Click to view linkDownload full size (138 KB)via buzzfeed.comCan I get this on velvet?
▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁ ▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬ ▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔ ▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬ ▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁ ▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬ ▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔▬▁▬▔about 8 hours ago / Reply┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊ ┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋ ┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋ ┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊ ┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋ ┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋5:28 AM Mar 3rd / Reply┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊ ┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋ ┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋ ┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊ ┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋ ┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋┊┋┋5:24 AM Mar 3rd / Reply▕▔▏▕▔▏▕▔▏▕▔▏▕▔▏ ▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏ ▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏ ▕▁▏▕▁▏▕▁▏▕▁▏▕▁▏5:17 AM Mar 3rd / Reply▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏ ▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏ ▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏▕▁▏▕▔▏4:46 AM Mar 2nd / Reply▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔ ▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆ ▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔ ▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆▔▆4:46 AM Mar 2nd / Reply██◤◥████◤◥████◤◥ ◣◢████◣◢████◣◢██ ████◤◥████◤◥████ ██◣◢████◣◢████◣◢ ◤◥████◤◥████◤◥██ ████◣◢████◣◢████9:21 AM Feb 25th / Reply◥◤██◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤██ ◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤ ██◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤██◣◢ ◥◤██◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤██ ◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤ ██◣◢◥◤██◣◢◥◤██◣◢7:44 AM Feb 24th / Reply████████████ █◤◥██◤◥██◤◥█ █╱╲██╲╱██╱╲█ █◣◢██◣◢██◣◢█ ████████████ █◤◥██◤◥██◤◥█ █╱╲██╲╱██╱╲█ █◣◢██◣◢██◣◢█ ████████████7:20 AM Feb 24th / Reply█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█ ┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘ █┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█ ┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘ █┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█┌█ ┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘█┘9:37 AM Feb 23rd / Reply┐┼┼┌┐┼┼┌┐┼┼┌ └┼┼┘└┼┼┘└┼┼┘ ┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐ ┘┼┼└┘┼┼└┘┼┼└ ┐┼┼┌┐┼┼┌┐┼┼┌ └┼┼┘└┼┼┘└┼┼┘ ┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐ ┘┼┼└┘┼┼└┘┼┼└9:22 AM Feb 23rd / Reply┌┬┬┐┌┬┬┐┌┬┬┐ ├┘└┼┼┘└┼┼┘└┤ ├┐┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐┌┤ └┼┼┘└┼┼┘└┼┼┘ ┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐ ├┘└┼┼┘└┼┼┘└┤ ├┐┌┼┼┐┌┼┼┐┌┤ └┴┴┘└┴┴┘└┴┴┘11:43 AM Feb 22nd / Reply▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔ ▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔ ▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔ ▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔ ▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔ ▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔█▁▔11:12 AM Feb 22nd / Reply█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼ ┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█ █┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼ ┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█ █┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼ ┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█┼█11:02 AM Feb 22nd / Reply█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█ ▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔ ▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁ █▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█ ▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔ ▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁█▔▁10:55 AM Feb 22nd / Reply◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢ ◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤ ◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢ ◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤ ◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢ ◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤1:53 PM Feb 19th / Reply▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔ ◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥ ▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔◣▁◢▔ ◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥▁◤▔◥1:39 PM Feb 19th / Reply█◣▁◢█◣▁◢█◣▁◢█ ◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥ █◣▁◢█◣▁◢█◣▁◢█ ◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥ █◣▁◢█◣▁◢█◣▁◢█ ◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥ █◣▁◢█◣▁◢█◣▁◢█ ◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥█◤▔◥5:41 AM Feb 18th / Reply▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁ ▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁ ▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁ ▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁▔▀█▄▁12:01 PM Feb 17th / Reply▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔ ▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁ ▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔ ▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁ ▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔ ▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁▔▀█▀▔▁▄█▄▁11:53 AM Feb 17th / Reply
Brilliant.
Okay, yes, it's an ad for nachos, but it's still pretty good.
Watch the original on Vimeo for the full "poking through the fourth wall" effect.
OK Go's This Too Shall Pass video is doing the rounds today, and it is, of course, brilliant.
It's not original though. If you like it and want to see more, the most well known recent example of one of these "chain reaction" movies is Honda's Cog commercial, which does the same kind of thing using parts from a dismantled station wagon.
But the granddaddy of them all is Der Lauf der Dinge ("The Way Things Go"), a 31 minute piece from Zurich duo Fischli & Weiss that has chemical reactions, explosions, and more. It cheats, of course -- they obviously had to restage sections to get everything right, and a room big enough to really do everything shown would have had to be enormous. But it's still endlessly inventive, and everything that has come since it hasn't been able to match it for grandeur.
But OK Go gets points for weaving in humans as "passive actors" -- props that can reposition themselves, basically -- and for having more parallel reactions going on than the earlier ones tried to do. And it seems to have been done in one take, which must have been quite an undertaking. ("Cog" was shot over 600 times before they got it right, and it has no humans in it to get tired or bored.)
The following is a piece on The Way Things Go by Steven Kaplan:
Three coincident events have caused me to re-examine Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go), a thirty-one minute black-and-white film by Fischli & Weiss, which follows an unmanned chain reaction of low tech events orchestrated in their Zurich studio in 1987. In its broad object humor, material pathos, fanciful appetite for destruction and commitment to an inexorable linearity of cause-and-effect, it is often compared to the "machines" of the cartoonist Rube Goldberg.
First Event. A video of the piece, owned by MoMA in New York, is installed as an introduction to the new Artist's Choice exhibition at MoMA by artist Vik Muniz, entitled Rebus. It is projected in a third floor hallway, just outside the main galleries, as a prefatory comment or demonstration of Muniz's organizing thesis, suggesting the associated "chain" of sculptures, design objects, photographs, drawings, editions, installations and paintings, drawn from MoMA's collection, which he has selected and arranged within.
