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This short film came about from an idea I had long ago. It is ultimately the
responsibility of the audience to assess the amount of power an artist has over
interpretation of his/her ideas. Expectation and subtle manipulation are tools
used by the artist to gain emotional response from the viewer. In Medusa, I
wanted to leave the direction of response to the audience. The individual
viewer of this film determines the end emotion. Whether it shocks you, scares
you, fills you with anger or feelings of strength, it is entirely up to you.
I, the artist, merely pull the trigger. Significantly, this work provokes a
question of intent related to voyeurism. How are you looking, why are you
looking, and what is the meaning of what you are looking at?
Medusa, a Greek mythological gorgon and a main subject of my film, was selected as my angle for several reasons. First, I chose Medusa for the many cultural misconceptions related to her appearance. Before being wrongfully exiled, she was a beautiful Goddess, one of three living with the God Zeus. The myth goes that Zeus raped Medusa, and Athena accused her of being at fault for such a sacrilege. With the blame on Medusa, she was exiled. Athena, jealous of Medusa's beauty and admiration from Zeus, turned her rival's hair into snakes. Some final confusion about Medusa lies in her tactics of love and revenge. Not every man who laid his eyes upon Medusa was doomed to a fate of stone. She chose who was punished by her gaze. This part of her power was important and is often overlooked. Medusa made sculptures for her many lovers, and made sculptures out of her enemies. How she looked before every gaze was entirely her perogative. |
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This piece was constructed with great diligence. My girlfriend and I found a slew
of dated advertisements directed towards woman. Some from the 1920s, '30s, '40s
and so on. Each message is targeted towards a woman's innate need to be beautiful
for the rest to see. The advertisers, in some cases, created a need, such as an
ad for facial moisturizer that cures "war-time skin". In the case of
these ads the artists create an emotional response for all audiences. Men see the
"role" of women and women are taught how to fulfil this fantasy. Each ad
creates the grounds for voyeuristic sadism.
The ads were printed, cut and deco-podged onto a Danskin Leotard manican. |
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This short piece is meaningless. I give my powers to the audience completely. I
can only tell you how it was made.
Each image was filmed and plays in real time. There are no stills or repeated sequences. The backgrounds were composed the same way. I made the music using Cubase software and a midi keyboard. The music was made first, followed by the collection of images. They were edited using Final Cut Pro. |
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composed and directed by: taylor seyer |
special thanks to kirstin grbic and ian cole seyer |