video still: Ryan Trecartin

    I-Be Area is a highly kinetic video by Ryan Trecartin. It should carry a warning label for those with epilepsy or sun stroke. Trecartin explores identity through subject matter ranging from cloning to lifestyle. His video explodes with color, vocal inflections, and rituals. I often found the experience of watching it disorienting and vaguely uncomfortable. It is as if Trecartin is trying to pry the audience loose from a sense of identity while exploring those ideas on screen. While I found myself fully imersed in the world he creates, I was glad to escape from it at the end. I suppose any good meditation on the subject of identity should leave one hoping to get back to their own reality.