[image via collinwillis.com]
This’ll do for anyone wanting some weird art. Collin Willis toys around with a bunch of media – gifs, videos, sound stories, photos. It’s the kind of art that feels like anyone can do, but it’s too appealing for that to really be the case.
I’ll talk about the videos – good for anyone into film experiments. “Heat Sureens – Meet Quan Yin” is 21 minutes of mostly gif length clips, often with several visuals in the frame at once – clips of subways, nature, gun shops, and people turning on room fans. It kind of messes with your eyes to see two clips with movements in different directions at one time. There’re no filters, no easily digestible angles, but the shots never drone on. There’s something pleasing about a lobster crawling over ice when you only have to look at it for a second.
“WiTOWMAKER – Where Are” runs 35 min and kind of watches like a music video that won’t end. It loops a soundtrack of someone saying things like “I fucking love you. I know people tell me that I deserve better but I don’t want nobody else – I want you” while sobbing and sniffling. It’s a collection of slo-mo, black and white shots of what seems like a gay pride parade. There’re a lot of naked men. It’s clearly a celebration, but the video editing makes it seem grotesque. It’s fun for anyone looking to leave their comfort zone.
Colin Brush is the fiction editor of Broken Pencil.