Jurors’ notes:

***Juror’s Special Mention
I was really curious how the creator makes the decision on when to start recording in class while she was teaching. It is so interesting to look at school classes from a teacher's own perspective through a camera. As a teacher, her intention of taking video and photographs in class can be very functional, But I feel the urge of making this video, which was made in an expressive way. For me, the video’s structure is clear and dynamic. It goes back and forth between those kids' attention and scenes of rainy days. The piece is full of tension, especially those moments that the camera and I (as viewer of the video) are steered naturally by what draws the children’s attention. Those close-up shots are moments of relief. Somehow I imagine the video-making process to be an 'experiment' set up for the teacher herself -- to sit down and observe with the students what's inside the flasks in complete silence for four minutes. Although the result of the experiments is obvious, the evidence and review process are not really explained. (Wong Chun-hoi)

Tamas: I remember this work well and have watched it several times … Amateur editing and shooting, but the work’s POV and atmosphere are strongly created.

John: This video stays in my mind for a long while… How the author juxtaposes sequences of daily routine, moments of kid’s innocence and curiosity, and images of the microscopic world. The visual narrative shows the contrasting sentiments of a science teacher for children and it must have been hard. The title “keep going” says it all.

Winnie: It is a ‘low-tech’ video with interesting composition. The shots aren’t logically sequenced but somehow I got into her pace. The video shows her daily life but also how the students are learning and their curiosity...

Linda: Even though the author is not a professional video maker, I can still see the deliberate craftsmanship behind it, such as how the ambience of the train was thoughtfully placed to link up the school corridor and the moments of grading on a train ride. I am always fascinated by how “untrained” videographers “invent” their own audio-visual language to articulate their thought paths, and it is Dn/Ve’s commitment to encourage purposeful articulation with the ubiquitous imaging tools. Some shots are just grabbing, such as the mass morning assembly and gymnastics exercises. There’s always the shadow of discipline and control hanging over the joy and cheers of the children.

Jurors’ notes:

Tamas: I really enjoy this piece. It’s funny, crazy, surreal and interesting.

John: The work feels distant to me. I do not necessarily like how it’s staged.

Hoi: I like the game rules she set up, building up from normal to crazy things. I keep imagining what objects I would choose if I were to play the same game.

Linda: I like this work a lot. It is a time-marker. I also like the basic repetition-variation narrative grammar, which gives a fresh feel to the familiar cinematic convention of suspense and audience expectation. A competent performance -- her body language has its own rise and fall and climatic moments. With not a lot of resources and a simple set-up, she has achieved a lot.

Jurors’ notes:

***Juror’s Special Mention:
I give this work my “Special Mention” because it is the only one from this round that could be considered an account of virtual-romance: it is funky, rebellious, repressed and repetitive, very intimate but yet distant. Like how the artists describe it, the work is a ”virtual exile.”...... Sound is carefully crafted against equally crafted spatial design, which gives the visuals their character. All this calls for slow and thoughtful viewing, which fits the piece’s playful poetry, also suggested in the title. Viewers are given lots of room to actively inspect the lyrics book with hidden layers slowly revealing. All three elements -- the poem, the sound and the visuals are all individually expressive but nothing excessive. I celebrate this work as the co-creation by the three artists, highly elaborate, it is amazing how casual sketches by each of them could gradually blend into a work that reveals the process of collaboration to us. (John Chow)

Tamas: Strange, long, slow, touching, clever, provocative. I didn’t think the two parts were connected.*
*Editor’s note. The artists submitted both part 1 and 2 of this title as two separate works. Only part 1 is included in this edition.

Winnie: Much of the work’s tension is built up by sound. I enjoy the process of being transported between video segments whereby I seem to have become a persona in the work myself, as a spectator or reader. But I do not see how this aspect is linking up the monologues or dialogues, which is the main component...

Linda: I think this work is more perceptual than conceptual. I enjoy the process of watching it, and watching and waiting for the layers constantly performing their changing internal relations. The answer to the question “what is it (I’m looking at)?” keeps changing from moment to moment. It is a “seeing” game, challenging and invoking our attentiveness whereas the multi-layered soundscape, which we don’t see, sustains the work’s integrity and holds everything together. Really love the visceral experience of moving between aural and visual layers. 

Jurors’ notes:

Tamas: I don’t really like the concept of a hidden camera in the public. It feels alien to me.

Hoi: The interlaced video gives it a ‘raw’ quality. … I keep thinking of the story of Cinderella.

Linda: A basic piece of observation and the story is there, found on the spot.

Winnie: It’s simple and direct. It offers me a natural gaze. I like the process of waiting and getting an unexpected result.