MCCALL

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Before this this assignment and going to this exhibition I never heard of Anthony Mccall. Before, I never thought that one line or one circle can have such a peculiar effect. Before, I never thought about projection other then just being a projection on a wall. Before going into the exhibition and Masterclass, I tried to prepare myself as thoroughly as possible into the texts that we had to read in order to understand the basis of Mccall’s work. This is why I felt that during his own presentation and the discussion that was held during the Masterclass there wasn’t a lot of new information. His work is not as in depth as people seemed it wanting to be. It has a meaning, but it’s clear and simple.

Simple, yet powerful.
Why is that? Then you can regard that and say it is the smoke, it is the solid and in solid paradox of the light. Yes, this is all very important of course, but the most prominent thing to me is like Mccall puts it: duration. The experience is different every time because the films last for long periods, a sculpture figure is not immediately met in his complete form, it takes time to become that form. Next to that it is in an environment with other people who respond differently according to the time and the position they hold. They influence the reflection of light in the duration of the film.
Time and paradoxes play a prominent part in my own work. In my work the paradox of visibility and invisibility is played upon, though it is more directed towards a more cultural meaning. I also start at the beginning, the most simplest of forms to find the meaning of my own paradox. This is, I believe, the most powerful because people can relate with that the easiest. Time is almost always an extra factor, as a paradox can only be seen in an order of time.
During Mccalls presentation he mentioned that even a piece of paper has a duration. Time moves whilst people regard this piece of paper, individually or as a group. This makes the idea of a ‘still standing object’ not as ‘still’ as it might seem. In his solid light project this duration comes back not only in the completion of the figures but also in the fog that visualizes the beams.
The breathing of duration.
The breathing of time in the image of the figure but also in its context, that’s what makes the projects so striking. After the 20 year silent period in the aftermath of making the first solid light films in the 70’s, Mccall realized this breathing symbolizes immortality. Immortality of life and bodies. These things are touched at the basis with his standard, most basic of formations. Where Mccall starts at the beginning of a figure, in the beginning of a technique. Every project in his series then builds from that and makes it more complex. I see the relation in my own projects, where I also try to find the visually most basic form that relates to my idea, and build from there. It might nog be about the basic form of light beams. But it is the same way of working with the idea of duration and paradoxes.

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