Statment

With my work, I aim to challenge the understanding of visual storytelling and the nuances of personal and collective narratives. The viewer is invited to reflect on what is obvious, to become more awareness to the surroundings while creating a visually pleasing visual for an immersive experience.

Particular attention is paid to the photography and the light, as the aim is a dreamy, simplified, idealistic picture. Taking major inspiration from Jennifer West and her artwork, Futurity Chandelier Polyhedral Spinners [2]. Her work has been influencing the intentional use of light. Pushing the practice to explore scenarios via the change of it, experimenting with projections, and glossy material. Incorporating more curated and intentional photography in the video. Mainly mix a Nikon Coolpix S01 passed down to me from my mother, a Canon EOS 750d and a Canon EOS 800d with the lenses EF 50mm, EF-S 18-55mm, and my phone’s camera, an iPhone XS Max. A major challenge comes in making the footage from different cameras converge harmoniously. This started a mini series with Research: Texture and Details, and Research: Light. Made to focus on just one aspect that I might consider for future videos. In these two cases, respectively, one video looks into adopting a faster editing style throughout understanding patterns and texture and the possibility of creating depth with extreme close-up, while the other one looks into how light gets captured by the old resolution of the Nikon Coolpix S01.

The use of a fast rhythm, changes of scenarios bringing elements of voyeurism to the video, and experimenting with composition with still photos in video are all takeaways from the film Sans Soleil by Chris Marker [1]. By embracing the playfulness and fragmentation of his work, my practice has evolved in showing more than is needed and leaning into creating spaces for introspection and interpretations.

The work Sugar and Honey has been a continuous conversation, undergoing different variations. On the side, the video talks about the playfulness of the moment, where “make-believe” tries to convince the viewer that breaking fake glass, made out of sugar, paradoxically, causes deep and bloody cuts, made by coloured honey, on one's hands. Close-ups and changes of scenarios carry elements of voyeurism to the video, as if we could find the reason for the impossible situation of cutting skin with sugar. The use of a fast rhythm and the creation of a bigger image by showing scenes that are recorded outside the main set are deliberate decisions to make the viewer only catch a glimpse of a video before a transition to the next one. The intention is to create a mini overload of information to make the viewer more than aware, almost confused.

Building on previus work, Don’t Forget To Water Your Digital Garden. The video itself is inspired by a conversation regarding screen time and online spaces. A recurrent element is a small pixel flower compared to pictures of real life, to play into the idea of a digital invasion. Time blindness, going numb online and realising that the screen is unavoidable. The video plays with the concept of breaking screens but yet not to be liberated. This idea is built on further exploring the light bounce on a glossy surface material, in this case being sugar glass, furthering research started in Sugar and Honey.

III Act: I Won’t Answer If You Call, strongly leans into repetitiveness and editing. Natural elements become the main subject of transformation from relax invoking scenery to elements of subjectivity, where tensions and fragmentation don’t allow for a vision of the big picture. Details, patterns, texture, and overlapping become the focus of this piece as they guide away from pure objectivity.

By basing the practice on the understanding of my medium of choice: video art, my process of creating is embedded in observing. The recordings are very spontaneous, and often the subject guides the composition and editing. The work has evolved into different styles to better taylor different subjects. Yet there have been recurrent elements and undertones, one of them is uncertainty and a search for reassurance in elements outside ourselves. Light, subject thriven narrative, bringing personal cameras into the practice, and curated visual are all element that push for an intimate approach to subjects and promote to the view an channel thought which they can appreciate details.

Bibbliogrpahy:

[1] Marker, Chris. 1983. Sans Soleil. France: Argos Films.

[2] West, Jennifer. 2024. Futurity Chandelier Polyhedral Spinners. https://www.jweststudio.com/installations

Documentation

Sophy Taffarello

Research: light