Alibi (Black or White) is my PhD art project. I created it by extracting frames from the bluescreen sequence in Michael Jackson’s music video Black or White (1991), processing them through various protocols, and synchronizing with sound into a modular installation comprising video projections, sound and images.
There are three basic video protocols. Protocol 1 is a successive morph of 13 frames with representative portraits of the actors in the original bluescreen sequence. Protocol 2 is a successive morph of 13 transitional morphing frames between the actors in the original bluescreen sequence. Protocol 3 is a successive morph of all 1147 frames in the bluescreen sequence.
Duration of protocols is set to 3 minutes and 22 seconds to sync with sound that was made with a simple dynamic transition between the instrumental version of Black or White song and the field recording of polar wind.
I made the photographs from the two key sets of video frames: 13 representative portraits of the actors in the original bluescreen sequence (used for the first video channel), and 13 transitional morphing frames between the actors in the original bluescreen sequence (used for the second video channel). I edited, filtered and rescaled the images, and made AccuPhoto HDR prints 61x51cm each on the Fuji satin 240 g/m2 photographic paper.
This project explores the potentials of generative methodology for designing an ambient in which the portrait—through interrelation of the perceptual, cognitive and emotional factors—initiates the viewers’ identification and (self )reflection. Narrative and symbolic qualities of the portrait are integrated and emphasized through visual transformations, animation and sound, while the neatly defined operational procedure provides clarity and efficiency, and becomes a specific framework for creative expression.
Referring to my previous projects and to the works by numerous other artists, Alibi (Black or White) is an event-space, open for the conscious and/or unconscious reflection on corporeal, cultural and aesthetic implications of the portrait, visual representation and interpretation, ideology of appearance and identity, and virtual essence of reality.
Alibi (Black or White) : Demo One installation in the FFA Gallery (6-23 December 2012) included 26 photographs, 2 video projection loops and 1 sound loop (all synched to 3 minutes and 22 seconds). Realised with generous help from the Cultural Centre of Belgrade.
Installation photo at Milan Kralj's blog Gallery Shots! The Unofficial Chronicle of the Gallery Scene in Belgrade.
Alibi (Black or White) belongs to a series of my projects in which the portrait is transposed from the visual database to an event, such as Dog Life Days (1997), All My People... (2002), a (2006) and a[4] (2010). It is elaborated in the installation Anticipations (2015).
Bibliography
Dejan Grba, Alibi (Black or White) PhD Dissertation Summary, 2012.