Wegman World

While on hold...

Happy Halloween from William Wegman!

From WW: New Video Work

This fall I'm working on a video piece which will be projected as part of the Urban Video Project in Syracuse, NY. It will be without sound which is a challenge to me. Almost without exception, my video pieces have been been audio driven, seen here in a clip from The Hardly Boys, and Stomach Song.

 

 

 

 

In my early videos the hazy black and white of the cathode ray emission and magnetic audio reproduction were married in blessed union. Now the image, divorced from sound, must learn to live alone.

And so I am relying heavily on the hypnotic gaze of my new dog Flo to get the viewer's attention. What more I have yet to determine. Maybe that will be enough. These questions will hopefully be answered in the time consuming process of recording and editing.

Flo during a recent shoot.

-- WW

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for clips of WW's new video work!

Wednesday's Postcard

Trio

 

 

WW made the above video for Nokia's Connect to Art project in 2004. In the days before smart phones, and even before You Tube, Nokia users could download videos made by WW, and several other artists, directly to their cell phones.

At the time, WW said the following about the project:

"Milk at the gas station? Art on the telephone? What's next?

The great thing about video is that it can show up in a myriad of shapes and sizes anywhere and everywhere. It has somehow managed to escape the real estate boundaries normally applied to art. That's what I found interesting about it when I first laid eyes on it in the late sixties, and it's even more the case today.

Unlike painting and sculpture, the video medium doesn't need to claim space on the wall or the floor to cast its spell. It can go anywhere. Use your imagination.

I've always felt that the gallery wall was the least interesting place for video art. It has the unfair effect of catching the eye and distracting it from its neighbors, especially painting. I call this the Mona Lisa effect.

Unlike painting, video art doesn't need the wall. The good thing about the cell phone is you can take it with you. Art to go.

The cell phone has done to the phone booth what video art did to the wall."

While on Hold...

Blue Friday

On Monday we posted the music video that WW collobrated on, New Order's "Blue Monday". Below, he talks about what he remembers about making it:

About twenty years ago, Michael Shamberg (not the one that was involved with TVTV and later produced "Pulp Fiction", but the art world one, who was also involved with filming and producing) invited me and the fabled Robert Breer to collaborate on a video for New Order's song "Blue Monday". The rough idea was that I would shoot video of the group performing and give it to Robert to work with his animation process.  

I had just begun to work with my dog Fay who was about a year old at the time. Fay was obsessive about the tennis ball. Her eyes bulged in its presence. Some of the band members were Fay-like, I thought. (I'm not sure what I mean by that.) Nevertheless they got along well as I shot video of the group and Fay's hypnotic ball/pendulum involvement.  

I liked the song but I have no idea what our video means to it.

--WW

What do you think of the video? Tell us in the comments...

WW on photographer Madeleine de Sinety

 

 

    William Wegman was in Portland last week talking about friend and artist Madeleine de Sinety. He is interviewed about her in the above video.

Wednesday's Postcard

Blue Monday

In 1988 WW, along with artist Robert Breer, created a music video for New Order's song "Blue Monday". 

 

  

 

In 2008, WW created this photograph, entitled Blue Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

 

First Frost

With NYC's projected first frost date tomorrow, 10/15, here's a little reminder of this past summer.