Why are you looking at me?
2024
What draws people to the moving image? What gives moving images the hypnotic power that keeps you glued to the screen and how is that power utilized? Why do we watch? These are the questions at the center of Why are you Looking at me? A three act video performance guiding the viewer on a journey that explores these questions through a combination of video performance and narrative film techniques.
It is my hope that viewers will walk away from this experience with a new awareness of their interactions with moving images and the sometimes subtle power they possess. Whether it’s on your phone, on billboards, or in the theater, take a moment to ask yourself; Why am I looking?
Starring Erin McCarty
Music by dj ruf.nk
Documentation of second performance:
Act 1
The first act of the show, inspired by psychoanalytical film theory, features a monologue that confronts the viewer with their role as a viewer.
The actor on screen speaks directly to the viewer, at first asking them to be aware of their presence in the space, and then aggressively confronting them with their gaze.
Throwing the viewer’s own image onto the screen emphasizes this confrontation.
Act 2
The second act of the show is a non narrative expansion on the questions raised in the first act, inspired by the Jawa style of video editing.
Simply put, the purpose of this editing style is to bombard the viewer visually and sonically in order to hinder intellectual thought, communicating ideas through rapid association and the subconscious.
In this act, the viewer is incorporated into a stream of viewing.
Act 3
The third and final act of the show, inspired by absolute film theory, uses imagery from the second act, a live feed of the audience, and a newly introduced feed of the artist vjing.
All of these elements are layered over each other, and tied together with different animated textures.
The Set Up
Set up for this performance required two live feeds, one of myself performing in a control booth hidden above/behind the audience, and one of the audience hidden above the projection screen.
Both feeds were fed into my laptop where I used them to vj, along with a personal library of clips and animated textures.
The room was set up to mimic the movie theater as much as possible. Audience members were asked to enter in from the side, and the lights were dimmed at the start of the performance.