Blayne Laures
AVT 101 – Midterm Assignment
Professor Winant
October 11, 2011
Steve McQueen is an artist that takes film to a very interesting and elevating level—literately with his piece titled, “Prey”. His art ranges from installation pieces, movies, and photography. His use of film as an art medium has made him into one of the most popular artists in his genre and he has the support of the Turner Prize (awarded in 1999) to back him up.
His work with film started out with installation work that he had shown in exhibitions/galleries and now he has moved onto full-fledged films.
In 1998 his piece titled, “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” was displayed at the Marian Goodman Gallery located in Paris. This piece was filmed in black & white using 16mm film and was projected onto the floor of the gallery. Apparently the video was a continuous loop of the artist’s right hand clawing at a blank (probably cold) floor. According to the captions on the Marian Goodman Gallery website the piece “evokes a Sisyphean (endless/futile) effort of perpetual, yet pointless, physical exertion”. A lot of McQueen’s installation works are shot in black & white, presented on walls, ceilings or floors, and are occasionally silent.
During the Turner Prize exhibition in 1999, McQueen presented an installation/video piece called, “Prey”. Like the previous work “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue”, this piece was not projected onto a video screen. Prey was displayed on the ceiling. McQueen said, “I want to put people in a situation where they’re sensitive to themselves watching the piece.” Not only is McQueen focused on the videos themselves, he also understands how the videos should be presented to the audience. Prey is an interesting film that involves a reel-based tape recorder, the sound of tap-dancers, and a hot air balloon. The viewer gets to experience the odd colored tape recorder (one reel is red and the other is green) as it moves on the ground and gently lifts into the air. According to Passports British Council Collection, this piece is said to evoke a sense of desire within the viewer. The viewer becomes attached to the multi-colored tape recorder and the rhythm of the clicking sounds thus leaving the viewer with the want and hope that the object will return from its hot air balloon journey.
Let’s not forget about McQueen’s work with photography. For a few years now he has been battling with Royal Mail—the UK’s postal service, in hopes of getting approval for his soldier stamp idea. The idea: putting the portrait of UK soldiers who have been killed during the recent war in Iraq onto a stamp. Luckily, McQueen has received permission from many families and has produced stamps with the portraits.
Royal Mail has not agreed to allow these stamps to be put into circulation but McQueen has displayed these stamps in an exhibition in Paris—the piece is called, “Queen and Country”. Each soldier’s stamp is located in his or her own separate drawer inside of a large oak chest.
Why do I talk about these particular pieces of art? These are all different examples of his artwork that show a similar characteristic: audience participation. It’s a clear quality that I see and that he expresses in many interviews. The audience is forced to look down at the ground, look up at the ceiling, open drawers, etc. You have to physically get involved with McQueen’s already physical displays of art. It is fact.
