Bonita Ng
Miranda July’s “Getting Stronger Every Day” features a verbal narrative combining two stories of boys with the same name: Steven. The first Steven was kidnapped and raped/molested until he was sixteen; he escaped after witnessing his abuser kidnap another young boy and saved the boy as well. The second Steven ventured out into space and returned to Earth when he was an adult. Both Stevens struggled with adjusting to a different environment. Although July’s narrative is clear and concise, the imagery in her video is confusing because it does not obviously relate to the stories. I was trying to relate the images of the isolated woman in the bedroom, the man laying on the sofa, and the little girl in the bathroom to the narrative. At first, I thought the woman was a boy (we couldn’t see her face initially) who was supposed to represent the Steven who was molested, and later, when the narrator mentioned that Steven married a girl, I thought the woman was supposed to represent his wife. I thought the girl was supposed to represent the Steven who went to space, or a younger version of the girl who married the Steven who was molested. It was difficult to determine how the narrative related to the set of images, and perhaps Miranda July’s intention was to emphasize the complexity of the process of complementing a verbal narrative and a visual narrative in storytelling.
John Baldessari’s “I Am Making Art” relates to Kate Horsfield’s article, “Busting the Tube: A Brief History of Video Art” because its content rebels against the standards set by fine art and modern art. Baldessari is stating that he is making art simply by waving his hands. His video is also going against the standards of consumer-based/ commodity-based art because it is emphasizing the process over the material form (it’s value does not lie in it’s material/ authenticity but rather it’s message). His message is criticizing the standards of the art world, unlike July’s message, emphasizes an aspect of storytelling.