Over Analyzed.

I realize that there is a point in analyzing works. I can understand the need to interpret and find reasons for what an artist has done. I can also claim to engage in the process myself. Yet that doesn't deter me from continuously questioning the process. On many occasions I have found myself listening to evaluations and interpretations of films only to think they sounded ludicrous. Then I hear another only to consider it even more far fetched in comparison to the film than the first one. This is where my leeriness to the practice of figuring out meaning comes from.

I have always been fascinated by the world, particularly for the reason that I can see it. Thus, interesting and strange and beautiful visuals have always been important to me. Further, I can admire a piece of work that is not trying to say anything at all other than being good to look at. This is where I seem to find myself alone. In this business it is all about story. If you have a good story the visuals can be worthless and it doesn't matter. The audience will still get it. But I have often yearned for the opposite. I want something void of meaning, void of story, something I can stare at and be amazed. Obviously, experimental film sweeps in to fulfill this desire immediately, yet even that is riddled with the need for interpretation.

I made a video for class that fit a certain structure and message I was going for. Unsurprisingly, the class found numerous other ways in which to read it. I in no way suggested they were wrong but listened to their ideas instead. However, I did not put them there. They were born from somebody else’s mind and exemplify my dissatisfaction with finding a meaning behind everything. Everybody will bring their own idea no matter what is presented. And in a similar vein, one can find whatever they are looking for wherever they look.

Now I am not asking for a schlocky and immature attempt at something so intently driven by entertainment value that it demands the lowest intelligence possible. I simply want the ability to stare at something uninterrupted without having to reason for its inherent magnetism. I guess I just want to see a sunset everywhere.I suppose it is product of our evolution that we stimulate our intellect to the nth degree. And that is fine. Despite the fact that we are in no danger of extinction, it is indeed good to increase our abilities. Yet at the same time we need to be able to revel in simplicity of liking how something looks. If we really want to get down to it, we are trying to find meaning in the things we create because we are trying to find meaning in the creation of ourselves. And as is obvious, we have yet to satisfactorily find that.