Reading #4

Speaking Through Monuments & City Hall Tower Projection, Krakow

I thought this reading was very interesting because I have never really thought about what buildings and architecture say and mean to the people around it. I also never considered the possibility of making a piece of architecture say what you want it to say. I have seen lights and shapes projected onto a building and have heard added soundtracks with these lights but I have never seen something that was supposed to make the viewer think. What I saw was merely for entertainment, which is also interesting but I really like what the artist did in the City Hall Tower projections.

The stories chosen for the projections were ones that are usually not spoken about or people try to ignore so it is interesting that these stories were projected out onto a huge tower. Towers and large buildings definitely symbolize power and people literally have to look up at the tower so automatically anything projected onto it is going to seem important. I really like that these people stories were getting told but I was not as positive about how the images went along with the stories. I think it is interesting to try to think about and figure out.

Dough Aitken 

One thing I really liked about this piece of art is that there is no beginning or end to it, since it is a circle and you could not look at all of it at once. If you were able to see the video on one rectangle, it would definitely give it a different meaning. I like that this video forces you to see it at different points and angles and you will probably never see it in the same way twice. I thought this gave a new meaning to street graffiti and made it into something new, something that can change and move and make sound. This kind of reminds me what I have been trying to do with my last two projects which is that I take something that is usually still and make it come to life.