Koyaanisqatsi

This film had many contrasts like it had cave drawings and then a rocket taking off these are very different and from different times, one is old and one is new. There was also destruction as you see old abandoned buildings and a bridge been demolished. The opposite of this is where you see wide shots of new building that are high tech like sky scrapers in New York. It's as if the old building are not wanted anymore and only the new ones are acceptable, and that we are destroying our own planet. You also see wide shots of the Grand Canyon which contrast with the city.
At the beginning of the film you have low tones with men chanting while you see cave drawing of what look like man walking with something that resembles a rocket. Then you see an explosion of fire also with the chanting that sounds tribal. I think that the tribal music makes the fire more powerful as it sounds like it is building up to something and makes it dramatic. You then see a rocket taking off with the chanting as well this makes you feel uneasy as it does not fit. The music that is used is classical, but it builds up at points like when you see the people in the station all packet in being speed up this is showing that they are all busy. At the end of the film when the rocket goes off you have slow peaceful music this makes you feel uneasy as the visual you are seeing dose not fit with the music this is also opposites. you have the music opposite to the visual and the contrast between different place in the world.
i think the film is trying to show before humans got to earth the world was much more simple with beautiful places like the Grand Canyon. People destroy the earth and get rid of the old and replace it with the new and harm the earth in the process. Koyaanisgatsi also concentrates on opposites like: old/new, Fast/slow, dark/light.

Chapter 4 - How does the exhibition space change the meaning of the work.

When you are in an exhibition it is very different to looking at art at home. First of all the environment is different in an exhibition as you are in a quiet place concentrating on the work and having all your thoughts to yourself. Having work in a gallery automatically means you are going to look at art as this is what gallery's are designed for but it also depends if the people think it is art or not. Exhibitions have white walls and this means when you look at the work you have all your attention on the work but if you were somewhere else you could be distracted. If you were at home and had a piece of art on your wall. You would have picked it out and it would mean something to you as you liked it enough to put it up in your house so the meaning of the work would be personal to them, than any piece of work in an exhibition.
When I went to the Tate modern I saw Paul McCarthy's "Material gestures". When I was walking in I was not sure what was inside and was shocked as it was nude videos. The room was dark with 4 or 5 projectors on tables in the middle. The room was dark so it felt like I was in a cinema and had to be quite. Other people around me were really interested and some were writing notes on the piece. The atmosphere made me feel uncomfortable and like I was in a dingy space. There was 4 or 5 videos on the wall that overlapped so you were overwhelmed with the content of the videos. The artist deliberately made it so people would feel disturbed as the content of his videos is shocking and the room it’s in adds to how the artist wants you feel.
If the video was in a different environment i think it would still be shocking but would not make you feel so uncomfortable as the dark lighting made you feel like you were somewhere dirty. Also the content of the videos was in darkly lit places with browns and reds so being in a room where the atmosphere was very seedy and darkly lit.