PROTOTYPE

Prototype is an online gallery featuring video art from various artists. The gallery intends to make a space for video art between cinema and galleries making it more accessible for viewers everywhere and in turn helping it gain a wider viewership. The website's interface features colourful moving images and symbols with big bold titles to override the background and short video thumbnails of featured art. The website is easy to navigate and visually interesting promoting a fun environment for viewers to explore. They don’t post weekly as they used to but continue to support video artists by hosting events where they commission video art. Audrey Lam’s ‘Is anybody coming over to dinner?’ is featured in it, the short film shows a young Yoki, age 8, and his life as he navigates the arrival of a younger brother. The film looks at his connection with his parents seeking an idea of origin and opening a choice to rebel or accept it. His parent's native tongue is shown his mums Japanese and his dads German, whilst he speaks in English (rebellion). There's occasional inclusion of each other's language into their vocabulary shows a deeper agreement of family (acceptance). The film portrays Yoki from his own perspective embodying a memory of a child. The clips are short, and phrases are repeated as a child does, showing their short attention spans and the long insistence. It is a perfect representation of a child's perception of the world. The video is a 16mm film and includes colour and black and white images. The cracks, grain and bleeding that occurred during production can be seen in the final product. The raw material adds to the rawness of its contents and creates a nostalgic atmosphere emanating a feeling of home and family. The use of film really interests me and is something I want to explore in the future.