Found this while trolling for links and stuff.
I'm still not sure what to think of it; I can't seem to find much on the singer, or this video. It seems like he was a good Russian singer, and he's probably lip syncing to himself in the video.
I'll update when/if I can find some more information.
American Squirrels Becoming British Citizens
14 years ago
4 comments:
I can see how this performance is very much like the work of Stimpson.
1) replacing words with 'noise singing' is like a tripped down version I want I think is a common song.
2) minimized/stylized background
3) displacement of the actual with a copy that become its own real. (that iron work is crazy!).
What do you think about this? -jen
You intuition about what you see is very strong, Mark. It merits having you write some more about similarities and how they affect aesthetics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra
which leads us to the study of signs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics
I think the work you have chosen really highlights these contemporary ideas. Take a look at these sites and tell me what you think. -jen
I can't help myself:
heres a remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#v=8LqIlxKzrfY&feature=related
What happens with a remix? and is there a difference between a remix and a simulacra?
and then this is this reclamation fo the flat face:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#v=ounTVG6paBM&feature=related
which is not a simulacra but another kind of appropriation. What do you think is going on here?
-jen
In order of appearence :
-The iron work is cool. After watching a few times, its a series of "nested" musical notes, but its very abstracted.
-I can't stand the cutting on this video either. . it is way to crazy and jumpy. I'd never do something that choppy at work without getting yelled at for it.
-Its hard to decide about the background, since I think most of it is stylistic of the times (when the video was made), and I'm not sure how much its controlled and chosen and how much its just sortof generic and thrown in. It seems like no one has yet found a decent generic background.
-I haven't finished reading all the links yet, but I don't really recognize the song (which isn't saying a whole lot. . . .)
-Thinking about signs and the reading of signs, its interesting that the singer is "forced" to smile for the entire song. It's not good enough to simply sing a song using "happy sounds," but you have to have this giant, fake, goofy grin while at it too. You can bring out the audible beauty of singing with non-literate sounds, yet you have to hide the visual effects of doing so with lip syncing and a fake smile? Its like an audible truth and a visual lie.
-I watched the remix(es).
I don't like either of them.
I'm not sure what the saw remix is trying to do. I'm assuming its referring to saw the movie?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387564/
I mean, I can understand how some people could see such a happy video as a horror film. The guy singing is very stiff, robotic, and that constant smile is just creepy, but its not saw-off-an-arm-to-escape creepy. He's certainly uncomfortable and artificially happy in the video.
I also don't like the way the audio remix sounds. Adding more dramatic music to his singing makes it sound a lot like a traditional opera of some sort, which isn't really the vibe I get from watching the original video. There's nothing wrong with opera, and its a very cool and involved form of performance, but I see it as being too dramatic, staged, and formal for the type of singing that he's doing.
Reading the Wikipedia page about simulacra, I get the feeling that the term has a negative connotation, one where a new work is lacking the punch or soul of the original. I feel that this accurately describes both remixes.
The video just looks terrible with a cheap iMovie filter thrown on top of it, and the saw audio is totally out of character. Maybe if his singing was remixed into something suspenseful, where you hear his "happy" singing fade in quietly, echoing, like he was standing at the end of a dark alley, following you, his song drifting across the fog, that would be great. But making him sound like an opera singer doesn't flatter him OR saw.
Also, whats the deal with flat-face?
I've never seen it before.
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