Analyzing Melina Hale’s Welcome Video for Avant-Garde Sensibilities
Following her groundbreaking short film “Welcome to Welcome Quarter,” many in the UChicago film community sensed a more avant-garde sensibility in Melina Hale’s quarterly welcome videos. Here are some of their observations about her latest work, “Welcome to Spring Quarter”:
At 0:05, there’s a little maroon box next to Hale’s name. This represents the dichotomy between thinking “inside the box” and “outside the box.” Hale recognizes that, as a member of bourgeois society, her art reflects her privileged social position; yet, as an artist, she seeks to use her art to relate to the four students who didn’t immediately delete her email.
At 1:20, Hale receives a postcard. The postcard has information telling you where to find the BA art thesis exhibition. The image of the postcard seen after the cross-fade does not. Hale’s message is clear: Because art is elusive, it must be almost impossible to find. Hence why it once took my Via twenty-three minutes to find the Logan Center.
At 2:10, Hale’s image is subsumed by the UChicago logo. Just like how everything in your life will soon be subsumed by p-sets and midterms. Happy Spring Quarter!
Katherine Timm
