la réponse à la lecture: Week 2

In the chapter "Equality," Sally Banes outlines three ways in which the ideal of equality guided artistic activity in the Greenwich Village art world. Explain these three areas of influence (see subheadings for the chapter) and relate them to the films we've seen so far.


Equality:
1. Levels Differences
The first area of influence was that equality levels differences, meaning that there were really no classes when it came to art making, allowing everyone to have an equal chance. As a result, there was no star system which enabled anyone to be a star and this promoted amateurism in the Greenwich Village art scene. Another way of level differences was not only through diminishing classes but to also re-establish the relationship of the spectacle and the spectator, allowing the spectator to be a part of the spectacle. What really comes to mind from the readings is John Cage’s “Event” at the Black Mountain College where students were very much a part of the spectacle as some brought out coffee for the cups. 4’33’’ also comes to mind, however, usually it seems the audience just plays along with the silence instead of doing anything totally drastic and original to ruin the silence. Of the films we’ve viewed, Andy Warhol’s Vinyl comes to mind when I think about the lack of a star system, even thought Warhol began to create his own stars by putting them in a number of his films.

2. Celebrates the Ordinary
The second influence on the Greenwich artists was the fact that egalitarianism celebrated the ordinary and mundane, meaning nothing really had to be elaborate to be considered interesting and worthy of filming. Everyday activity was perfectly acceptable for a basis of a film from these days. For example, Warhol’s Kiss comes to mind because the whole film is people making out, a pretty normal activity. He changes the normality of it through switching up the people and camera zooms to sometimes trick the viewer into thinking a male and female are kissing when it is really two males.

3. Creates Model Structures
The final influence of equality on the Greenwich art community was that it began to create new model structures of films, breaking away from the narrative structure that everyone had become overly familiar with. By the newfound usage of collages and tampering with juxtaposition of images and sounds, new model structures became evident in the works of many of the Greenwich artist. Of the films we’ve seen, Scorpio Rising comes to mind first because of the radical combinations of shocking images and familiar, safe pop music of the 1960s. Throughout the film, the images get more and more shocking as pictures/clips of Jesus and Hitler are thrown in, all against radio-friendly tunes that most everyone can recognize.