Moyra Davey
(You knew everyone would pick her work as it's the most extensive and coherent)
What I liked/Disliked:
I enjoyed the fact that the 50 minute film had a backbone to it. What I mean when I say this is that most conceptual artists fall flat for me. It's all about the random idea they came up with and they tend not to execute it to the best of their ability. This film had a concreteness to it. It had a clear message, with small little vignettes spurring off of it. It was constructed more like a diary-esque novel than it was a from the mouth telling. At first, I didn't like it much, but then when I saw some of her photos, and began to pick up on Moyra's own quirkiness, I enjoyed it. I saw the repetition, I saw her obsessive nature (yet she detested that scheduled behavior in her psychoanalyst), I saw the multiples, and I realized that it's all connected and works as a cohesive body. I loved the way she showed how time passed within her Long Life Cool White exhibit. The photos of the pennies were breathtaking. And she's a really great photographer. (haha, and all those whiskey bottles). The only thing that really bugged me about her work was the fact that the film seemed like a youtube video. I would have liked it if she had maybe done something different with the compositions, or the colors. They just didn't really sit well with me. I didn't want more abstraction--oh no, please, I like her way of telling stories--I just didn't care for how it was packaged. I might just have an unfair bias against that sort of film making, as it's seen so commonly.
Messages Received:
I entirely got the fact that it was about therapy sessions. The way she talked about things, in the film, even made me think she was a little neurotic. It was almost as though we were in her head, experiencing all the time that has passed. Five years, four days a week. Wow. And her photos show that as well, with the multiples and the accumulation of items. She's very concerned with time, nostalgia, and the course her life has chosen to take. Those photos of the records within Long Life Cool White were sweet. Records are so cherished now, but they aren't really necessary. It makes me think that she's a pack rat, and that is endearing, which makes me connect with her on a personal level and appreciate her work even more.
End Note:
While not everyone enjoyed her work and not everyone WILL enjoy her work, I find it refreshing. It really did seem solid, and cohesive all the way through, without being utterly boring and pointless. She did a good job carrying over various themes across film and photo. Her film was like a million snapshots of her life, and the photos were snapshots of little parts of her life. Very nice.
What I liked/Disliked:
I enjoyed the fact that the 50 minute film had a backbone to it. What I mean when I say this is that most conceptual artists fall flat for me. It's all about the random idea they came up with and they tend not to execute it to the best of their ability. This film had a concreteness to it. It had a clear message, with small little vignettes spurring off of it. It was constructed more like a diary-esque novel than it was a from the mouth telling. At first, I didn't like it much, but then when I saw some of her photos, and began to pick up on Moyra's own quirkiness, I enjoyed it. I saw the repetition, I saw her obsessive nature (yet she detested that scheduled behavior in her psychoanalyst), I saw the multiples, and I realized that it's all connected and works as a cohesive body. I loved the way she showed how time passed within her Long Life Cool White exhibit. The photos of the pennies were breathtaking. And she's a really great photographer. (haha, and all those whiskey bottles). The only thing that really bugged me about her work was the fact that the film seemed like a youtube video. I would have liked it if she had maybe done something different with the compositions, or the colors. They just didn't really sit well with me. I didn't want more abstraction--oh no, please, I like her way of telling stories--I just didn't care for how it was packaged. I might just have an unfair bias against that sort of film making, as it's seen so commonly.
Messages Received:
I entirely got the fact that it was about therapy sessions. The way she talked about things, in the film, even made me think she was a little neurotic. It was almost as though we were in her head, experiencing all the time that has passed. Five years, four days a week. Wow. And her photos show that as well, with the multiples and the accumulation of items. She's very concerned with time, nostalgia, and the course her life has chosen to take. Those photos of the records within Long Life Cool White were sweet. Records are so cherished now, but they aren't really necessary. It makes me think that she's a pack rat, and that is endearing, which makes me connect with her on a personal level and appreciate her work even more.
End Note:
While not everyone enjoyed her work and not everyone WILL enjoy her work, I find it refreshing. It really did seem solid, and cohesive all the way through, without being utterly boring and pointless. She did a good job carrying over various themes across film and photo. Her film was like a million snapshots of her life, and the photos were snapshots of little parts of her life. Very nice.
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