At the Whitney Biannual, there many pieces that I found interesting and I began to really consider the difference between gallery work and work for the theater. Two of the first pieces I saw were sculptures by Jon Kessler that incorporated video taken with an iPhone. What drew me to these pieces was the idea that video in the modern era is portable and we take it everywhere with us. Seeing these sculptures made me begin to consider what video art can mean in this modern era and how work can be presented. For these sculptures, the space of a gallery was not only practical, it was effective and almost necessary.

This idea of how video art is presented really became a main concern of mine as I began to watch The Island directed by Tuan Andrew Nguyen. The film itself was presented in Ultra-HD and in a dark room. However, it was far from that of a theater space. For me, the gallery and space of a gallery does not encourage a person to stay in with a particular piece for too long. Perhaps it is or modern experience of museums and art, but there is a lot of movement and commotion in the space of a gallery. I found myself wanting to stay with this particular film, but also the impulse to move on.

The film itself was very interesting and I enjoyed the mix of fiction and documentary within it. The emotion of historical pictures and aspects of the narrative, I felt were heightened and highlighted by the fictional aspects of the narrative. The scenery of the film was also quite beautiful and made me consider the true consequence of war on people and nature. The use of subtitles in the film was very interesting, I felt they made me consider language in connection to history. For the United States, the Vietnam War is a controversial subject having to deal with the government’s justifications for the war. This film had me consider the language—not just English or Vietnamese, but the words themselves—in relation to describing history.

The film also considers a person’s connection to history and how they relate to it. For the man living on the island, he is has direct connection to the past. He can recall what has happened on the island and is aware of how it impacts him. Whereas the young woman from the U.N. doesn’t have this relationship with the past. In the film itself she has the literal ties to the island history—working at the U.N. and being Vietnamese. However, while on the island she is very disconnected and does not understand what has happened there until it is explained to her. The language barrier between the two is also significant, it separates the two of them but they are also able to communicate effectively.

Overall, the Whitney Biannual was very interesting and had a lot to offer. As video art and technology progresses, the question of theater vs. gallery will continue to be an issue that will hopefully have a resolution through the work itself.