Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad highlights causal conservations between Phil and his parents around family life, road trips, and camping in an interview-like setting, where his parents sit against a plain brick wall facing the cameras. Phil gives a live-demonstration of the image processor to his parents. His minimalistic approach to processing implies a laid back family time instead of his pursuit of an artful, finished product.

Phil’s dad starts by blowing into the microphone repeatedly, demonstrating how media tools’ capability to amplify one’s physical, visual, and aural existence. Media tools raise awareness of self-existence through interactions and engagements. As Phil’s parents talk about their visit to an RV manufacturing plant, they also respond to seeing themselves on a monitor. 

The latter portion features only conversations between Phil and his parents without image processing. Towards the end, Phil jumps in and points at a 7-UP bottle that he was holding, and says “7-UP commercial” out of the blue, amusing his parents and viewers. It’s an indication that they, and likely many other video artists, were familiar with marketing techniques in mass media.

–Gordon Dic-Lun Fung

For more information, visit the Phil Morton Memorial Research Archive page. 

The date for this title is approximate.