So I figured the majority of people will be supporting Hillary, Obama, or McCain at this point. I'm going to support Nader...at least in terms of this political ad. I'm not doing this to be different, but simply because I still have no idea who to vote for (I'm Pennsylvania, so I have a couple weeks). Ralph Nader is the perfect candidate to make an advertisement for, probably because no one else is going to make a serious one about him. If you look closely at some of his issues though, they really are for giving more freedom to the American people. He continuously brings up the point of having fair ballots and open debates. Americans should have the option to see and hear the third party candidates views on public national television. Even if these debates were in addition to the regular front-runner ones, and even if the candidates had no chance of winning, it would still create a greater force behind trying to get the two-party candidates to address the ignored issues.
A slogan to represent Nader's stance on open debates could be: "It's not too late, Nader for open debates" This is subject to change, but it shows how time is of the essence. Nader didn't announce his candidacy until very late in the race, because there was no chance of him being part of the debates or winning. But even as a late announcer, he should still be able to debate some of the candidates if he is on the ticket. Another debate would probably help the last few undecided voters figure out who they want to be the next President.
Unscripted means impromptu. In politics, everything is scripted: speeches are written and revised, actions are planned to gain a certain response, and everything seems fake. When artists attempt to “unscript the political process”, they are creating this break in the script of politics. Through performances, websites, charts, studies, programs, and more, artists attack and satirize political figures and issues in a way that makes it difficult for the politicians to respond in the usual predetermined manner. They can take the power out of the hands of those who seem to be in control, at least temporarily. Sometimes the best method for doing this is to take on the role of those you oppose, and pretend to be supportive.
The Yes Men are one such group that poses as high-up figures from various organizations and creates look-alike websites with a slightly different message (i.e. the real: www.wto.org and the fake www.gatt.org). By taking the most extreme views of the WTO, the Yes Men attempt to make a sarcastic blow at the organization. Sometimes people realize, and sometimes they don’t, which sends an even stronger message about society and what is accepted politically.
Natalie Jeremijenko has a different way to unscript the political process. Through her Environmental Health Clinic at NYU, she gives “patients” treatment by sharing plans of action. While it is still a satirical approach by pretending to be a real health clinic, this is not to make fun of politicians or organizations, but to give regular people ideas to take action against environmental problems. Jeremijenko is unscripting the political process by going around it all together and putting the issue right into the hands of the citizens.
I am not a huge fan of YouTube. That does not mean I do not utilize it. Even for someone like me, who finds the majority of the videos to be unfunny and of poor quality, YouTube is useful. Users take time to cut up every scene of a movie, post popular commercials, and simply spout their opinions. YouTube makes it so that anybody can be a video artist, a filmmaker, or a TV director. Anyone with the Internet is able to find a video on almost any topic and viewers have even more choices than with a premium cable TV. Video artists who have not yet made a name for themselves can start off on this website and gain a following. It no longer always has to be about who you know. YouTube viewers also have the opportunity to immediately respond with comments and possibly forge an interactive relationship between artist and audience.
The way that YouTube videos with a high volume of viewers become almost cult classics, allows for regular people to get their voices heard on various issues. YouTube itself, due to the broad number of viewers, has created a channel called YouChoose ’08. This adds an entirely new level, including videos from the actual campaigns and nominees as well as from consituents. In this sense, video art could very well be affecting choices made in the 2008 election and on various other issues.
The interesting thing about video art in terms of display, is that it can be in more than one place at a time. Many pieces can even be broadcast on the Internet and YouTube as long as they are simply videos without extra screens or objects involved. Rodney Graham’s piece Rheinmetall/Victoria 8uses such objects to send an additional message. I wouldn’t even call this work a video, it is like photography with moving images, and the photography is beautifully composed. Graham’s piece is different because it is shown using a Victoria 8 projector, and the projector is half of the artwork creating a video art installation piece. He is showing the dying out forms of media by filming one (the typewriter) as it is slowly immersed in white powder and facing it off with the other (the projector). The two work together to send a message about old media being replaced by the new.
