Why look into Gordon Matta-Clark’s filming process for his art works?
Well.. I thought it was interesting to see exactly how Matta-Clark documents every detail of his processes of making his monstrous building sculptures. His use of photography and filming his processes does seems quite a big deal to Matta-Clark. He almost treats his process like some action movie like something out of a godzilla and seeing rubble fall from the crumbling old buildings inside and outside.
Every detail of filming that Matta-Clark creates is like seeing a story in a book where you are there seeing everything happen and you know how much work had been involved in making his work. I guess it was a great way to document the conversion of the buildings because I think it was his way of saving his art work on film when he knows that its gonna be destroyed a few months later.
Anchoring memory trace within his work?
This method of filming your process can also give you a clear outlook of anchoring the memories of sound, movement and images of your work. The elements of sound and movement in filming play a key role in Matta-Clark’s Conical Intersect and Splitting. Every movement within the hammering and sawing in Matta-Clark’s arm is a result in the indexical movement that acts as a memory trace of him making his work. saving his work on filming was also his way of anchoring the memories of his art work that could no longer be viewed by the public.
Theorist Rosalind Epstein Krauss explains movement taking on the role of the index.
“Movement ceases to function symbolically and takes on the character of an index. By index I mean that type of sign which arises as the physical manifestation of a cause of which traces, imprints and clues are examples.” (Krauss. 1977. P59).
How does Gordon Matta-Clark relate to making my Process in my art work?
I wanted to look into Gordon Matta-clark’s ideas of how he uses filming as part of the making of his art works. The reason why I did this is because I am very interested in capturing my art ideas and process of my own art work. Even though I know that I can keep my art work and is not gonna be destroyed like Matta-Clarks work, I still like to capture that event of my success in printing or making anything else.
Anchoring a memory trace within my process of making art work?
I would say I pretty much love capturing the memories of my discoveries that I have made within the process of my work, that mistake that turned my art around and that fine detail of how I make things. I feel that writing does not always tell the full story of my process because all you see is black and white. I like to also capture the other colours by filming and taking photos of my process that tells the full story like something out of a book or a movie coming to life.
All these things I like to capture anchor a memory trace of my actions in working and also the discoveries that I have made within my work. To me, this is a good way of seeing how I make thing and give me something to think about when it comes to progress and improving myself to be better than the guy I use to be.
