Chloe’s Work

Week 4

Exercise: Social Distancing Portrait

Instructions: Film a one minute video of yourself or someone else doing something typical of normal life at this time.

What are the kinds of people he observes? How are they different from one another? How do the portraits change over time? How do the portraits witness important moments of the pandemic? What new insights or meaning does he bring with these videos – especially with so many of them?

Social Distancing Video Portrait 1

Chloe

“Mental health has been my top priority during quarantine. Sitting inside all day not talking and interacting with many people can be very draining. So I have adopted a night time routine to wind down and give some love to my body and myself. I find that yoga is a great way to tune into myself, reflect, calm my mind, and stretch my body. All of this is incredibly important to focus on in any circumstance, but especially now during these incredibly uncertain times!”

Shot on iPhone, no editing.

I set the camera up just outside my bedroom door so it feels as if you, the viewer, are peaking into my little world. I really liked this perspective and how the video turned out overall.

Adad Hannah

Tableau Vivante

In early photography, people used to stand still for 10-15 minutes, whereas now photos are instantaneous.

When people watch a video of someone stand still, they often stand still as well – mirroring effect.

18 Minutes

• I really liked this piece, as Adad took multiple videos of people’s hands at a party.
• I think it’s a really interesting way to capture a single scene, as it places the focus on a body part that conveys so much expression and emotion, yet is often overlooked.

His use of tableau vivante creates a sort of living picture, and allows the viewer to better connect with the piece, as it almost feels as if you are there watching a photograph take place.

Handheld Case Study

• This piece features hands holding various coloured spears.
• The fact that it is a video of the hands holding the position adds tension, as it makes one wonder if one of the balls will drop or if the hands will be able to maintain the position they are in.

The Burghers of Vancouver

• This is a very beautiful work, as it takes a sculpture from the urban space and creates a story around.
• I think it’s very cool that Adad chose to have the actors take on a character and recount their own personal journey that lead them to the project.
• It’s an artwork that goes beyond the art and tells a story about the people participating in it.

The Screen

• This is a really cool piece as it shows what looks like a serious gathering, perhaps in a workplace setting, as people are wearing more formal attire, yet the formality is deconstructed as their clothes are ripped in pieces to expose their undergarments.
• This creates a much more vulnerable scene, and also creates a disconnect for the viewer between the serious formality of the image and the strange destructed clothing.

Traces

• I like how the tableaus were created in a bar and then displayed in each location they were shot in within the bar.
• As the title suggests, it’s a trace of the history left behind.

Social Distancing Portraits

I really enjoyed looking through Adad Hannah’s series of social distancing portraits and reading through the little descriptions.

One critique I have is of the music. As much as I enjoyed the beautiful compositions, I feel as though the portraits could have been more powerful with the original background noise, as it would have better set the scene for the portrait.