Dan Graham
His work explores various themes, including inter-subjectivity, the mirror and the double, time delay in videos and performances, the relations between subject and object in space, the alteration between transparency and reflection through architecture, control systems, ephemeral forms of communication.
The artist commented "I'm interested in inter-subjectivity, exploring how a person, in a precise and given moment, perceives him/herself while at the same time watching other people who in turn are watching him/her." "When I was fourteen, I read Jean Paul Sartre's book Being and Nothingness and I realised how, when we are young, we develop the notion of Ego the moment we feel that someone is watching us. "
In Video Feedback 2 When observers see their image immediately, continuously replayed on the screen through videotape loops, their self-images, by adding temporality to self-perception, connect their self-perceptions to their mental states. This removes self-perception, as in the mirror image, from the viewing of a detached, static image. The use of video time-delay in conjunction with the mirror allows the spectator to see what is normally visually unavailable: the simultaneity of his or her self as both subject and object.
Dan Graham's work is very inspiring, his technical technique and knowledge of architecture is fascinating. During the 1970's/80's he managed to show delayed live footage to his audience using analogue. His viewers observe themselves and others within his video installations using mirrored walls and cameras, these are the techniques that I am interested in using. I have purchased three CCTV cameras and intend to set up a series of experiments that mirror his work and other artists as a starting point.
"Time Delay Room 2" (1974)
