Ben Masbaum

With this being my first blog for the IMA, I implore you to scroll away if you consider yourself one of those people who doesn’t particularly hold noobies in high regard. If you’ve stuck around, allow me to share a few thoughts on music videos as an art form.

I remember sitting in my living room when I was thirteen years old: voice cracking, flannel shirt around my waist with my combat boots on the coffee table and my mother urging me to wash my hair.  I couldn’t, of course, because I was busy watching MTV, pre-Real World and before the internet we know of today.  I would stare the wild camera effects of the music videos and think to myself, “Wow!  I love this!” It seemed easy to do and I wanted to be a part of it.

Fifteen years later, I’m about half-way there… with a bit of a different idea on the whole thing.
Music videos are a thirty year old venture that have gone from phenomenon to nuisance in the span of their lifetime.  I’ve seen so many mundane videos in the last ten years which only seem to be created to fulfill some pop star’s need to be seen on T.V. I actually believe that the music should support the video (Which I’ll get to in a bit).  That is it!

Enough about pop stars. Let’s talk about art. The music video as an art form can and should showcase the artist behind the camera and the artist at the editing table, as well as the musician (and in some cases more than the musician!) At the same time, the video should not lose track of the overall message.

It’s about experimentation.  Boundaries that cannot be crossed in conventional cinema are welcome in the music video world. An artist who is not crossing those boundaries is missing the point.  A great example is Michel Gondry.  Known for films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Human Nature, and Be Kind, Rewind, Gondry also swims through the music video world. He has given mainstream videos a wake-up call and a smack in the face.  Here are some examples:

Occasionally, one will find collaboration between video artist and musician.  I’ve always favored this concept.  In fact, this an idea that I have put on my personal hit list.

However, one problem that can arise with this kind of collaboration is that the video art probably already comes with a soundtrack of some sort. If the artist decides to replace the music, the results can be drastically different. In the next example, the musical artist Kenna and video artist Mark Osborne team up on a video.  Kenna’s song “Hell bent”  is dubbed over an already existing clay animation short by Mark Osborne, called “More.”

The Kenna/Osborne collaboration is better, in my opinion.

Videomaker.com says that the primary goal of a music video is to serve the music artist.  I don’t completely agree.  I believe that this philosophy has turned the video into a showboat opp for musicians, not always in the best interest of the song and the story.  I think that the audience is fed up with artists in music bragging about themselves on this platform.  Aren’t they?  I certainly hope so. Sure, I believe that the video should exist to serve the song.  But perhaps the music can serve the video just as well.

You’ve probably heard enough of my ranting and raving on this matter.  I suppose it is up to me and others like me to step up and do something.  Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve already taken a stab at it.  This one is mine:

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Blog: Scanwiches

Jon Chonko, a New York graphic designer who has been scouring the local deli scene, has a scanwich blog for his findings, replete with delectable cross sections to satisfy your every sandwich desire. If you’re not hungry now, you’re about to be.

(via npr)

ArtBabble Video: Behind the Scenes: Tim Burton

IMA Work of Art:

Alchemilla vase by Alessandro Mendini (Designer)

Tweet:

RichardMcCoy: Finishing up my next @Art21 post. Sneak peak: there’s talk of Futuro House by Matti Suuronen http://bit.ly/2jIqHg

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Blog: My Parents Were Awesome

New inspired crowd-sourcing blog, ‘My Parents Were Awesome‘, collects evidence that, “before the fanny packs and Andrea Bocelli concerts, your parents (and grandparents) were once free-wheeling, fashion-forward, and super awesome.”

(via buzzfeed)

ArtBabble Video: Orly Genger: In The Factory

IMA Work of Art:

Dog Stealing Fish by Ando Hiroshige

Tweet:

iheartSAM: Construction to fix hammering man begins this week. Read @seattletimes coverage on him at http://bit.ly/4lScXc http://bit.ly/2RGYbi

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

http://www.beardrevue.com

Blog: beard revue

It’s all about the beards, people. This blog has a simple description: ‘Review, commentary & discussion for the beard enthusiast. Up the beard ratio!’

ArtBabble Video: Creation of a Tibetan Mural

IMA Work of Art:

Madre Jerónima de la Fuente from Sacred Spain: Art and Belief in the Spanish World

Tweet:

rjstein: TAP is selling out regularly… Waiting lists and iPods not getting enough charge. Great problem to have! Time to buy more iPods!

Look like a rerun of X-Files? It’s not. If you’ve been around the Museum after dark recently, you may have spotted the new LED light installation in The Sutphin Fountain. Jeff Earl, head electrician at the IMA, replaced all the original white halogen lights, many submerged underwater, with the new technology. 

Red, green and blue LEDs of the 5mm type. Source: Wikipedia

A light emitting diode (LED) is an electronic light source. The first LED was built in the 1920s by a radio technician who noticed that diodes used in radio receivers emitted light when current was passed through them. The LED was introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962 (See Wikipedia). LEDs are considered more energy efficient and require less maintenance than traditional lighting. They also boast a life of about 50,000 hours–more than five years! This replacement energy concept is certainly green for the IMA’s future. The well-known Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas uses LED technology to create its 1,500 foot light display.

