CNN piece about artist Sam Easterson’s “Animal, Vegetable, Video” project. Sure, obscure animals show up in reality TV shows all the time — let’s see, ah…. boar urethra-eating contests, maggot mudbaths… and so on. But here, the tables are turned: tiny cams weighing about a half-ounce are mounted on buffalos, tarantulas, armadillos or plants, and the camera rolls until it falls off. Snip from CNN story:
The result is a unique perspective applauded by armchair naturalists in which the stars of the film are also the videographers. “If people can see things from the animal and plant perspective, they are far less likely to harm them or their habitat, so that’s how I present it,” Easterson said.
Earlier in his career as a video artist, Easterson put small cameras in strange places — also with the goal of getting a different perspective. He put them in popcorn poppers and washers and dryers to show what those domestic appliances looked like from the inside out. But equipping a small flock of sheep with cameras in 1998 changed everything for Easterson, he said. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, commissioned him to tape some sheep as they “mowed the lawn” in a park. Easterson said he learned a lot about his new craft and the nature of animals.
Link, Discuss (thanks, extra88″)