"They are all my creations."
This quote was used to answer a line of questioning relating to Rudelius' position of control in her working projects. The audience at the end of the lecture, was very concerned about Rudelius' role as the artist and director of the work she termed, "representations of truth." When asked if she controlled the dialogue in her videos, she confirmed and related this discussion about reality and script to issues of authenticity throughout film. "The unguided truth doesn't exist," she said in relation to documentary. I believe this concern of the audience for validation of truth in her work is exactly the reaction Rudelius hopes for with her videos.
3 Words
1) Truth
2) Control
3) Generalizations
About Rudelius
The most interesting thing I learned about Rudelius that I did not know before is about her background in documentary photography and its role in the development of her art practice. Her disenchantment with documentary is clearly evident through her work, which I was having a hard time connecting before the lecture. The content as well as the way it is presented in her final piece references the uncertainty of authenticity she must have experienced as a documentary photographer and filmmaker.
Answers to Questions
1) My first question to Rudelius addressed the format she uses frequently involving a double projection of two subjects simultaneously with dialogue rotating between the two. I wondered if this technique was meant to reinforce the sense of generalization and cataloging I got from pieces I saw of her work before the lecture. During the lecture, she confirmed this in answer form. In her search for "truths" she catalogs her subjects into groups in backgrounds stripped of clutter, reducing the subjects to their very generalized groups and environments. Rudelius mentioned that she was "not so much interested that it is about especially one person," and the techniques she employs to create these groupings, such as the double projection, reflect this.
2) The second question from below dealt with commonalities between the different pieces, or different groups Rudelius references in her work. I think I was questioning whether it was important at all which specific group she filmed. The answer is that this work seems to be to a large extent a direct reaction to situational anxieties she experienced personally. For example, the Moroccan men who mugged Rudelius in Amsterdam subconsciously planted a racist seed in her, which she dealt with by examining the culture of this demographic through film. I was also questioning below whether the work was meant to be didactic in any way and I gathered from the lecture it is. Rudelius wants the viewer to think about the "truth" behind the subjects and channel their own experiences when approaching her work, so they can interact co dependently with the work.
Compelling Piece
After hearing Rudelius discuss Rites of Passage, I find it is extremely compelling. I think this piece in particular rides the line of uncertainty as to the artist's control. It seems as though she is documenting conversations nobody would normally see anyway, so a reference point to understanding this type of situation does not yet exist, at least to me. The relationships between the subjects in this piece don't seem controlled by the outside artist in a weird way, because they are obviously not quite right. However, this was the only piece I was really left wondering about. Do these closed-door conversations mimic this piece in actuality? What elements of this work does in fact represent a reality? If I included mental reality in this question, would the answer include more of the work?
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