Althea Thauberger

Having a new guest come in to talk about his/her work is always interesting. With the case of Althea Thauberger, I'm sure it was just that. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the class that day, but was able to read up on her biography, film work, and listen to participants in the class discussion.

In Emily Vey Duke's Toronto magazine article Althea Thauberger: Experimentalism is Dead: Long Live the Internet, the author comments very well on some of Thauberger's work. Duke implies that Thauberger seems to comment on sociological or economical change in some manner of performance. In her films "songstress" and "A Memory Lasts Forever", Thauberger seems to have her casts react to the subjects and conflict in her films as if it was actual reality. In doing so, they all have to write and perform their own perpective on the events.

This to me is the most interesting element of the work, because while the performances may seem a bit outlandish or ambiguous in it's tone or method, this sense of familiarity with the work is something we should identify with, whether as actors or simply human beings. We can all relate or connect to a certain tragedy in some form or fashion.

By displaying the "empathy" as the author puts it, the subject blossom in full bloom to emphasize the artistic nature presented. This is supposedly meant to signify post-modern art and in some ways is an interesting approach. I for one thought it was a bit over the top in perfomance shots, but the tone was much like art in sofar as the backgrounds and lighting. Forests, riverstreams, sunshine, these are all reoccuring themes presented and used in a very profound way. Like the internet, as the author suggests, I agree that these films were like an outreach, simple in nature, but a voice nonetheless.