|
Still images from “Tempography” 2003 - 2008 |
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Every day, people are confronted with an ever-changing world. Everyone and everything is constantly in motion. But almost no one has the time to pause and consider life's fleeting moments.
A conceptual art project called ``Tempography'' aims to capture glimpses and movements in every day life on video. Founded by Swedish filmmaker Magnus Aronson and Swiss artist Anthony Bannwart in late 2003, the medium is described as ``somewhere between cinema and photography.''
A tempograph is a single moving image shot that is less than 30 seconds long. Unlike cinema, it does not have a storyline and there is no sound. Instead, it focuses on the atmosphere and movement.
``A tempograph identifies a certain way of documenting an individual perspective; a unique metaphor; a point of view. It could be seen as an evocative shot from a film and mirrors the narrative of an individual: the author. The tempographic idea brings with it personal ways of looking at and even re-discovering the visual world,'' the project founders said.
To better understand this art project, Gallery Factory is holding the ``Tempography'' exhibition featuring more than 90 works by 20 artists from countries like United States, United Kingdom, South Korea, Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Canada and Switzerland.
The Korea Times met Anthony Bannwart and his wife, exhibition curator Kyung Roh Bannwart at the Gallery Factory in Changsung-dong, Seoul last week.
``The key to understanding Tempography is: without movement or change in composition, there would be no need for the duration. It is minimalist video art, constrained and observational,'' he said.
These works show such things as balloons floating upward against a blue sky and bugs orbiting a light bulb. They are shown on seven small video screens, placed on the sand, in between bricks on a wall or beside every day objects like toothbrush and shoes. This is meant to show how tempographs can be captured in every day life.
Visitors can also try their hand at creating their own works of art, by fiddling with a video camera at the gallery.
Even people passing by the street can catch a glimpse of the tempographs through a TV screen facing the window. Anthony said their intention was always to have them shown in public. In 2004, the works were shown on London and Birmingham public buses 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They also tried to get them shown on Seoul's buses for free, but were rejected.
``We wanted people in the city to see these tempographs. We wanted them to see these tempographs just like the way we would catch it in real life,'' he said, noting that they are an alternative to the usual advertisements bombarding commuters every day.
While it might seem easy to film these random and every day moments, it is quite difficult. Bannwart said he can shoot for two years, but would only come up with one or two. ``I can shoot a lot, but not all of it is always interesting. It could be too narrative or too figurative,'' he said.
Most of the tempographs are submitted by artists from Europe and North America, but they hope more Asian artists will take interest in the project.
Anyone can submit their tempographs, which could be included in future exhibitions. However, there are certain guidelines: the camera must be steady; no cuts or fade shots; no special effects; tempo must be in real time; and narrative must be minimal.
The exhibition runs through April 27. During the exhibition period, anyone can submit their tempographs on CD or DVD in QuickTime file format at Gallery Factory 127-3 Changsung-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea. Submission forms can be downloaded from http://factory483.egloos.com.
After the exhibition, all inquiries and submissions should be sent to kyung.roh.bannwart@gmail.com.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr
|
|
Home l Archives l Learning Times | Sitemap | Subscription l Media Kit l PDF
