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David Rosetzky

Autor:   •  April 9, 2018  •  1,755 Words (8 Pages)  •  492 Views

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of portraiture. The Luke presented is a highly stylised version of himself. In Luke, Rosetzky blurs the line between documentary and a more idealised presentation to produce a slightly unsettling effect. Luke is videography. The lighting is bright and changes; it is enhanced to create moods and atmosphere. Compositionally, the video is frontal perspective and dynamic. The videography element of the work stimulates another sense; instead of static images the viewer has sounds and movement to draw them in. Luke’s body language acts as symbols, body language being a universal language. It makes links to historical context and associations from the past.

Against type is a narrative piece of work by Rosetzky that tells the viewer a story of his father’s life. The subject matter is real; it’s the superficial contours of style and fashion, and the dark uncertainties and incommunicable depths of it. That personal identity is understood as a fluid concept. Rosetzky creates a scenario in which human behavior; contemporary culture and community come under intimate observation. He uses this format to explore relationships between interiority and exteriority, reality and fantasy, authenticity and artificiality. He uses symbols to communicate that below the beautiful poetry of our superficial loves, the physical stuff of our existence is infused with mysterious forces.

Nothing like this, Autumn 2007, is another one of Rosetzky’s video works. The video makes emotional connections that we all have. It is styles postmodern, being semi appropriated or influenced by Caravaggio’s ‘Narcissist’. Though Caravaggio’s is more literal, the works are imbued with similar meaning. In ‘nothing like this’, the viewer never really touches the character, we remain elusive. ‘Nothing like this’ challenges and confronts the modern selfie and technology. It is brining attention to the current phenomena of self-love, self worth and being self-absorbed. In ‘Narcissist’, the character has fallen in love with his own reflection. Rosetzky has recontextualised this self love. He is communicating that we live in a self-driven world. That everyone is very much consumed in their own minds and lives, its vanity that we see in this artwork. It isn’t just a reference to attitudes from the past, but how those same attitudes are relevant today. The viewer is influenced to look at these things, not just look at the aesthetic portrait. The portrait holds so much more than being pretty. We should unwind the layers if historical and current meaning within the work and be confronted. There is much simplicity in the work but behind it there is complex layers and meaning.

Weekender is a single channel digital video work. It consists of a group of individuals analysing themselves, confessing secret thoughts, feelings and behaviours and making comparisons to others, in quest to find their individuality. Rosetzky is pointing out that participation in groups is an important part of understanding our individuality, forming our identity and giving us a sense of communality. The work is particularly significant to Western Culture, it appreciates the way as a culture we advertise the ‘perfect’ and most desirable person, personality or identity. The technological connections between each character could be seen as a metaphor for the relationships that are possible via social media in today’s context. That everyone has shallow friendship with everyone else. Social media limits the emotion and expression within conversation and limits the connections you can have with someone. The work is particularly significant to the context of the 21st century Western Culture, but is not limited to only this context. Rosetzky explores throughout his works how emotions and internal experiences are not limited to one time, that they are universal and are experienced by individuals all through history.

Weekender explores the need to understand ourselves in order to develop a strong identity. Self-concepts are influenced by social norms created by the groups we socialise with. Everyone depicted in the work is young, desirable, healthy and good-looking. Rosetzky is attracting the viewer with these attributes. Once the attention of the audience is arrested, they are encouraged to look further into the images and pay closer attention to the dialogue between the characters. The work invites viewers to form opinions and attitudes about the subjects, to find meaning from the work, inviting the viewer to compare their own identity or personality with the subjects presented. ‘Weekender’ has the power to really make viewers of society question how their identity is formed.

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