#amvphilosophy

  The subject that our team (team31) analyzed throughout the course of the previous semester was AMVs (anime music videos). We knew that it was a controversial theme that many don’t know a lot about. That’s why we tried to keep a balance between the technical information, the historical references and the analysis we did on videos and events. It is easy when someone is not familiar with the work behind an AMV or even with its raw material, anime , to overlook or minimize the value of a video. That’s why we wanted to explain the process and the effort behind them.   Even though, AMVs nowadays are starting to gain more popularity and more people are searching and write books about them, it was still hard to do a deeper research on some particular events due to limited information on the internet. We often had to translate Russian text and other languages and sometimes we had to personally contact a person to ask and confirm events that occurred to them. We wanted to integrate AMVs to digital art culture and showcase them as a hybrid art. While we were analyzing, commenting and broke down videos, we had the chance to learn about and examine many forms of art, such as montage, compositing, etc. We also saw many kinds of movements and as a result we researched for each art specifically and paralleled it with AMVs, pointing out the similarities, differences and how they are applied to AMVs.    In our attempt to analyze our subject from many different viewpoints, we discussed and we philosophized about ethics, the meaning and what makes something art and other important issues. We hope that we kept it easy for someone to read and keep up and that you will have fun going though our blog and perhaps learn something new as we did.

It’s not hard to visualize how a psychedelic AMV would look like, crazy colors, many spirals and distorted music right? Yes but no at the same time. Although those aspects are classic and we diffidently can see them in a lot of videos, the community often combines it with the psychological/thriller subcategory, giving the video a “darker side” of psychedelia.

Let’s see same examples:

AMV: Psychedelic Limbo - AMV by  KazKon Name of channel: KazKon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPrn1Q40vvAdudaaLJoGWsQ Date of upload: April 16 , 2018.

“Psychedelic Limbo” is the final part of the trilogy ”MonogatariPsychedelicTrilogy”,created by KazKon.In this example we can see a clear approach in which the psychedelic aspects are the main character of the video.The colors are brightfull and distorted ,we can see clear patterns that are repeating and visual effects that have a kalidoscope feeling.We can also detect spirals, concentric circles, diffraction patterns, and other entoptic motifs .Even the music have many elements that create an uneasy feeling.

Occasioned by "Ghost audition", a previous video we commented on and observed psychedelic elements, we would like to talk about the relationship between AMVs and psychedelia. Psychedelic videos are a subcategory of styles that an AMV can have, as in most art forms. To have a better “picture” however, we need to know and understand what psychedelia is and where it came from.

“The term "psychedelic" is derived from the Ancient Greek words psychē (ψυχή, "soul") and dēloun (δηλοῦν, "to make visible, to reveal"), translating to "mind-manifesting"”. (wikipedia, Psychedelia ,2020) and it originate from the 1960s and the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD,mescaline,“magic” mushrooms ,etc. Although the discovery of LSD took place in the late 1930s by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, it was not until the 1960s that its use and properties became more widespread. It all started when the drug came to the attention of Professor Timothy Leary from Harvard University, who began experiments with LSD on his students. One of those students happened to be Joe Boyd, who perhaps not coincidentally later went on to produce the Pink Floyd, Soft Machine and The Incredible String Band. It didn’t take long until this new drug affected not only the mind but also the culture and the arts, especially the music. So the subculture of “Psychedelic Art” was born.  

“The Psychedelic Art movement is usually featuring highly distorted or surreal visuals, bright colors and full spectrums and animation (including cartoons) to evoke, convey, or enhance psychedelic experiences”.(wikipedia, Psychedelic art ,2020) and in general art that is a visual depiction of kaleidoscopic-like patterns.It’s a movement that influence art and creations until today and it doesn’t, just adapt to every technological change, but uses new technology to create with new media. From fractals to visual effects to 3D graphics, and of course, to AMVs.

sources:

Wikipedia. “ Psychedelic art”. Last modified June 12, 2020.

Wikipedia. “ Psychedelia”. Last modified May 13, 2020.

Arthistory.net. “ Psychedelic Art “.

   As we saw in a previous post, collage and montage goes together especially when it comes to AMVs.We could say that they are most important “ingredients”, when it comes to AMVs’ creation.

“Collage is not the only parallel technique to montage, however. The use of collage and montage can be seen in poetry, such as in the writing of T.S. Eliot, where sets of seemingly arbitrary words are strung together to create new meanings. Furthermore, the collage/montage device can even be seen in the music of today, where producers create “mash-ups” of songs to create a new unique hybrid song. Thus, while collage and montage are usually associated with visual art, they actually apply to a wide array of mediums.”  (Jared Leibowich,montage,2007.)

