Comfortably in the Uncomfortable

Many artists strive to push the boundaries with each art piece that they produce. This story is no different with Scott Stark's, "More than Meets the Eye: Remaking Jane Fonda," in which an attempt is made to make the audience feel awkward, perhaps to open up their minds to what he is trying to say. In this video, we follow around Scott Stark as he recreates an old Jane Fonda workout video. He does this in various settings, some public and some private. He is wearing a ridiculous outfit that is far outdated in terms of today's standards. This causes the audience to watch his video with a speculative state of mind, leaving them wondering why he created this video the way that he did.

The possible reason for his wanting to create a sense of awkwardness and make the audience feel uncomfortable, is that of opening up a vulnerability with him and the audience. A lot of people in the present times are unsure of politics, and therefore unwilling to talk about them. Scott Stark tries to break down this wall by showing the audience that he is willing to put himself in a position of ridicule, where he could be laughed and looked down upon. This uneasiness is experienced not only by himself then, but by the audience as well - a bond and relationship has been created between the viewer and the creator. His hope is to then allow the audience to more openly accept his statements that scroll across the screen during the video, or maybe not to accept them, but to at least ponder them.

Creating an awkwardness in a film is one way of opening up a pseudo-dialogue between the artist and the audience (yet another way of breaking a boundary). Although, it is possible for the reasoning behind his awkwardly appearance to be of the essence of pure entertainment, I do feel that there has to be a deeper meaning behind it.