Omer Fast

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Omer Fast (born 1972, Jerusalem, Israel) is a contemporary video artist. He received his BFA from Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1995 and an MFA from Hunter College in 2000.^[1] Fast uses his films to explore the various possibilities offered by cinematic medium. His piece The Casting (2007) was featured in the 2008 Whitney Biennial.^[2]

[edit] The Casting

The viewer walks into the screening room of the The Casting initially encountering two hanging projection screens. Each screen contains a different depiction of a narrative showing the characters acting while silent and remaining completely still. The projection screens are double sided and contain two additional images on the rear side where the viewer sees two men engaged in an interview. The two men are a young American Army sergeant and the the artist in a dialog about the narrative. The artist states during the interview that he is interested only in memory and how memory gets mediated; he says the work he is trying to achieve has or should have no political slant. Although the work is politically ambiguous it shows the powerlessness of an American Army sergeant in the current Iraqi conflict and possibly the powerlessness of perceived American hegemonic power.