It came from the office supply cabinet...
September 11, 2011 11:19 AM Subscribe
Bizarrely unsettling tape art. [SLVimeo]
Unsettling? In what way? I found the clip interesting and sometimes beautiful to watch, but don't understand the unsettling thing at all. The patience and commitment of the artist is really something though.
posted by txmon at 11:28 AM on September 11, 2011
posted by txmon at 11:28 AM on September 11, 2011
Unsettling? In what way?
I got a very "thing crawling out of a swamp" or "alien life form about to suck your brains" vibe from it. Maybe it's the sound? I don't know. Obviously I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't find it interesting and sometimes beautiful. But also unsettling? For me? Yes.
posted by phunniemee at 11:32 AM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I got a very "thing crawling out of a swamp" or "alien life form about to suck your brains" vibe from it. Maybe it's the sound? I don't know. Obviously I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't find it interesting and sometimes beautiful. But also unsettling? For me? Yes.
posted by phunniemee at 11:32 AM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
listening to ladies sing upstairs
My brain interprets this as a euphemistic phrase, but I have no idea for what.
posted by hippybear at 11:37 AM on September 11, 2011 [9 favorites]
My brain interprets this as a euphemistic phrase, but I have no idea for what.
posted by hippybear at 11:37 AM on September 11, 2011 [9 favorites]
It reminds me of Arachnocampa.
I don't think I'd call it unsettling, but it was definitely very unusual. Also, I bet the artist had to spend ages finding all of the ends of the rolls of tape.
posted by Solomon at 11:37 AM on September 11, 2011
I don't think I'd call it unsettling, but it was definitely very unusual. Also, I bet the artist had to spend ages finding all of the ends of the rolls of tape.
posted by Solomon at 11:37 AM on September 11, 2011
It certainly has that "weird life form" vibe to it.
It's very neat though.
posted by Jehan at 11:40 AM on September 11, 2011
It's very neat though.
posted by Jehan at 11:40 AM on September 11, 2011
Beautiful. But I found it somewhat unsettling too. Something about the sounds combined with the seeming "levitation" of the tape rolls. Very cool.
posted by dchrssyr at 11:48 AM on September 11, 2011
posted by dchrssyr at 11:48 AM on September 11, 2011
"Open the pod bay doors, Hal"
"I can't Dave, they have been taped shut..."
posted by obscurator at 11:54 AM on September 11, 2011 [5 favorites]
"I can't Dave, they have been taped shut..."
posted by obscurator at 11:54 AM on September 11, 2011 [5 favorites]
I enjoyed that. A lot of skill and patience clearly went into making it.
It was also a bit like watching the office stationery cupboard get infected with Conway's Game of Life, for some reason.
posted by frogbit at 11:56 AM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
It was also a bit like watching the office stationery cupboard get infected with Conway's Game of Life, for some reason.
posted by frogbit at 11:56 AM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Beautiful. Made me think of bacteria growing in a petri dish of agar.
posted by iconomy at 11:57 AM on September 11, 2011
posted by iconomy at 11:57 AM on September 11, 2011
Oddly relaxing. A bit sticky.
Plus it made me think of this.
posted by kinnakeet at 12:02 PM on September 11, 2011
Plus it made me think of this.
posted by kinnakeet at 12:02 PM on September 11, 2011
It was also a bit like watching the office stationery cupboard get infected with Conway's Game of Life, for some reason.
Beautiful. Made me think of bacteria growing in a petri dish of agar.
Hmmm, if tape = bacteria, then post-it notes = multicellular life and mucilage/rubbercement = virus?
posted by 445supermag at 12:09 PM on September 11, 2011
Beautiful. Made me think of bacteria growing in a petri dish of agar.
Hmmm, if tape = bacteria, then post-it notes = multicellular life and mucilage/rubbercement = virus?
posted by 445supermag at 12:09 PM on September 11, 2011
Some time back Mefite Bill Beaty demonstrated this phenomenon to a group of people at a party of his. Tape will unspool by gravity, but it's quite slow.
posted by Tube at 12:10 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by Tube at 12:10 PM on September 11, 2011
An unsettling 9-11 tribute indeed.
posted by found missing at 12:13 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by found missing at 12:13 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Every artist needs a sponsor. 3M comes to mind.
posted by Cranberry at 12:26 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by Cranberry at 12:26 PM on September 11, 2011
Yes, it definitely seemed as if this was stop-motion with gravity doing all the work. Not nearly as interesting as I'd hoped, nor particularly unsettling. I use a lot of tape, putting on and removing, so I'm fairly accustomed to the "tape sound".
posted by Windopaene at 12:35 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by Windopaene at 12:35 PM on September 11, 2011
This is great. Thanks.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:55 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by shakespeherian at 12:55 PM on September 11, 2011
I think the unsettling detail is the sound affects. The snap of the tape every time a roll is released from the surface just amplifies the tension. You try to predict when it will go, but it's impossible to do so.
Also, the whole 'ripping a bandaid off' association probably doesn't help.
posted by Think_Long at 1:06 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Also, the whole 'ripping a bandaid off' association probably doesn't help.
posted by Think_Long at 1:06 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I love playing with sticky tape, and I found the noises on the soundtrack of this film highly satisfactory.
posted by Joey Bagels at 1:09 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by Joey Bagels at 1:09 PM on September 11, 2011
Unsettling: the slow unrolling punctuated by sudden jerks forward sets the same kind of mood as does watching Samara come out of the well.
posted by stebulus at 1:23 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by stebulus at 1:23 PM on September 11, 2011
I wonder if this guy should have been wearing a dosimeter. Researchers found that X-rays are released upon the peeling of scotch tape, enough to image a finger.
posted by 445supermag at 1:24 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by 445supermag at 1:24 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I can't stop thinking about how much trial and error went into creating the different designs.
