After the trip to the Whitney Biennial, I really wanted to take another look at experimental pieces in a gallery setting, so I visited the MoMa Ps1 in Queens. I live very close, yet I had never been there before, so it was a great experience to go and I would definitely go back. I think the most important thing I’ve learned from this viewing is that for some reason I definitely feel more immersed in the experimental moving images in this type of setting than I did in a theater, which I believe was very important for me to figure out in order to continue pursuing new visions of artistic expression.

I think that it is all a sense of unfamiliarity for me that pairs together well. When I sit in a theater, or even in a classroom, I have a certain expectation of the types of words and images that will appear on the screen, which I’ve only really begun to reflect on in the context of this class.

Maybe over time with the expansion of my ideas and experiences, my expectations will shift to something broader and less clear-cut. For now; however, I feel that because in a museum or gallery I am already comfortable with a state of unknowingness, I’m more accepting of not fully understanding the messages put forward by the film itself, which I’ve realized is how I need to feel in order to fully appreciate these experimental works. Experimental films and the gallery scene in general challenge my expectations, which I really enjoy. They challenge my level of knowledge about media production and visual storytelling, which inspires me in a different way.

As the semester is coming to a close, I continue to think about how experimentation is what bleeds into the mainstream. It mocks the simplicity of culture, which again leads to vital self-reflection. What appears too cliche? What fuels the fire to be so heavily criticized that alternative forms of media continue to appear and grow in order to challenge the mainstream?

At MoMa Ps1, I was particularly taken by Ian Cheng’s Emissary Trilogy. I grew up on animation movies and video games, and it’s just amazing to see how the technology not only improves drastically over time, but expands itself in new ways. According to the artist, “it is a video game that plays itself.” The screen is so large with such crystal clear characters, that it really just feels like they are standing right in front of you. It was like people watching, without having to avoid obvious eye contact. Something about the experience is almost transcendent, bringing you into another world rather than sitting with the awareness that you are in a room with other people.

In terms of the latest discussions in class on how artists create for gallery vs theater, Emissaries, I believe, was a great example of a piece working to an extended degree as part of an immersive experience rather than at a distance. It worked in a general sense and also just particularly for my viewing style, which I learned so much about throughout this semester and at this screening.