Time as Medium and the Jack Goldstein Films

Time as Medium
Barbara London begins her analysis of the critical theme of time in video art by solidifying the importance (or possibly the irrelevance) of its scientific understanding (or, misunderstanding). At the forefront of the scientific perspective is Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which finds that time is only meaningful relative to space, both of which are infinite when linked to one another. In my view, this statement follows the perception that for every possible action, there are several different reactions occurring in responsive spheres of time. Einstein also calls upon the existence of multiple spaces within a single space, which I felt supported William James' claim of the continuum of time being made out of merely smaller segments of time- individual moments that react to one another the way every piece of wood on a hanging bridge might react to each conscious step. Again, there is talk about the "now-ness" of video art and the opportunity of live or delayed feed to play on the viewer's meager understanding of time. Under the belief that "time is an illusion" Paik was able to convince his audience through his work, TV Buddha, that space can be isolated, thus breaking its link to time. The work is time-less. Above all, I appreciated the German phrase related to memory as it was introduced to illustrate the lack of understanding we have of the concept of time: "ist geschehen"/"is happened", suggesting a simultaneous pull and push between past and present.

The Knife
Goldstein's The Knife shifts the viewer through a continuum of emotions by influencing their association of the object to the color of the light projected on its reflective surface. It's almost magical, the simple play of the light on the knife and how it seems to grow from inside of it; this raises an interesting dialogue about the properties of reflection and light which directly references the medium of video, the final product being seen on the screen in this case. Though, it should be noted that the video will not be able to project the reflective property of the object, which results in this almost "magic-like" effect with the colored light. To elaborate, since it is inevitable that when we see the knife on the screen we have an innate belief that the knife is located in the present, we also assume that the rules of reflection still apply, which is not the case. Goldstein seems to play on this fallacy of thought.


The Chair
This work seemed to have a strong understanding on the visual play of background and foreground. The brightly colored feathers are able to cue the traces of the object within the space by falling behind, in front of, and on the chair. In this way, Goldstein is creating a unique focus on depth within the screen so that it almost feels live; the darkness encapsulates the viewer and the feathers float within arm's reach. The viewer does not question the scene, rather it becomes a meditative and visually embracing scene.