Critical Writing
Concise analysis of Black and White Rule by Maya Zack
Throughout the first three quarters of this work, the set, clothing and narrative all lean towards the idea of having to conform against the worlds chaotic nature. In these stills, the colours flit between monochromatic and greyscale, as they are for the duration of this film and her other films. This portrays that the subject of the film seems somewhat detached from reality which could imply that Zack wants the audience to understand how out of touch with reality it is to attempt to impose order and structure to natural beings, and yet almost seems necessary for the world to retain structure and constitutions. The only colour that is ever shown throughout this moving image and others of her work, mainly ‘Mother Economy’, are slight yellow hues. Yellow is commonly associated with joy, happiness, intellect and energy. Even though Zack’s work is not viewed as a literal joyful piece of film, I believe that this subtly and cleverly placed burst of colour every now and again could be Zack’s way of showing that in the world we live in, order and form make human beings feel in control which in turn makes us assume we feel comfortable because we have power and control over certain things.
Another way that Zack ensues calm throughout her films are the symmetrical lines and views we continuously see. For instance, even when the male actor is asleep in bed, his form, the tones and surrounding set all instill a sense of calm and order on the viewer. The socks match the floor, the trousers match the bottom blanket and the shirt matches the top blanket which gives a gratifying and tranquil view to the audience, which in turn makes the viewer feel comfortable because the entire shot is colour coordinated and linear which sets to give the audience a certain sense of ease and calm. This is intentional to make the viewer feel this way, almost to lull us into a false sense of security, whereas the last part of the film sets us on edge with a sense of unease and discomfort due to the fact that human beings are programmed to feel safety when in control.
Although for the majority of the duration of the film there is a definite conforming attitude from both the dogs and the male actor, at the end we see the chaos that Zack’s film is attempting to alleviate, reveal its true self.
As the short film draws to a close, the pedigree dogs, superbly trained and controlled by their masters, go up to the creator, and as he stands it is implied that his dominance and power is about to be counteracted because of the nature of him succumbing to what he previously had control over. But this is not the end of the narrative, rather the beginning. The view point then cuts across and looks at the neurotic, obsessive researcher who was sitting in a separated room. She appears to look down upon the outfall of the situation but continues to measure and investigate whilst viewing a pile of corpses through a glass frame of large, grid form. Here, she continues to register, record and mark the failure which implies the project is not over, it is in fact the emergence of her problem solving. Barbarian and social structure continue to be used together, and this in itself creates an impasse that has found a solution to work.