Hey, everybody.
We're back in Chicago and we're in the studio of Jan Tichy.
And we're here to discuss your responses
to Jan's assignment that was called "Expanded Moment."
And it was to--
Find a place with potential of visual movement.
Place your camera on a stable object, build a frame,
and record at least two minutes of video
without moving your camera.
SARAH URIST GREEN: So this one was by Abigail Ellman.
So what she's done is she has taken footage of people
viewing another photograph.
It almost sets up this kind of station
where people come into the frame and exit the frame,
and there is this time keeping aspect to it.
And it makes me think a lot about how museums do research
about how long people look at a picture, and it's quite short.
[LAUGHS] And this is-- this is evidence supporting that.
JAN TICHY: There was as well as something
that maybe because it was in a museum
and we are not sure if we actually
can place a camera on a tripod there, right?
There is--
SARAH URIST GREEN: Well, you wouldn't be able to.
JAN TICHY: Yeah.
SARAH URIST GREEN: I mean--
JAN TICHY: And it's a part of--
SARAH URIST GREEN: If they had asked,
the answer would have been no.
JAN TICHY: Yeah.
The trembling in this situation sort of
is part of the situation that we understand culturally.
SARAH URIST GREEN: One of the ones that you picked out
was this one called "Ribbon," by AppleJuiceJadeDear.
JAN TICHY: I liked that there was something like that,
in a way, was staged.
Most of the submissions were not staged.
And the artist sort of went out in most cases,
and even though they did expect things to happen,
it was sort of very open.
SARAH URIST GREEN: Pure.
JAN TICHY: That there was really beautiful way
of paying attention to something which we might not expect.
And I think that there is as well
some type of a transformation that
is happening to the ribbon.
As the time goes, the ribbon starts
to build into almost a sculptural form.
SARAH URIST GREEN: So the next one I wanted to bring up
was by Grace Miller.
"Wushu," which is a Chinese martial art.
There were a few instances of this
in the responses of people putting
the camera on the floor.
You feel like you're really there.
Like, it firmly plants you.
You're there too.
JAN TICHY: And as the time goes and the fighters are
entering the frame and rolling, we
are getting these glimpses of their faces, right?
And so this sort of a group portrait
is slowly coming together as they're entering into the space
and filling it.
SARAH URIST GREEN: So this next one is by MyCharlieQuinn.
There is a really beautiful, thoughtful introduction
to this one.
And I thought that was interesting.
A lot of them were just what they were-- the expanded
moment-- that was the whole video,
and maybe there was a little description in the text.
But for this one, it was incredibly touching.
JAN TICHY: And in a way, I think like with the previous video,
it's a sort of a portrait.
SARAH URIST GREEN: A portrait of what?
JAN TICHY: I think this one is a portrait of the artist.
And this table is sort of this central object to the frame
that MyCharlieQuinn talks about as this very important place
for her.
And so allowing us, through observing that space,
to feel her, to be in her place and to sit there
for half an hour and feel how it is.
SARAH URIST GREEN: This one is just
titled "An Expanded Moment" by Crumpart.
I think what attracted me to it is
how different it was from many of the others responses.
It's very much following the assignment
in a very kind of simple way that I
found very compelling to watch.
Where they'd set up a situation where
there's the potential for movement,
and then we're watching it play out.
JAN TICHY: And I think that what is as well interesting thing is
this really sort of almost literal relation to expansion.
Because these objects are sort of floating in the air,
feel like they're going to expand.
And we are sort of caught in this endless tension
and expectation.
SARAH URIST GREEN: So this one that you've selected
is by Marco and it's titled "Dead or Alive."
JAN TICHY: It does look like a very old and important cemetery
and it seems like the people that are coming
are not necessarily coming to visit their relatives,
but probably coming as tourists.
And therefore, their activities are different.
And we don't see people bringing flowers
or to take care of graves.
They're coming and they're taking pictures. [LAUGHS]
SARAH URIST GREEN: They're just walking through.
And there's something so dramatic
about a cemetery from media, from movies.
And this is so banal. [LAUGHS] You know, it is so every day.
I mean, it makes you think about how strange it
is to take pictures [LAUGHS] in a cemetery.
This one was definitely one of my favorites,
and it's by Michael.
And it is a video documenting a Magic the Gathering Grand
Prix in New Jersey.
And here you're in this terribly-lit convention
hall packed with people.
But for me, the movement is in their heads.
All of these things happening in their imagination,
in their mind, you know, strategizing
as they're playing this game.
But it's in this terrible convention center. [LAUGHS]
They're all packed in and you're seeing them
like rows of cans on the shelf in a grocery store.
JAN TICHY: And the way that Michael framed it,
he doesn't allow us to actually see the game.
We cannot really follow what's happening.
And so we are left just with the heads
and with the hands of these hundreds of people.
It almost feels like one organism.
But when you look at them, they're
each in their own world.
SARAH URIST GREEN: It's like looking at an apartment
building where there's all these stories within the building.
JAN TICHY: Exactly.
SARAH URIST GREEN: There is a whole intense relationship
and world that's happening with each pair.
Jan, thank you so much for giving us this assignment
and for reviewing them and talking about them with me.
It's a wonderful activity to do.
It's something that I want to continue doing.
And even though we've discussed them today,
please continue to create expanded moments
and share them with us on your social media platform of choice
with the hashtag #theartassignment.
Thanks a lot, Jan.
Thank you.
And please do.
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