Peter Sarkisian Biography
Peter Sarkisian, 37, studied film and photography at the California Institute
of the Arts in 1985/86 and then directing at the American Film Institute
in 1989/90. He began working with video as a sculptural element in 1994;
a process which he felt challenged the moving image more effectively than
the standard narrative models being used by filmmakers at that time.
Having worked for a number of years with video as his primary medium, Sarkisian has explored its limits spatially through the integration of projection and form. His primary motive has been the spatial integration of image through techniques that question the fundamental properties of the medium itself, namely frame and surface.
The volume of Sarkisian’s work seems intent on deconstructing the perimeters of frame and surface, while unifying the elements of projection and physical object. In this manner, he is expressing a tendency toward a guideless conveyance of image and story which, as an idea, took root during his time as a filmmaker.
Using two-dimensional projections intertwined with three dimensional surfaces, Sarkisian is attempting to free his imagery from the confines of the frame, thereby creating a sense of immediacy, which overcomes referential barriers and enables the viewer to participate perceptually in a constructed event. Sarkisian believes that the frame is a telling characteristic of the video in that it defines the point at which image begins and ends, and that this delineation implies image mediation. It is through the elimination of the frame that the artist aims to integrate the video image as source, as embodying events not referenced, but happening in the present and in concurrence with our viewing.
In this way, Sarkisian’s work is generated by ideas rather than technology. He attempts to use video in ways that transcend the traditional associations of the medium, while focusing on concepts specific to each piece. He challenges the viewer to forget about the medium and to become lost in the human and living ideas imbued in the work.
Sarkisian’s early work dealt primarily with the implied presence of the body or person. He found that the viewer’s sense of encounter is often heightened in the absence of literal bodily representation. In so far as the video image is perceived as being a mediation of reality, Sarkisian found that offering the image of body through video is less effective in conveying a sense of presence than simply implying such a presence, as though other share our surroundings, yet remain unseen.
The work he produced involved the union of physical objects and video projection in the form of shadows, as if light were falling across objects from a flashlight held by an unidentified person in the room. He brought the movement of shadow and object together seamlessly to suggest a spatial connection between an implied distant light source and actual objects resting in front of the viewer. By introducing visual or audible gestures, which allude to the presence of another person, the viewer becomes more deeply involved, and the space around the work becomes active.
Recently Sarkisian has adopted a different approach to the treatment of the body image, wherein there is an element of direct bodily representation. In works such as “Dusted” and “Hover”, the body is revealed, but in a spatially viable manner; inside of a cube, crouched down or kneeling and forced to contend with inherent spatial limitations. In this case, the body appears to be held within the confines of a space which isn’t simply theoretical, but physical and fully dimensional. In these works, the sides of the cube are feature images that are spatially proportionate with each other and the figures within can be viewed from different angles depending on the viewer’s vantage point. Here the body is being used as reference for personal identification, as an organic denominator, which we all share regardless of our relative characteristics. The body hints at our being, and it’s the issue of our being which seems to interest Sarkisian the most.
Sarkisian’s work illustrates broad topics through focused treatment of isolated figures and the forces that act upon them. He chooses to turn the viewer with expressions of overt ideology. Rather he encourages the viewer to fall forward, into the work, as an act of private deliberation.