Tim White-Sobieski: video Before They Were Beatles

Before They Were Beatles
Proyección de video de 4 canales sincronizados.
Formato HD - XGA, color, sonido surround, bucle,
Tiempo aproximado, 16 minutos.

En Before They Were Beatles, White continúa investigando y formulando tesis que aparecen en sus trabajos precedentes: la filosofía de la muerte en medio de la vida; la juventud expuesta a la muerte y el diálogo entre el bien y mal.
El artista nos muestra en éste trabajo un viaje metafórico emprendido por cuatro adolescentes que se mueven por el tiempo, saltando de una era a otra cambiando de vestuario y escenarios, hasta llegar a su destino, La Última Cena.
La escena de la Última Cena está dispuesta exactamente según el fresco de Leonardo da Vinci en Santa María delle Grazie, siendo las figuras de los Apóstoles reemplazadas por los triplicados de los cuadro protagonistas de Before They Were Beatles.
La escena nos muestra a los participantes de la cena justo antes de la partición del pan, ese momento antes de que todo acabe, antes de que se transformen en los Beatles, antes de que simplemente LLEGUEN A SER. “La humildad en la vida merece más la pena que la grandeza en la muerte” (Tertuliano). Los chicos en el vídeo de White están llenos de vida y esperanza.
El vídeo reflexiona sobre la ambivalencia cultural cada vez mayor de la filosofía de guerra-y-paz del siglo XXI; en una manera éste trabajo interroga la desilusión que ha propiciado el siglo XX con la idea de guerras patrióticas e ídolos americanos agigantados.
Una y otra vez, diferentes generaciones de chicos y chicas descubre que en vez de fortalecer su mente, la política y estereotipos pop provocan interpretaciones erróneas y destructivas.
La filosofía de matar a sus hijos antes de que sus hijos puedan matar a nuestros hijos subyace en sus palpitantes jóvenes cerebros ¿Es que Jesús no condenó para siempre la guerra al no convocar un ejército vengador para evitar la humillación, tortura y ejecución del único hijo de Dios? Él permitió a la humanidad continuar con su maldad, como continúa haciendo hasta ahora, sin interferir, sin represalias o venganza.
La guerra e imágenes bíblicas del proyecto tiene relación con el “culto a la juventud” Tim White elige deliberadamente a adolescentes entre 12 y 14 años, en los papeles de soldados en la época de la guerra de Vietnam y como participantes de la Última Cena.
Recuerdos de guerras y de asesinatos bíblicos ilustran temas de culpa y responsabilidad en los vídeos de White casi en una escala shakesperiana. La apariencia física de los chicos en diferentes épocas, en diferentes roles (pero inexorablemente en el borde de la muerte) enfatiza los temas de apariencia y equivocación explorados a través del vídeo. El artista eligió a los Beatles en su época de renacimiento y de años 60.

Before They Were Beatles
4–channel synchronized video projection, approx. time 17 min 10 sec
HD – XGA format, color, surround Dolby Digital sound
Original format: Betacam SP & DV, aspect ratio 4:3
Projection format for synchronized 4-channels: D16
Soundtrack by the artist.

Tim White’s new video project is executed in preeminent style and is a persistent exploration of the artist’s perpetual thesis – on philosophy of formation of the young mind under oppression of the glittering images of mass culture. This project involves much of staged activity and grows closer to the cinematography genre than any of the previous works.
Four monologues are concentrated on the topic of becoming (or not becoming) famous and growing real values within their “musketeer” friendship. Through the images of the pop culture of their grandparents, the teenagers are trying to analyze the temptation of fame and the resistance to the loss of identity. The boys appear in imaginary places and unthinkable outfits: one is throwing a sparkling yo-yo while wearing camouflage uniform; two little soldiers are resting in the red colored battlefield; all four of them are in all white tuxedos play glass music, etc. Transplanted from era to era, changing costumes and scenery, they try to come of age and evidently cannot, as the climax of their journey brings them up to the table of the Last Supper.
The project reflects on the increasing cultural ambivalence toward the 21st century's war-and-peace philosophy. It is a way in which this work envisions the 20th century's disillusionment with the idea of patriotic wars and super sized mass-culture idols. This generation of boys and girls discovers that politics and pop stereotypes provoke destructive misinterpretations instead of empowering their mind.
The boys' physical appearance in different times, in different roles emphasizes the themes of appearance and equivocation explored throughout the film. The artist depicts the Beatles in their Renaissance and in 1960’s incarnations. Their figures, songs and images of youth remain relevant to the project’s main aesthetic principles in various cultural and historical contexts.
"Englishmen are dying for England, Americans are dying for America, Germans are dying for Germany…There are now fifty or sixty countries fighting in this war. Surely so many countries can all be worth dying for?" "Anything worth living for," said Nately, "is worth dying for." "And anything worth dying for," "answered the old man, "is certainly worth living for." (Joseph Heller, “Catch 22”, 1961, Vintage).
It is apparent that for the artist the state of being “forever young” is as important as the idea of briefness of being. That is why the images of youth travel from one White’s film into another and their incarnations must face the heaviest problems on Earth, while the visual means of their creation are technologically complex and coincide with the eternal myth of eternity only by the will of the artist.
One may consider the project in its entirety a speculation on the identity crisis situations in contemporary society that is striving to produce "stars" (or "star quality" stereotypes) in every corner of life. The film is not a narrative; it carries the viewer's mind away through different times and visionary locale. The "travelers in time" are four American boys, obviously fans of The Beatles, speaking from the screen about their perception of fame and life.
The first part of the project was released in 2004 and includes series of six photo prints and 4-channel video installation.
The photographs although related to the videos in idea and aesthetics, present stand-alone images. They were staged and shot in 2003-2004 with large-format cameras and printed as cibachrome and digital c-prints.