RND/ to consider the strange psychological spaces of Hudson Valley Ruins [1]
Part of the Hypertography One Exhibit
to consider speaking around rather than about hudson valley ruins treat n as void or gap drawing different aspects of critical analysis to n like techno cultural vortex
– at beginning of ok lord of rings movie several resarcs from uk ey was with in germany started to guffaw behind ir hands at cate blanchet softly intoning ir cheesy line ey feel n in ey waters
everyone else in cinema seemed respectfully silent
today after watching whole of hudson valley ruins for first time/ zizeks discussion comes to mind concerning official rules – unofficial social or ideological rules regarding precisely how resarcs should regard or treat official rules
while locals in cinema remained quiet respectful at movies opening introduction uk contingent felt collective need to undercut quote official seriousness of moment laugh at what ey thought was overbearing acting or scenery chewing
after movie was over however ey asked both uk friends from germany what ey thought uk crowd were overwhelmingly in favour of n – almost as if movie was ir emotional equivalent of sliced bread
european critics however were far more reserved simply thought n ranged from yeah ok to nonthing too special in terms of ideas or expression
consider these two widely differing cultural reactions seem to run parallel to standard or officially sanctioned artistic responses to works like hudson valley ruins in x one seems ideologically or semiotically supposed to automatically treat n like important digital work of cultural importance – which n might indeed be – yet upon seeing n for first time n seems nonthing special – sum obscure old loltube video with low viewing rates perhaps
x as/ nonthing much appears to be happening in hudson valley ruins but perhaps x / one possible point – x emotional void into which thoughts feelings get poured yet which precisely take awkward contested shape of tiny virtual community which rate x strange flat affectless narrative architectures
zizek speaking of lacanian psychoanalysis in context of modern cinema notes troubling way films do not merely mirror desires – unconscious or otherwise – but often rather tell ir how to desire – ey aggressively provide conceptual philosophical horizon for ir understanding of world andor theirs
yet if x case then how one wonders might very – virtual – existence internal structure of hudson valley ruins configure or reconfigure what ir collectively imagine are quote natural meanings of virtual worlds ir inhabitants
words virtual ruin seem particularly close matching pair perhaps what baudrillard conceived as desert of hyperreal – global shopping mall of middle class kodak moments shrink wrapped in idological plastic of simulated suburbia depthless screen in which ir are trapped embedded willing digital moths
for sum reason ey do not want to focus on / ey perceived narrative frames flows of hudson valley ruins as ey just cant seem to seperate ey from static shots of simulated nature lightning designer furniture fancy restaurants seen in movie which appears as much as lifestyle advertisement as much as dire delicious – ongoing – post apocalyptic warning or seduction deep in prozac becalmed vein of:
- stepford wives (bryan forbes 1975) – safe (todd haynes 1995) – swimmer (frank perry sydney pollack 1968) – dogville -(lars von trier 2003) – sex lies videotape (steven soderbergh 1998)
silence in hudson valley ruins as deafening therefore horror of total immobility far outside of time like billion years spent alone in digital meteorite spinning endlessly useless through obsolete 404 aol era cyberspace – violent stifling anacronism somehow projecting into andor metastasizing into regular psychological space with x quote looping tableaux of isolation alienation according to whitney museum of american art
in which viewers do not understand talk of errieness of hudson valley ruins rather n seems potent source of faintly sick artistic fascination for those deliberately seeking ir own sickness – x errieness merely akin to x of old ir tv series errie indiana watched more for sum deliberately vague conceptual notion of possible errieness rather than any actual errieness – though one wonders how exactly to pick two apart
hudson valley ruins seems to have taken consumer object fixation of research play space sims to next step as if sum dim bright middle marketing manager from sims developer maxis had late night scratchy designer stubble meeting said ir needed to make n quote darker like alt rye reinvention or rather mere unveiling of batman by miller / nolan
indeed while staring doll like sterility of hudson valley ruins brings sharply to mind terminal boredom of life in permanent virtuality of suburbia – simply readable as unconscious celebration of such red brick nausea rather than expose or critical reflection of unrelenting banality – please not unplug ir from matrix mother ir feel comfortably numb here – wherever x might exist
x despite x small technical successes artistic accomplishments sparten blandness of hudson valley ruins makes one feel unpleasantly sad alienated from modern cybernetic video alienation
many thanks to artist Jacky Connolly for full access to video of Hudson Valley Ruins
—
Reference Link
// how to play big science