For my third outside screening I decided to head back to the Whitney ( I went for my 1st outside screening ) and check out Steve McQueen’s “End Credits” for the Whitney’s 5th floor collection in the “open Space” gallery. Last time I went to the Whitney I did not stop by the 5th floor, and this time I was so excited to get the opportunity to see such a grand space. It’s an entire floor completely free of any walls or columns, just one large open floor plan.

For McQueen’s piece, the large room had two projections going on at both ends of the room. You got to choose a side to sit in front of, which meant your back was towards the other screen. The two screens were scrolling through endless government documents, many of which I saw were signed by President Hoover. The projections on both screens were not synced up, and were scrolling too fast to really read the documents, but really only pick up a few words here and there.

Also playing over the loudspeakers was a man’s voice reading out what was assumed to be the documents displayed in front of the audience, but it was hard to tell at first because this was also not synced with either of the projections. Every now and then when a piece of information in the documents was “redacted” and female voice would interject the man’s and say “redacted.” It was pretty jarring.

I think this piece was really interesting because of how chaotic it was. People around me were chatting, the screens were displaying so much information so quickly. And trying to listen to the voice and read the documents at the same time was obviously impossible, and it made my mind race. I also was a little unsure of the backstory of the exhibit, so I was a bit confused about the information I was trying to take in. Also, one of the security guard people on the floor kept running around and telling people to put their phones away when they tried to take a picture. They didn’t have up any notices about this, so I was able to get a good photo before being scorned.

 

It wasn’t until I read up on the piece when I got home that I understood it better. This is about the work and documentation the FBI had on Paul Robeson, a singer, actor, and civil rights activist. This all went on during the time of McCarthyism and the red scare, and it really was emphasized by the way McQueen chose to show the audience this information. For me, at least, the events that happened during the red scare and the kind of emotions people felt about communism just seems chaotic and a lot to take in. It’s also ridiculous, in a way, to see how much absurd effort and information went in to trying to take someone down, when really there was no reason for such harassment. It was definitely an emotional experience, and a really interesting piece to see.

 

 

Last week I went to a showing of the Black Maria film festival at the Anthology Film Archives. It was my first time going to this theater, and it was a really fun experience. I took one of my friends with me that is not a film major, and I was a little worried he would not have a good time. He is not one to particularly enjoy experimental films, but I think I was able to change his mind after bringing him with me.

The tiny theater was completely filled, and many people there knew each other. The woman who was orchestrating and introducing the festival seemed to know almost everyone there by name. There were about 6 films in total, and all of the filmmakers were present in the theater, which I thought was really cool. The whole festival was about an hour and a half long, followed by a short Q & A.

I thought it was really interesting to see a variety of films in the festival. There was some animation, some documentary, some narrative. All of the pieces brought something different to the screen, and I found that really interesting. One of the animation pieces was about a young boy rescued form living with wolves, but soon realized he wasn’t made for the human world. It was very beautifully made and it was almost mesmerizing to watch. Another one of my favorites was almost a stop motion piece made out of paper and magazines, about a man suffering from PT SD after going off to the war. A lot of the other narrative pieces were so well done and fascinating, my friend and I were so glad to get the chance to experience all of them.

After the viewing was over, a couple of the filmmakers went to the front of the theater and took questions from the audience. Again. it was really interesting to see how close this group of people was, because even the filmmakers knew a lot of the audience members by name. A lot of people asked one of the directors about her piece that incorporated nature and the brain, and she went on to talk about how she makes films like these mostly because she wants to try and understand exactly how the brain works, and how she wants to make it understandable to other people too. It was really cool because there was someone in the audience from the medical field, and he said that he has never seen a film that can bridge the gap between scientists and artists, and that he would love to introduce his coworkers to her pieces.

It was a lot of fun to sit in on this pretty intimate conversation between really creative people. My friend and I thought we might be out of the loop because of the pieces or people some of them were talking about, but for the most part there wasn’t a lot of name dropping, and we were both really happy to be able to be a part of the conversation. My friend and I had a really fun time seeing all of these different pieces and get such an intimate viewing session with the filmmakers. We’re excited to make another trip soon.

This past Sunday in the late afternoon I visited the Whitney for the very first time to see the Astro Noise exhibit by Laura Poitras on the very top and entire floor of the gallery. It was an exhibit based on government surveillance and increased presence post- 9/11. The exhibit is based off of Poitras’ documentary film, Citizenfour. It was both an interesting and kind of spooky exhibit to walk through and, at times, to be a part of.

The exhibit begins in a large room with a tv screen in the middle, and two different projections on each side. One side is looping footage of close up shots of people staring off in front of them and their reactions. The reactions are supposed to be of the people staring at ground zero. It was almost chilling to sit there and stare these people in the face, and to see the emotions in their eyes. On the other side of the screen was looped footage of interrogation and torture of a man accused of having weapons and explosives in his car. Military men are seen questioning him, their tactics growing more severe as the footage rolls on.

The next part of the exhibit was unique in the way that it was a large dark room, with footage of the night sky and stars projected on the ceiling. For viewing, people could lay on a carpeted raised surface in the middle of the room, as if they were star gazing. An interesting thing about this is how at the end of the exhibit, before you exit, you see that there is a large tv screen of thermal heat footage of everyone who was laying on the platform in the other room. It’s spooky because, at the time, you didn’t realize you were being watched by other people. And, this forces you into the position of “big brother” aka the government that is watching over unsuspecting people. It was a very powerful image to take away from the exhibit.

I’m glad I got the opportunity to visit this exhibit, and it makes me want to investigate Poitras work further on the subject. It’s very interesting to me how she received information about government surveillance by Edward Snowden. Also, being an aspiring documentary filmmaker, I would like to watch her documentary Citizenfour to learn more about her work and the topic.  This kind of topic is very interesting because it has everything to do with our everyday lives as American citizens. I also find it interesting the information that is withheld from us concerning our freedom and civil liberties. It takes a government official to become a traitor to his country just to spread the information kept from the general public. Interesting and scary are two words to sum up what this exhibit evoked from me, and I’m sure others too.