Lenses on “Private Lives, Public Spaces” (museum post)

                                                Lenses on “Private Lives, Public Spaces”


Constructing an identity comes from experiences, emotions, connections, environment, and influence. In Judith Howard’s lenses on identity, she goes extremely into detail about identity down to the psychological and social aspects of identity through research. When going to the exhibit located at the MOMA known as “ Private Lives, Public Spaces” you see many screens displayed on the walls some in the middle of a space and others bunched together. Although what made each one unique was the variation in size and how some screen displays were coming out of the wall and more towards the viewers and others were more discreet. As mentioned above there are many factors that go into forming an identity but people seem to do it impulsively every day when seeing others and within themselves. The exhibit itself attacks the subject on identity through videos on “private lives” by putting it in a “public space” in a unique way. The artists create an illusion with identity basically putting together mini-films of people during everyday life but not creating an identity for those people at all but letting the viewer do it themselves without giving too much context at the same time. The three home movies chosen from the exhibition are Victor Ginsburg, New York, 1981 “Digital preservation of 16mm film”, and Charles L. Turner “Manhattan Moods” 1942 and “6th Avenue-Subway-Post” 1942-44. These three films captured the naked eye within the exhibition and will be further investigated through Howard’s lenses on identity.
         Constructing an identity is almost instant when doing it for others but what's beautiful about the exhibit is that there is no description and the artists leave interpretation up to the viewer. In the short film “Digital preservation of 16mm film” by Victor Ginsburg he demonstrates this perfectly. The title is called “New York” and when one thinks of New York they imagine tall skyscrapers, constant moving, and cars beeping although Ginsburg sheds new light. Ginsburg shows New york for what it's known for in the distance with an ominous gloominess mood in the video. Twisting the identity of New York to my own surprise he demonstrates lots of nature and an open road. I almost forgot that the artist is even in New York. The ominous and mysterious of the video is just brilliant because it goes against anyone's expectations of New York for its chaotic energy.
          Furthering this view on identity and tackling the perception of how others are viewed was Charles L. Turner in his film, “Manhattan Moods”. This video is similar to Ginsburg which basically demonstrates more buildings and even railroad tracks but the mood is definitely different than the others. These videos are quick and what also makes the video beautiful is that it is shown in different moods. Some moods are ominous, beautiful and fast-paced. Which I believe is what the artists intended. Even though New York is mostly built and trains it has different moods. What also grabbed my attention was the old family movie effects added to the video giving the home movies the early forties feel to it which added to ominous feel to it and bring many questions. This resulted in creating an identity that made many interviewers believed that this was created in the seventies and that even at that time New York has different aspects rather it be beautiful or strange.
          In addition, the other video that caught the attention of the naked eye was by the same creator which is Charles L. Turner in his short film, “6th Avenue-Subway-Post”. This video takes a different turn although still demonstrating building in New York it shows the lowering of the American flag, soldiers, cars, and even the Moma. Overall this video provided such a unique peacefulness compared to the ominous video that was located right next to it. It's almost unbelievable to really see that the same building, the Moma, had changed so much over the years and has become so modern. While watching people in their everyday lives it also showed that back in the 1940s, young or old, people were dressed very professionally, the cars were designed differently and what was normal to them at the time, it is euphoric to us now. The artists leave everything up to interpretation but the mood of these “private lives” in “public spaces” just shows that the time was extremely different at the time and so were the standards. The artists created this identity in his video. People are constantly judging and making assumptions based on sites that even without sound or communication there is an instant conclusion on identity that people create about other people that is natural and instinctive.