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 1:35 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by haunted by Leonard Cohen at 1:35 PM on September 11, 2011
Reminds me of Cremaster 1.
posted by mykescipark at 1:40 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by mykescipark at 1:40 PM on September 11, 2011
I wonder if this guy should have been wearing a dosimeter.
I'd like to do enough doses to require wearing a dosimeter. Do you have a hook-up?
posted by hippybear at 1:46 PM on September 11, 2011
I'd like to do enough doses to require wearing a dosimeter. Do you have a hook-up?
posted by hippybear at 1:46 PM on September 11, 2011
There's no x-ray issue when tape is unrolled in atmosphere; you only get that when it happens in a vacuum.
Anyway, this kind of "let's fuck with our conceptions of a material to an OCD level of experimentation" is what they call "contemporary art" and the artist absolutely could get a sack of grant money to do this and exhibit the videos just about anywhere that fancies itself cosmopolitan.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:06 PM on September 11, 2011
Anyway, this kind of "let's fuck with our conceptions of a material to an OCD level of experimentation" is what they call "contemporary art" and the artist absolutely could get a sack of grant money to do this and exhibit the videos just about anywhere that fancies itself cosmopolitan.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:06 PM on September 11, 2011
Any kid within three sigmas of normal would be bored to tears by the processes involved in projects like this. Don't mistake my observation for an aspersion; I am not kidding, this kind of art is red hot these days.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:38 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:38 PM on September 11, 2011
It's like watching fungi grow.
Beautiful and unsettling.
posted by winna at 2:50 PM on September 11, 2011
Beautiful and unsettling.
posted by winna at 2:50 PM on September 11, 2011
I'd like to do enough doses to require wearing a dosimeter. Do you have a hook-up?
It isn't like the old days when you had to go downtown to find the stuff, now you can just get it online and it gets delivered to your door. 24 rolls of Magic for only $12.72 - bid now!
posted by 445supermag at 2:56 PM on September 11, 2011
It isn't like the old days when you had to go downtown to find the stuff, now you can just get it online and it gets delivered to your door. 24 rolls of Magic for only $12.72 - bid now!
posted by 445supermag at 2:56 PM on September 11, 2011
I found it unsettling to think of all the rolls of tape wasted for my entertainment. The decadence of empire in decay
posted by Redhush at 3:39 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by Redhush at 3:39 PM on September 11, 2011
an empire of tape
posted by LogicalDash at 3:42 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by LogicalDash at 3:42 PM on September 11, 2011
Yes, that tape could have been put to actual use, like taping up giftwrap which will be disposed of after Christmas morning. You know, actual long-lived use.
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on September 11, 2011
The decadence of empire in decay
Yes, I think all historiographers would agree that wasting office supplies to make art can only be interpreted as a symptom of an advanced stage of social collapse. Precious, precious office supplies.
What sickens me the most are all the clerical workers in developing countries who probably have to use glue or paste when they want to affix things to other things while so many rolls of tape are squandered to create this decadent bourgeois luxury.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 4:46 PM on September 11, 2011 [5 favorites]
Yes, I think all historiographers would agree that wasting office supplies to make art can only be interpreted as a symptom of an advanced stage of social collapse. Precious, precious office supplies.
What sickens me the most are all the clerical workers in developing countries who probably have to use glue or paste when they want to affix things to other things while so many rolls of tape are squandered to create this decadent bourgeois luxury.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 4:46 PM on September 11, 2011 [5 favorites]
It kinda made me wish I could run the Benny Hillifier over it, but I say that for most things on the internet these days.
posted by elmer benson at 6:39 PM on September 11, 2011
posted by elmer benson at 6:39 PM on September 11, 2011
I wonder if this guy should have been wearing a dosimeter. Researchers found that X-rays are released upon the peeling of scotch tape, enough to image a finger.
posted by 445supermag
I've seen something similar when I have opened 'self-sealing' envelopes. A short, faint, bluish light; at first I wasn't sure if it was just in my mind.
posted by Termite at 3:49 AM on September 12, 2011
posted by 445supermag
I've seen something similar when I have opened 'self-sealing' envelopes. A short, faint, bluish light; at first I wasn't sure if it was just in my mind.
posted by Termite at 3:49 AM on September 12, 2011
Here's another example of tape art. Johnny Boy Eriksson used brown packing tape to turn an entire room into a cave - exhibited right now at Wetterling Gallery in Stockholm. (Both links in Swedish, but the photographs speak for themselves.)
posted by Termite at 5:12 AM on September 12, 2011
posted by Termite at 5:12 AM on September 12, 2011
David Lynch depicting cellular mitosis with a budget of $500?
posted by aught at 6:09 AM on September 12, 2011
posted by aught at 6:09 AM on September 12, 2011
The patience and commitment of the artist is really something though.
Yes, if you're going to do this kind of thing you really have to stick to it.
posted by ecorrocio at 8:36 AM on September 12, 2011
Yes, if you're going to do this kind of thing you really have to stick to it.
posted by ecorrocio at 8:36 AM on September 12, 2011
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