The new LED technology also serves as an revenue generator. The public can request various colored lighting shows for weddings, dinners and other special events for a fee. Because the lights are run off a computer, the 17 color choices are easy to navigate between. When the NCAA was here, Jeff recalled, they requested a  blue and orange display and were very pleased with the result.

The IMA is planning several upcoming LED projects at the IMA. One of these efforts includes installing 49 energy efficient LED lights in the overlook of the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion of the Museum. (”Just before the Star Wars’ doors,” Jeff explained.)

Meet Jeff Earl and see time lapse footage of the LED light installation in the IMA ArtBabble video below.

The annual award presented by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) since 1994, recognizes institutions for outstanding social, educational, environmental, or economic contributions to their communities. According to IMLS Director Anne-Imelda M. Radice, the IMA was selected for the award based on the Museum’s “exemplary programs (that) respond to community challenges, positively impact people’s lives, and serve as models for the nation’s museums.”

National Medal for Museum and Library Service

While the award recognizes the collective contributions of the entire museum, I wanted to share just a few of the programs cited.

• FREE GENERAL ADMISSION

• VIEWFINDERS, a program of the IMA’s School & Teacher Programs Department that serves more than 9,000 third grade students annually from Indianapolis Public Schools and other school districts. Free family memberships are given to all Viewfinders participants.

• IMA ACCESSIBILITY, including partnerships with the Indiana School for the Deaf and the Indiana School for the Blind, captioning on all IMA-produced video, large print text available in the Museum galleries, and assistant listening, accessible seating, and signing interpretation in Tobias Theater.

• ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP, including the museum’s green design initiatives and ENERGY STAR award for energy efficiency – the first ever to be awarded to a museum.

• ONLINE INITIATIVES, including ArtBabble.org, an online community of 19 (and growing) partner organizations created to showcase art-based video content.

Thank you, thank you to all those who helped to make this award possible. If Senator Lugar or the staff of the IMLS were here, I’d give them a big hug. IMA colleagues – Get ready, because I’m gonna be a high fiven’ machine today!

Congrats, ya’ll!

Read more in today’s Indianapolis Star.

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

www.i-do-it-yourself.com

Blog: iDiY

‘Design goodies for I Do- it-yourself weddings.’ Seems I’ve got weddings on the brain- only because I have two to attend this month- and here’s a crafty wedding blog that’ll inspire you to get hands-on with your nuptials.

ArtBabble Video: Art Institute Installations: Robert Gober’s Untitled

IMA Work of Art:

The Boy by Amedeo Modigliani

Tweet:

danielincandela: Just posted the TAP instructional video for Sacred Spain starring @katefranzman on Flickr, check it http://bit.ly/uareh

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

www.lifeadvicefromoldpeople.com

Blog: Life Advice from Old People

If this doesn’t get you to crack a sentimental smile on a Monday, then nothing will. You won’t find any potty-mouth one-liners here, but you will find sweet, insightful and real interviews and videos from the wisest among us.

ArtBabble Video: Smarthistory presents:Leonardo da Vinci: The Last Supper

IMA Work of Art:

Soup tureen, cover, and liner from the Branicki Service by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot

Tweet:
linrose Went to sleep in Indy, woke up in W-Indy. Yikes! Blowing so hard it woke me up in the middle of the night.

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

kottke.org

Blog: kottke.org (thanks @cmalexander!)

Pronounced “cot”- “key”…I’m still not entirely sure how to describe this blog. I remember looking at it the first time and being, well, underwhelmed by the overly simple design. But as one scrolls down the pages, one is confronted with nugget after nugget of outrageously interesting info. It’s about the content, people. One of the many descriptions on the About page reads: “An attempt to track and make sense of “material that connects the insights of science and culture, rather than using one to dismantle the other” (as Steven Johnson puts it).” I describe it as: clever, clever, clever.

ArtBabble Video: Artist Talk: Nic Hess

For the Hammer’s Lobby Wall, Swiss artist Nic Hess presents Automatic Crash Response, a mixture of images in tape ranging from tombstone- like monuments of several recently failed banks, animals, how-to exercise diagrams, a generic shopping cart, the USPS logo and more to weave a lyrical quasi-narrative left for the viewer to decode. Nic Hess discusses Automatic Crash Response, as well as his other works.

IMA Work of Art:

Blond Angel by John Currin

Tweet:

indyartgirl: In the words of LL Cool J: “Don’t call it a comeback…”

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

astridandinez.com/blog

Blog: astrid & inez

astrid & inez is really just one person, Jessica, who claims, “I’m no expert on design or web graphics.  I couldn’t even say that I’m a two-bit designer–I may only be a one-bit.  I just love graphic design and handmade things, and sharing them with other people.” Check out her blog for all things design and DIY .

ArtBabble Video: Eleanor Antin: ‘Helen’s Odyssey‘

Art21 presents: Eleanor Antin’s exhibition Helen’s Odyssey (2007) installed at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in New York. Antin discusses the historical figure Helen of Troy, and how she became the inspiration for photographic works such as Constructing Helen (2007).

IMA Work of Art:

dress by Gernreich, Rudi (Designer)

Tweet:

MattressFactory: Just uploaded new MF #iPhone & #iPod wallpaper feat. Greer Lankton: http://bit.ly/3pYq5