In my video work I generally work within the format of short loops, in concert with limitations set by various pre-existing formats, from the web-based animation method of the .gif to the ubiquity and faux-cinematic quality of DVD menu screens. Quotes is edited and distilled from downloaded Youtube clips, in this case based on a search for “quotes” and “stock quotes”, and selecting an appropriate search result. A short clip of an LED stock ticker is overlaid on a Youtube user-generated collection of the top 100 popular movie quotes. The resulting video is looped continuously.
Quotes – TRT 3:10 mins.
Working primarily with abstract paintings, conceptually driven sculpture and video, and pseudo-mystical, idiosyncratic performance projects, Ian Swanson creates works that seem to exist within the liminal state between their own dissolution and causation.
Using the creative process as a catalyst towards the investigation of cultural and generational styles and modalities, he presents a casual, fluid, and often contrary attitude towards exposing the “tenuous relationship between what we reveal and what remains unseen.” In his works, investigations of previously disregarded possibilities toil through repeated actions, with an intention of escaping the expected outcome.
In challenging common applications of material and forms of representation, Swanson creates works that are both raw and highly sophisticated, inviting viewers to embark on their own explorations of existing references and conventions.
Ian Swanson received his BFA from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He is represented in Southeastern Michigan by Re:View Contemporary, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY where he is attending Pratt Institute as an MFA Candidate.
Ian Swanson – Brooklyn NY
17 Days Video Series 
at first its really hard to tell what the video is showing, then you realize that its stocks overlaid on some type of blurry image of people. the audio track is mesmerizing and adds to the unrecognizable visual clips.
Your idea of a quote is something I don’t think about every day, but there are many different types of quotes and different things you can quote. Quote means to repeat something, which you are doing in your video by repeating the same thing over and over. I think this video is definitely a thinker and I enjoy the play of the word “quote.”
I too am enjoying the word associations going on in this video! Stock footage of stocks over stock footage…quotes, repetition, etc. Clever.
I was first confused about what the stock ticker had to do with the video footage over it. Near the beginning I really couldn’t tell what the video footage was. They looked like clips from movies or television, so I make this connection between the stock market and media?
The bad image quality of the scrolling stocks made me uninterested real quick. So i began to focus on the blurry imagery in the back. I could make out a couple forms, but not much, so I thought about why the artist would blur the background video so much, so we as viewers couldn’t tell what it was. Was it important? Maybe.
I think this video has a very eery feel to it. I think the imagery is working well with the text to create this mood. The blurryness also is a nice effect for it.