In “Video: The Aesthetics of Narcissism,” Krauss talked about different examples of video arts and their different “aesthetics.” Aesthetics, in this text, concern the strategies pre- and post-production. Although I find Rosalind Krauss’ writing overly theoretical and difficult to comprehend, I still think that he brought up points that I can definitely put to action in my future works.
Centering is a classic one that is discussed first in the text. My take away about it is that even though a lot of people (art enthusiasts and regular citizens alike) think of it as compliance in the past or cliché now, symmetry still proves to be a timeless strategy. I think that the use of symmetry in any composition or work of art is artistically safe, which may or may not be a good thing depending on the artists intent. For me, the power of symmetry is strong if I want to visually entice viewers. Centering is also great if I want to focus either on my subject or its background, which I use a lot in my videos.
Secondly, I also learned about camera placement to be a tricky strategy in expressing different or literal opposite perspectives. Placing the camera upside down would be great when I want to evoke a sense of confusion or irregularity. I can also use it to be a constant theme selectively throughout my film, which I believe, is a challenging yet a worth-it act to pull off successfully.
Another strategy that Krauss brought up in her text is the mirror-reflection. This tactic, I believe, is best used in any emotional or psychological clips that convey meanings. I would utilize this strategy if I want to do a “two sides of a coin” scene. For example, a mirror-reflection shot of a woman facing a mirror backwards while moving away from it little by little would be a shot that can touch on the themes of moving on or being ready to face the world.
McLuhan, on the other hand, wrote about the concepts of hot and cold media. He elaborates both kinds with the use of high definition and viewer participation differentiation. I think Krauss and McLuhan are different in a way that Krauss is more concerned with the artists’ behaviors while McLuhan talks more about the other side of the spectrum – viewers’ view. Krauss, furthermore, analyzes video strategies while McLuhan categorizes media based on their effects on viewers. Going back to hot and cold media, a smartphone would be a good general example of a hot medium because it is a device that offers a lot of information fueled by internet and because people do not need to “participate” with it in a way that information given to them is often complete if they use the device wisely. An example of a cold medium, on the other hand, can be a thermometer or any kind of tools used to predict the weather. I think that they are cold because even though they provide results, it’s still up to the viewer to decide what the information means, hence ‘weather prediction.’