STOP.LOOK.LISTEN.: Janet Bigg's Predator and Prey

Janet Bigg's Predator and Prey was a quite amusing piece of sound and depiction of predator and prey. Her work was a two-channel video installation shown on eight Plasma screens. On the subject of imagery, it consisted of many scenes with animals (horse hooves, eagle, and polar bear) as well as man in two scenes. Overall, I found Bigg's Predator and Prey extremely fascinating and appreciated the work that was put into it of the different kind of focuses with two screens showing one thing different from the other.

The sound that accompanied the wonderful imagery was of great amusement in the way it was developed with, perhaps instruments to represent the animals in the video. In the first scene, both channels show a horse's hooves trotting on which looks to be moving ground (like a treadmill). In that first scene, the sound of trotting hooves was the dominant feature but because of the double screen, it was also double the sound of trotting. In contrast to Patty Chang's only soundtrack of slurping every now and then throughout the video, the introduction sound of the hooves related to me like a steady beat that could be more closely associated to music as Aaron Ximm would put it. Then as we proceed to the next scene of a man with his expression of pain in his head on the left plasma screens, the right screens displayed an animal. The sound this time is a type of a screaming sound which couldn't be identified as music to one's ears but one that I could connect to the imagery that was displayed. This made me be able to understand the pain the man was expressing in the left screens from the guess that the animal on the right had possibly produced the scorching sound. Thus, I interpreted that the animal was the predator and the man was prey to the effect of the sound made by the animal.
Moving on to the scene that made the most impression on me was the one that showed the eagle on both screens in mirrored images of the eagle; so that the left screen he was facing himself on the right screen in the same position. The sound in this scene was like a substitute of what you'd hear for the flapping of the wings as the eagle flapped it at its attempt to get its food from off the string. I believe this was the only time that the sound had a fade in the left speaker to fade out in the right speaker in the headphones. The instrument used to make the sound would not be easily identified - perhaps a drum? Regardless, the sound engrossed me to the screen and my attentiveness to what was being presented at the moment led me to think of how everything worked together in that moment with the sound, image, and mirror view of the eagle. This very scene made me ponder on the effect of the substituted sound that was used versus if the literal sound of the eagle's flapping wings was used. I think what Bigg provided in this scene seems to be more intense with the substituted sound of the wings, inviting the viewer to stop, look, and listen.

The last scene also made an impression on me, although not as much as the scene with the eagle did but it was still a great part of the video that I enjoyed. The video finished off with the horse's hooves again but only this time, the sound of the horse's hooves was not working harmoniously but the sound of left screen being played a little before the sound for the right screen was played. So to me, it was like finishing with music, and I think it was a great way to end it. I will admit that the rhythmic sound of the hooves this last scene made me want to dance to its beat. It sounds silly, but I felt that even with so simple of a sound from a horse could be appreciated. I don't know how I would feel if I were to see two horses first hand and trotting in the fashion that Bigg was able to create, but I have to point out that because the scene was manipulated into creating this specific sound, that it could definitely be credited as a dancing beat – something can be related to the performance of Riverdance.

Overall, I found that the sound used throughout Bigg's installation was an alternate between music and just sound that related to the image displayed on the screen. I admit that even though I found that there was an alteration between my feelings for the sounds, I enjoyed Bigg's work immensely upon the fact that the video was able to project feelings into me from beginning to end. In connection to Aaron Ximm's four artist statements (provided below), I think Bigg was also able to pinpoint each one in her work.

First. I want to recontextualize the sound around you.
Second. With composition I often aim to evoke specific emotional colors.
Third. I want to provide an environment for different thoughts.
Fourth. I want to take you on a trip.