A man with dark hair, black trousers, and a tucked-in white dress shirt, a bag held in each hand, standing in front of a military tank – those who are familiar with China’s historical 1989 Tiananmen Square protests know who this individual is. American artist Jeff Siegel’s interest in politically and culturally influential figures of the past continues with his most recent animation, entitled Tank Man.
Loaded with digital renderings of choppy images and a mishmash of colors and textures, the roughly minute-long looped animation abruptly tells the story of the heroic figure, Tank Man, who stood in front of military tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests. A sense of humor and melancholy coexist in Siegel’s work. The cinematic format which sets a stage for Tank Man is constantly interrupted by superimposed images that pop up and run across the frame. While the Tank Man's bodily movement is clumsy and rigid, the surrounding environment goes through various transformations, as if they dominate, isolate and absorb the man. Siegel’s version of the story critically addresses the ambiguous relationship between the viewer and the historical incident. Siegel’s visual language is extremely unique and sensory, but Tank Man instantly overdoses the viewer with uncertainty.
Whereas pictures, videos and stories of Iran’s protests that occurred in response to the presidential election result in 2009 widely and rapidly circulated around the world via the internet, and are still vivid in our memory, few images of Tank Man exists today, and are only vaguely recalled in our minds. Anonymity and ambiguity surrounding this specific event seem to be what Siegel intends to communicate, and yet his images remain rather inaccessible, leaving very small room for the viewer to grasp what's happening.
No comments:
Post a Comment