I specifically decided to look at one of his videos from 2008, titled "Hello World! Or: How I Learned To Stop Listening and Love Noise." It is a short two minute video showing over 5000 video diaries on a big screen. The project, according to Baker, "is a meditation on the contemporary plight of democratic, participative media and the fundamental human desire to be heard." Here is the video below:
Although this video is short, the videos and the music in the background really makes the viewer connect and feel for what the artist is aiming for. What I believe he is trying to do is try and tell the viewer that we humans never really stop to listen, we just hear things. Sure, the title says "How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise,"the noise just makes the viewer feel as if they are drowning out things that they don't want to hear.
I really enjoyed Baker's work! I also enjoy how it leaves room for multiple interpretations. Is the point to show the selective hearing of humans? Or is it to make an artwork, something creative, out of everyday noise? Reflecting on something such as "the fundamental human desire to be heard" is definitely appropriate since hearing and being heard are such integral aspects of daily life.
ReplyDeleteI loved the piece that you chose to represent the artist. I agree with Victoria; I enjoyed how there are so many interpretations to this piece. When Billy mentioned in class that all the different videos started to look like pixels, I started to wonder if, just like a group of pixels make up a whole picture, is the artist trying to say that we all make up a whole world?
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