showing how difficult the training for this style must be in order to do it justice.
Links to the videos
https://youtu.be/Hb6mFwaC4YM
https://youtu.be/W1czBcnX1Ww
https://youtu.be/9ms7MGs2Nh8
The Art of Lockewood Drummond 