   It's easy to ignore and not notice the power of collage in every frame of an Anime music video. The fact that the AMV creator has to write a scenario, or at least a quick overview of the video in order to make it, is often ignored. But the truth is that behind every image, every second we see, there is usually a lot of work and processing, in order to attribute the creator’s vision. Lots of masking ,rotoscoping, camera tracking,VFX and other creative procedures, are required in order to visualize the creator’s vision.    The reason why one may not realize this complexity, I think, has to do mainly with the lack of knowledge, either on the technical aspect or on the raw material, which the creator has to work with. That is understandable and expected for someone who has not been involved in this type of activity. It is hard to understand what is supposed to be edited and what is not, what is part of the show and what has been added or is original creation. The same goes for the part of music, whose work is often not appreciated or overlooked.

So whether you are talking about compositing or remixing or any other form of collage, it is important to recognize the effort and attention to detail, the creators put on their videos. That is why it is necessary to understand the importance of collage in this area. From a simple crossover ,to intricate creations of new environments and entities.

sources:

Art can be defined in many different ways. What is considered art and what is not has been a question frequently asked throughout history, but the more people discuss about it, the more they argue. Others believe that artworks can simply appeal visually, while others believe that unless the piece work has a meaning or a message from the author in it, it can’t be considered art. Others simply believe that anything can be art as long as it can stir emotions and that the definition of art is an individual matter with no real answer to it. For many people art is just a label that sticks to specific occupations like sculpturing and painting.

For each belief there are many representative AMVs. Some very distinguished examples:

  1. Visually appealing: 

   2.Author’s self questioning and speculations:

https://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=9795&fbclid=IwAR2xLlU_Gs6uc25S6xjGx1vQQZAdo680551Vgtkzpi2tk8RdLZlJYmlGJM8 

This AMV has created quite the controversy when it first came out. Others found its scenario to be disturbing while others could understand the creator’s concerns or ideologies he touches on.

What is art? And who can say if something actually is? Various theories have been told about art and aesthetics, about issues related to the field that is generally called art theory. All the different opinions and the constant evolution of technology is what make a question like this so tricky. According to the Cambridge Dictionary art is “an activity through which people make something beautiful or express particular ideas and feelings”. But is this enough? Dr. Laura D’Olimpio ,  senior lecturer in philosophy of education at the University of Birmingham claims that :

“One’s experience of art is subjective as individual tastes differ. And yet, if we are to claim that some artworks are better than others, or explain why some artworks stand the test of time and are valued by generations, we need to refer to some standards by which to judge them. Should artworks be beautiful? Do they need to be moral? And who decides whether or not they meet these criteria? Despite the historical interference by political and religious leaders who worry about the influence art may have in a society, debates as to what constitutes good art, aesthetically and even morally, has been a matter for debate for aestheticians. Sometimes it takes time for something to be considered art, let alone to be considered aesthetically valuable. Think about Banksy’s graffiti art. It has been the case that unsuspecting council workers have removed graffiti from the side of a building only to later discover they have inadvertently eliminated a valuable artwork. And yet, not all graffiti is considered art or deemed valuable. Definitions of art have changed over time. Traditional views of art usually cited ‘beauty’ as an important feature of artworks, but that has since altered.”

Indeed, art is not just the classical accepted, such as painting and sculptures nor something that only intellectual and artsy enjoy. Art is for everybody. From Plato and Kant to Danto, they all had different theories, but they all agreed at one thing. Art is about an experience, something that stirs emotions in you. It doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative; the emotion that gets stirred differs from person to person.  Then, why is it that projects like AMVs can’t be consider art? We know that AMV's unconventional logic may be an obstacle to their acceptance. The fact that they use visual material from specific sources may seem strange to someone who is not part of the community. But if we think about it a little more, it is not new. The same logic is used by collages in various movements, such as Dadaism, where images from other sources are collected and processed to produce a new result. So why can't a “moving collage” with a unique aesthetic, which has its own visual perspective and its own story to tell, be open to a subcategory of art? I think it can.

Yes, it may have started out as a simple fanart, but with the advancement of technology and software, which provides users with endless possibilities, it has evolved into a medium that can critique topicality, raise serious issues and to show, how every creator experiences and sees the world. The word Art has now become a label, so hard to access, that often new ways and ideas to express yourself get rejected.

Source:

Dr  D’Olimpio Laura ,” Ethics Explainer: Aesthetics ”,The Ethics Center, January 24 ,2019.

Ambavi Adriani,”Τί είναι Τέχνη;” ,Art MAgazine,July 13 ,2010.