Creating a picture scrapbook is a wonderful way of keeping memories intact. Nowadays, important milestones are being preserved online. Christopher Baker’s Hello World is a colourful and meticulously coordinated array of 5000 videos. They have been sourced from Facebook and YouTube. This compilation is one of the top 10 art displays this week at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Each video diary is a visual account of a person expressing his thoughts, feelings and opinions. Baker has painstakingly compiled all these videos and projected them on a large wall. He has even modulated the audio levels and brightness of all the video clips. From a distance, the wall looks appealing with blinking lights and hazy patterns.
Initial reactions from amateur film makers and documentary makers is of awe and amazement. Independent film maker Gajendran says, “This is probably one of the best things I have seen online in a while.” Youngsters are aware that trends have changed, and something that needs to be kept for the sake of posterity needs to be preserved in a different manner. Student Aahana says, “Gone are the days of taking pictures and maintaining albums. Everything is online now.”
Significant life events are up on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Picasa and this display stands testimony of changing preferences. Documentary film maker Svati Maddur says, “It’s a marvellous piece of work and is so relevant today. It’s good that galleries are opening to contemporary forms of art because marketing is key. Else, such a novel concept would have gone unnoticed.”