Field Report, Part One: Art Encounters

When I first viewed the films presented by Ross Nugent and then went and saw Robert Schaller’s collection of films I found it hard to find a certain aspect of them in which to talk about. But after thinking about them more, and possibly being more open-minded, I realized that there was a lot of symbolism being used. Though I may be used to the more narrative, Hollywood films use of symbolism, I know enough about it to find it elsewhere.

The symbolic use of red in Andrea Leutenekers’ film The Bear Garden emphasizes the blood, and pain that the bear goes through in the garden. With the use of sound, and manipulation of film with red liquid, the audience is able to create their own image of what is happening without it being visually shown to them. The red can also symbolize death, which was true for some of the bears but it was also true for the thousands of Jews who were killed in concentration camps. The voices of Andrea’s Jewish parents explaining what they can remember from the concentration camps can be heard throughout the film. In a way, The Bear Garden is symbolic for the Jewish Concentration camps. The bear is not that different from the prisoners who were confined in a small place, who were studied, mocked, and abused. Andrea uses multiple clips and sounds to tell the two stories of the bear and her parents.

Like Andrea Leuteneker, I found that Robert Schaller also used symbolism in his films. Robert showed some films that included dance. When I think of dancing I think of freedom, freedom to do anything, be anyone or the freedom from the chaos of everyday life. One film in particular was shown using three projectors. On each projector there was a film being played of a woman dancing. If one film is playing manipulated film, the other two might be clear footage of the woman dancing. When I viewed it, I perceived it as that the woman was almost escaping from one film to the other. When the right film was showing the manipulative, chaotic and unpredictable film I saw it as life and how it can be very chaotic. But the woman’s dancing helps her escape from the chaotic life and we continue to see her dance in the middle and left film. If the left film of her dancing suddenly turns to manipulative footage, she moves to the middle and right films. By having three different films playing at the same time, each one with it’s own story per se, I viewed it as one film telling one story. In addition, the dancer is also wearing white, which symbolizes innocence. When I think of innocence I think of children who don’t seem to have a care in the world. It’s as if they are free from the realities of life, similar to the freeness of the woman’s dancing.

Although it was hard for me to understand most of the films presented by Ross Nugent and shown by Robert Schaller, I soon took what I did understand and related to the films, making up my own story.