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“The Chair”

For some reason I watched the chair video first. The slow falling colored feathers created a very calm feeling for me. I honestly expected those feathers to pick up the pace and start falling in bunches rather than stay at a cool and consistent rate, but I respect the fact that Jack Goldstein took his merry time with it. I thought of the feathers as memories passing by the solid and stable mind (chair) over the course of one’s life. Some of the feathers stuck to the chair like certain memories stick in our mind. For the most part, a good amount of memories pass on by and eventually cease to exist just like the feathers on the floor. At first I thought the chair had some static going on to have the feathers stick to it, but then Leslie mentioned the chair looked “tarred” to her. I came to realize it makes more sense to have the chair tarred instead of being static, but then I thought this is just like dunking a person in tar and coating them in feathers to make them look like a chicken. Now, I find the video rather humorous. On another note, this video does seem rather seasonal. The feathers resemble the leaves of fall floating down to a chair outside. The black and colorless chair will eventually be completely covered with the feathers just like the ground being covered with the leaves of the fall season. Well, I guess this applies more to the north. Florida doesn't see much of this.

“The Knife”

After watching a few seconds of the second video, I knew Jack Goldstein was demanding the same amount of patience as his previous piece. At first, I couldn’t help but wonder how the reflections were being generated off screen like some others thought. The second thing that came to mind as I watched the different colored reflections glide across the knife was the various emotions each color might represent. These emotions that we go through, like the angry red, can slowly build up over time until they reach their apex point. The sharp changes show how quickly we can go from one state to another: nervous to calm, impatient to furious, etc. The knife reflects our emotions. However, I do like how Marah compared the knife to a loading bar on a computer. We all have watched and waited for a loading bar to make it all the way to the right and then it executes something – not to kill or stab as the knife would imply, but to carve out a new a program. After thinking about this video once again, I really would like to know the reason why Jack GoldStein chose a knife. Why didn't he choose a metal rod or another kitchen utensil that could equally produce a clear reflection? Also, I am curious about the layout of the knife. Why is it going sideways and not up and down? I think it could build on more if it was vertical than horizontal.

Random fact: The woman at the top of the page that lists the two videos that we watched is about to get her eye cut in half with a razor.