Monday, January 14, 2013

A Video Made a House


Gestalten:

A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts.

Oskar Schlemmer described light as a vital "plastic form."  His use of the term plastic is interesting, because he is basically stating that light makes form . . . even if the thing we see is not the actual physical shape.  Schlemmer contrasts this with the idea of haptic perception, which - to take Bloomer and Moore's summary:

"To sense a mountain haptically is to climb it, not just to look at it"
                                                                                                        (Trimingham, 49)
This video response to the previous solo performance on stairs is meant to be a gestalten.  It switches the role of the performer from a man under constant sun to a constantly moving sun, which performs as a sculptor on the architecture.  Light, shadow, and form all become a singular statement.  It does not need to be experienced haptically to be enjoyed as a performance; however, just like the previous video, it can become a performance between person(s), lighting (ambient and radiant), and a formal space.

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