I visited the This Is The End exhibition at the Hammer Museum, which is comprised of 3 videos made by 3 different international artists. While every video is different, all share common themes of “trauma, melancholy, surrealism and the uncanny” (Hammer Museum handout). Each video was available to watch on different dates. The day I went to visit, “Even Pricks” by Ed Atkins was playing.
Ed Atkins created a video that hardly makes any literal sense. There appears to be no storyline, set of meaningful characters or a central theme. There is no rhythm or sequential sense of images and scenes in the video; the majority of the video includes the starting and stopping of short clips. The images portrayed are unrealistic, unpredictable and sometimes uncalled for. However, Atkins intends to do this to his viewers. The intended theme of the video is physical and psychological depression.
Atkins uses several recurring sounds and pictures to portray the intended message. The viewer often hears gunshots, hands clapping, fingers snapping, someone yelling bits of vulgar language and other loud special effects that are unidentifiable and unsettling. A monkey and a thumb are frequently shown on screen between different clips. Perhaps these sounds and images highlight the inconsistency of depression diagnosis or research. However, the video appears to lack any real sense of meaning connected to depression.
“Even Pricks” is a highly-rendered art piece for a few reasons. First, Atkins used computer-generated imagery to create these unsettling images. The images are highly unusual but seem more real thanks to the special effects. Second, Atkins uses the video to bring attention and awareness to depression. His creativity is expressed through dramatic pauses, hyperrealistic imagery and computer-generated effects. While this video is very different than other exhibitions, I do not recommend this exhibition to other students because the video was unsatisfying and hard to follow.
