Ryan Trecartin

There was one day in Drawing class when half the class decided to just not show up. There was probably about 5 of us in there watching an alumni present his newer works and talk about his experiences at the Corcoran... and that was exciting. He talked about how he participated in the New York Studio Program and how experiencing New York that way is incomparable to anything else. Our drawing prof. really has a thing for New York and contemporary art, as well as keeping up with her former students. Lisa is basically just a really cool woman.

After we came back from break she found this blog entry by a current Corkie participating in the Studio Program about this video artist who was "all the rage in New York." This is what we watched in class on her laptop:



The whole time we watched this video, I was thinking to myself "This is insane! This is like being on mushrooms! This is more intense than that! WTF IS HE ON!? Why is this all the rage in New York!?"

It was definitely memorable though. After that class I ended up showing everyone I knew that exact video. I've probably seen all of the videos on his youtube account at least 3 or 4 times. There's something eerie and wrong about them, but they're so right -- so addicting. I keep comparing it to being on drugs because that's almost what it's like. Everything is so fucked up and strange, but it does make sense in some form of reality.

I feel like these videos are perfect portrayals of today's society. They're scattered, fast-paced, excessive, induldgent, and there's a total focus on the "self" and what defines it in today's terms. At that -- look at all the video filters! It's like he took Final Cut Pro and a home computer with upgraded processing speed and threw them into a blender. There's no clear presentation -- there's no attention to "craft" as it would be (I don't know what to call it in film-making), but that doesn't even seem to matter. I mean, if you look at conceptual art now, it's all rough around the edges. Craft isn't a concern so much as concept.

And these videos do have concept. I think that is what I like about Trecartin so much. When I look at these videos, I feel like I'm watching my friends in a hyperbole. These are people I know -- they're saying things I have said and think, though they may be a bit more jumbled and strange. He definitely has them grounded in contemporary society though, commenting on everything from organic food stores like Whole Foods, Red Bulls, coming out, lust, friendships grotesque fascinations with tragedy, how entertainment and "awesomeness" seem to cloud moral and ethical thinking, etc.

Anyway, I thought this would be interesting to show because I just saw an article in the New York Times about video art, and Trecartin is featured first. They have a preview of his latest piece I-Be Area. It looks even better than A Family Finds Entertainment. I hope I can see it in its entirety one day. Trecartin's videos are crazy, but I admire the fact that through all of that craziness, there is some meaning. That's where Trecartin really establishes his work as being "art" as opposed to just "entertainment," even though, some would argue, the goal of both is the same.

"... MURDER ON THE DANCE FLOOR, I CAN MAKE A NEW DOOR, LINDA!"
That's probably my favorite line from a movie... ever.