Aesthetics of Narcissism

This essay begins by examining several art pieces featuring artists either filming themselves against mirrors, or against pre-recorded video of themselves. In the former, the mirror image becomes just as prominent and equal as the real thing through a video lens. In the latter, through interaction of the "real" person to the recording, the recording becomes less a static unchanging entity and is given new life and meaning to the re-appropriation. I never took into account the complexities that arise if one were to record an already recorded video. Even though I DID do that in recording Joel's footage to use in my footage, since the fact that it was someone else's footage projected in a new environment, the piece has a different meaning. That being said, a video played over on a screen with the artist re-enacting it, or doing something completely different in contrast to the original, it's a wholly different concept, regardless of its original context.

I also enjoyed the comparison between object layering in video and other types of media. Jasper Johns' piece, a depiction of a flag using pieces of a flag re-appropriated on wood and presented in a gallery, is confined within its own gallery space. It's a reworked flag and reflective of that icon and its representations, as well as its new meaning presented in this fashion, but it's only as powerful as its surroundings. Video, however, is inherently self-contained within a screen, giving the artist complete control in its depictions. So in 'Centers,' there's nothing getting in the way between the artist and his mirror self.