While the aesthetic cause-and-effect implied by Muniz is neither as linear nor as determined as in The Way Things Go, he does create many instructive continuities and discontinuities, formal similarities and purposeful confusions between "high art" and design objects. These playful double and triple takes, engendered in the audience, inform the entire exhibition and also echo strategies of the meta- which have been the subject of Muniz's own work for years. Interestingly, another F&W piece, Things from the Room in the Back, a room-sized installation from 1999, is also featured in its own separate space.
Second Event. News via Artforum.com that The Way Things Go "was sold last week for $860,000 at an auction held at the Zurich branch of Christie’s. While the film has been widely copied and distributed, the unnamed collector purchased the original reel along with a series of relics from the film set." The film had been on long term loan from the collection of Alfred Richterich to Kunsthaus Zürich, which was frankly surprised by the auction.
Third Event. Blogger extraordinaire Greg Allen recently posted on the sale of the film and on several points regarding its means of production. The pertinent questions include: How can one "own" a film that is readily available as a DVD, on sale for $15, and free online on YouTube? How did Richterich (heir to the Ricola cough drop fortune), who "pursued his family's tradition of collecting art and supporting various creative endeavors", come to possess an "original" print? Is it because he helped F&W fund the film, on which he is listed as co-producer? Did he receive a negative, a master print, and/or the two vitrines of ephemera (that are part of the recent Christie's Zurich sale) as compensation for his participation?
Moreover, the film itself, which has generally received critical praise as a tour de force of unedited, continuous action and uninterrupted forward motion, is anything but. According to Mr. Allen's analysis, there are 23 edits, plus re-used and re-staged props, including a particularly photogenic air mattress.
More tellingly, much of the action seems staged along the same strip of studio floor, rather than proceeding through the giant, continuous expanse of a factory. The mise-en-scene was set up, shot and dismantled, then the space was re-used for a new set up, shoot and dismantling, until the film was complete.
"The edits are clear, even obvious in places, and yet casual observers and critics alike appear to miss or ignore them, preferring the enjoyable spectacle of a 30-minute, non-stop trick ... A cynic could have a lot of fun with the idea that people choosing to believe something entertaining but self-evidently false is, in fact, The Way Things Go." Which is just one of the many puns on the title that Mr. Allen indulges in his fascinating dissection. He also cites a 2003 Honda Accord commercial by Portland, Oregon firm Weiden + Kennedy, based on the F&W film (a copyright infringement suit was threatened), which employed a full advertising budget and 606 takes to produce two minutes of unedited action (in fact there is still one well camouflaged edit) - this as an indication of how unlikely it would be for F&W to successfully stage 30 minutes of a continuous phenomenological miracle.
Here then, straight from YouTube for your viewing pleasure, is The Way Things Go, in three parts:
The Grand Unification Theory (Part One: Every Second of Star Wars) 1996/1997
Cibachrome
36" x 36". Ed. 3 + 2 APs.Each of these prints contains one frame per second of an entire film arranged in a dense grid. This grid is ordered not by the narrative, but by the overall luminosity, as the films are rearranged and represented in their entirety as abstractions.
Emblem (2001: A Space Odyssey) 2003
Digital C-print
48" x 48". Ed. 5 + 2 APs.Generated by algorithmically abstracting 1970s-era iconic films by well-regarded directors. Frames are sampled in time and organized in outwardly flowing concentric rings. The choice of films and technique has something to do with my dad, my youth, onanistic self-indulgence, and the auteur.
_____ _____ _____ _____ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /::\____\ /::\ \ /::\____\ /::\ \ /:::/ / /::::\ \ /:::/ / /::::\ \ /:::/ _/___ /::::::\ \ /:::/ / /::::::\ \ /:::/ /\ \ /:::/\:::\ \ /:::/ / /:::/\:::\ \ /:::/ /::\____\ /:::/__\:::\ \ /:::/ / /:::/__\:::\ \ /:::/ /:::/ / /::::\ \:::\ \ /:::/ / /::::\ \:::\ \ /:::/ /:::/ _/___ /::::::\ \:::\ \ /:::/ / _____ /::::::\ \:::\ \ /:::/___/:::/ /\ \ /:::/\:::\ \:::\ ___\ /:::/____/ /\ \ /:::/\:::\ \:::\____\ |:::| /:::/ /::\____\/:::/__\:::\ \:::| ||:::| / /::\____\/:::/ \:::\ \:::| | |:::|__/:::/ /:::/ /\:::\ \:::\ /:::|____||:::|____\ /:::/ /\::/ |::::\ /:::|____| \:::\/:::/ /:::/ / \:::\ \:::\/:::/ / \:::\ \ /:::/ / \/____|:::::\/:::/ / \::::::/ /:::/ / \:::\ \::::::/ / \:::\ \ /:::/ / |:::::::::/ / \::::/___/:::/ / \:::\ \::::/ / \:::\ /:::/ / |::|\::::/ / \:::\__/:::/ / \:::\ /:::/ / \:::\__/:::/ / |::| \::/____/ \::::::::/ / \:::\/:::/ / \::::::::/ / |::| ~| \::::::/ / \::::::/ / \::::::/ / |::| | \::::/ / \::::/ / \::::/ / \::| | \::/____/ \::/____/ \::/____/ \:| | ~~ ~~ ~~ \|___|
Random links, photos, and other ephemera.
I make no promise that any of this will be interesting to anyone other than myself, but I'll try anyway.
You can also find me at
Posterous
or
Flickr
or
Facebook
or
Twitter
or
LinkedIn
or
Vox
or
FriendFeed
or
Last.fm
if you want.
