Discovering Artists that utilise Photography: Janet Lilo, Michael Snow
Janet Lilo (Born 1982, Auckland, New Zealand) I was drawn to Janet Lilo’s three channel video work titled: Right of Way, 2013, in the Auckland Art gallery Toi o Tamaki exhibition: Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art, because of the video’s dynamic introductory still photograph.
I have a distinct dislike for the massive power pylons that follow the Southern Auckland motorway Northbound into the city. They also cross across the edge of the Manukau harbour and my suburb, heading out West, towards Avondale, (Lilo’s home suburb), because simply, they are visual pollution. Perhaps it is too costly to bury them, yet they disrupt the skyline, and are obstructive and ugly, even though they give power to thousands.
Therefore, I was interested in my own response to Lilo’s video work because her created scene of three reflective close-up pylon power line images, strongly lit against a blue sky, was not ugly, but powerfully beautiful. Perhaps, her display of two Tino Rangatiratanga Maori flags (designed in 1990 by Linda Munn, Jan Smith and Hiraina Marsden) flying from the pylons, is a social comment about the power structures, (and struggles) within Aotearoa’s society. As these flags are not flying from the top of the pylon, perhaps she questions the place of many ordinary indigenous people (in particular Pacifica females) in today’s society.
I find Lilo’s documentary work intriguing, as she reconfigures ordinary images appropriated from online platforms, to state her own memories and understanding of her local neighbourhood and place, that of West Auckland. I am also inspired by the large scale of her photomontages, and the thematic connections with music. I like how she utilises musical imagery, song titles or lyrics from such popular cultural icons as the rap artist, Tupac Amaru Shakur, (stage name: 2Pac), and rock musician, Pat Benatar.
Lilo, Janet. Right of Way, 2013, three-channel video, high definition (HD), 16:9, colour, silent.
Lilo, Janet. Hit Me With Your Best Shot (The Remix), a mixed media photo-montage installation.
Michael Snow (born 1928, Toronto, Canada). Michael Snow is an interesting avant-garde artist, who has pioneered many new techniques in film. He has combined his many talents as a painter, photographer, sculptor, installation artist, filmmaker and musician to produce radical, and inventive works such as the film: Wavelength, 1967, (using one camera zoom shot).
Snow created a feature-length experimental film: Corpus Callosum, in 2002, using a digital mix of animation and live-action. As a filmmaker, Snow has an ability to manipulate reality and illusion, making the actors and animated artwork move simultaneously together. He even showcased himself as the director, as his voice was heard speaking within the film.
Snow’s theme of a walking woman (as inserted above in the film still as a black silhouette image in the wall) is reused within his painting, photography, sculpture, digital video and installation artworks. I am interested in exploring this idea of continuously evoking a thematic message, or object or concept within my art, that shows exploration, and a connection across a number of visual artistic platforms.
