living photograph chris with teacup
OK, it's a short video today (1 minute) so maybe click through on this one and then come back. It's called "Living Photograph: Chris with Teacup", and it's an internet video from 15 years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiV7M8Llkxo
At first it seems like the filmer here told the subject "let me take your picture" and the camera was secretly set to video (prank motive). But now I feel like they're both in on it, and the discussion beforehand was just "try and be still for as long as possible" (art motive). It's a nice little moment with just the tiniest bit of tension and Chris is a great subject, he’s magnetic and the camera loves him. The teacup appears to have no tea in it, but the feeling I'm getting isn't "can I have another cup of tea" so much as "I am holding this tea cup for symbolic reasons". Like the Ace of Cups in the tarot, it's a representation of love in its potential stage.
I used to hate that you can hear the person behind the camera laughing, I thought that ruined it a little. But that was small and limited sarcastic self of 15 years ago talking, and now I like it, I think it's sweet. It's such a joy to watch these microexpressions flitter across Chris' face, and if the guiding force behind them is "I'm trying to make my friend laugh while remaining essentially motionless" then that's valid. I accept the terms here. And besides that, I mean, I'm laughing. I don't need to be above the work in a zone of judgement-- it's OK if I'm laughing and they're laughing. It's good, I'm having fun, I like it. And as with any artwork, other frameworks of understanding are still available, this is just scratching the surface.
There's other stuff like this of course-- a few other "Living Photographs With [Beverage]" that are still online from that time, and the mannequin challenge, and the Warhol screen tests, and about a million silver-painted "living statues" in tourist areas across the world. But the thing that interests me here is less that it's "a still video" and more that it's two buds having fun making a subtle and inexplicable artwork. So I guess that's the realm here, goofin off in pure exploration mode with a video camera in the still-early years of online video. And this one is a really pure example of the form, one with lasting power.
All the other videos on this account seem to have been wiped, but I did find the artist's old webpage via Wayback Machine, from which I learned that this vid was on Tosh.0 AND in a gallery show sponsored by VVORK (cheers to anyone for whom both these terms have meaning). It feels weird to link to a website that's presumably down on purpose, so here's his Instagram, which is currently maintained:
https://www.instagram.com/brockdavis
Unfortunately I have no idea what Chris is up to. Hi Chris if you're reading this!
Peace everyone :)
If someone forwarded this to you because you like photography, fin de siècle internet art, hunks, or quiet laughter, you may enjoy other subjects I write about as well. This email list is about peaceful online videos and it's called "Pleasant Realms".