Week 5_Response_Sam Glover

This week, I chose Migration by Doug Aitken.

For starters, I love how the artist chose to present this work. The installation is featured on these long, wide screens that resemble billboards. I believe that Aitken is making a commentary on the impact of human expansion on native wildlife. Therefore, the inherent symbolism and irony of displaying this film on a billboard tie beautifully into the meaning.

This film is a collage video, shot in a series of second-long clips compiled together to make a whole. As far as camera techniques go, the artist uses some panning and zoom in/zoom out, but mostly just static shots. I assume the majority of the video was shot on a tripod. The work feels cinematic in nature; the animals are the characters, and the setting is a motel.

I really enjoy the imagery of the motel. It's such a stark contrast to the environment we typically see these animals depicted in. I think Aitkens is trying to make an environmental commentary. Humans are driving animals out of their homes and habitats as we continue our urban expansion and deforestation. We would usually rent a motel when we are away from our homes and have nowhere else to go. I think that's why the motel is such a symbolic setting; as long as we continue to destroy their homes, these animals have nowhere else to go.