Eye, Look, Gaze

Manifesto Julian Rosefeldt teaser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5eIDOe9qjQ

Andy Warhol screen test (Ann):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQEiOoMyvos

The way that we look at art and films are always going to be different because everyone has different perceptions of everything. The way people look at art today is the complexities of the piece itself, and the way the artist has created something to catch the viewer’s eye, even with the gaze of someone within the piece itself. It is a hypnotizing experience to be watching something and you are in the gaze of a character. Especially within art it is quite 'normal' for a piece to involve the gaze of someone within a piece. For example within Julian Rosefeldt's Manifesto, Cate Blanchett is staring right at the viewer in all of the short films featured within the exhibition. It is a very confrontational and intense experience to be watching someone who is also in a way watching you, staring right at you, and saying things you probably don't understand or hear because she is on so many different screens saying others things. There is one moment in the exhibition where Cate pops up on every screen and it is just her staring right at the viewer, eyes wide open. Especially when it comes to film, the gaze of a character can draw you into the story and connect more with the thoughts of the character, and that is what Rosefeldt has done within the exhibition. Watching all the screens at once is creepy, and yet draws you into the characters, no matter if you do not know what the intention is, the characters gaze pulls you into their world. With Andy Warhol's screen tests, he made a young girl named Ann to stare right into the camera, and not blink. With this particular experience of watching this young girl, it is quite sad in a way because of the fact she has been told not to blink and begins to cry because of the lack of moisture in her eyes. As a viewer you feel sad for her not just because she is crying and told not to blink, but because it is what she is telling the viewer through her eyes. Before you even know what is going on and before she begins to cry, you feel a kind of sadness for the girl. She does not have to say or do anything to make the viewer feel that way, it is the way she looks into the camera that makes you feel her emotion. The way that I responded to the screen test of Ann, was that emotionally I felt quite sad, just because she had to go through that uncomfortable feeling that is before I knew she wasn’t allowed to blink. When she began to cry it was quite a shock to me because I thought ‘couldn’t she have just blinked once?’ But one of the other things going through my mind whilst watching Ann was that she has a lot of will power and strength to continue doing that, no matter if it causes her pain she wanted to keep doing it. Within film eye, look and gaze are so powerful and true when they say "the eyes are the windows to the soul", and when watching Ann I believe that you could really see her for her, instead of just a test subject.