fast, Faster, FAST!

fast, Faster, FAST!
A program of mixed media works that (mostly) move at a rapid pace.
Wednesday, March 11 th
12 noon
Shillman Hall, room 320
Contact: Dennis Miller, 617 373 4132 or de.miller@neu.edu
www.music.neu.edu/fast
Program:

Chronomops, 2005 Tina Frank, images; General Magic, music

Nanomorphosis, 2003 Brian O'Reilly, images; Curtis Roads, music

Memory of the Tape, 2007 Damir Cucic, images; Erich Maria Strom, music

Energie!, 2007 Thorsten Fleisch, images; Jens Thiele, music

passe-partout, 2002 Stephanie Maxwell, images; Allan Schindler, music

Motion of Light, 2004 Karl Lemieux, images; Olivier Borzeix, music

Lines of Force, 2008 Dennis Miller, music and images

cNOte, 2004 Chris Hinton, images; Michael Oesterle, music

Tower Bawher, 2006 Theodore Ushev, images; Georgy Sviridov, music

Black Noise White Silence, 2006 Marcel Wierckx, images and music

2BTextures, 2008 Bonnie Mitchell, images; Elainie Lillios, music

Chronomops, 2005 Tina Frank, images Austria
2:00 General Magic, music http://www.frank.at/

Tina Frank’s Chronomops opens doors to truly different dimensions: different than digital art’s reductionist studies so common today, different than the serially laid out minimalist images and different than the omnipresent filtering and layering experiments.

Chronomops opens up a shimmering, colorful space that is simultaneously an excess of color, frenzy of perception, and pop carousel. An abstract architecture of vertical color bars is set in endless rotation, whereby the modules and building blocks fly around themselves—and the entire system likewise rotates. The forced movement forms a digital maelstrom whose suction pulls the observer deep into it. (Christian Höller for sixpackfilm ) Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt

Nanomorphosis, 2003 Brian O'Reilly, images USA
3:15 Curtis Roads, music clang@mat.ucsb.edu
clang.mat.ucsb.edu

Nanomorphosis explores the changes of state in a stream of electronic sound particles. This stream is in evanescence–always renewing itself. By manipulation of various sonic processes, I was able to make the particles sound at times like a scattering of hard pellets,
a flowing or bubbling liquid, or an evaporating cloud of steam. I would sometimes mark transitions by inserting a "barrier particle" (a kind of punctuation mark) into the flow. At these transition points one can hear particles ricochet off a barrier, while at the same time
the ongoing stream changes character. This ricochet technique, which is nothing more than the replication of a particle, appears throughout Nanomorphosis . Another characteristic of the piece is the emergence of drones and melodic fragments, the artifacts of resonant filtering. The composition ends in a submerged state.

Memory of the Tape, 2007 Damir Cucic, images Slovenia
3: 50 Erich Maria Strom, music damir.cucic@zg.t-com.hr

Memory of the Tape is a trip through the micro world of the digital recording. During the years spent in the editing room, the author has collected a certain amount of digital garbage from different tapes. Another author has, in the course of his work, collected a large amount of audio garbage. The two dumpsites are the audio essence of an abstract visual attraction.

Energie!, 2007 Thorsten Fleisch, images Germany
5:00 Jens Thiele, music snuff@fleischfilm.com
www.fleischfilm.com

From a mere technical point of view the tv/video screen comes alive by a controlled beam of electrons in the cathode ray tube. For Energie! , an uncontrolled high voltage discharge of approximately 30,000 volts exposes photographic paper which is then arranged in time to create new visual systems of electron organization. Even though the result is abstract it tells a universal story older than the world itself.

passe-partout, 2002 Stephanie Maxwell, images;
Allan Schindler, music

An abstract film/music composition that conjures an atmosphere where an aerial mobile is magically suspended in a three-dimensional space. The floating pendants of the mobile each reveal a mysterious world filled with unique visual and aural forms, movements and gestures. The visuals have been created using hand-cut animated mattes in combination with hand-painted and etched clear and black 35mm motion picture film. The computer-generated music consists of continuous variations and transformations of a seemingly simple but open-ended harmonic theme that caroms through many key centers. However, this theme takes shape gradually, and is heard most clearly in a choral setting only after all five "protagonists" of the work have been introduced.

Motion of Light, 2004 Karl Lemieux, images;
Olivier Borzeix, music

Motion of Light , hand-painted on 16mm film, recalls the all-over movement of certain Abstract Expressionists and Automatistes. Limiting himself to a greyscale palette Lemieux evokes exterior landscapes and ephemeral quotidian objects.

Since 1996 Karl Lemieux has directed several short films such as Bridge with music by Lee Ranaldo, Monophobia with music by Daniel Menche and Motion of Light with music by Olivier Borzeix. He also works on live projections for a variety of musical shows and performances. He is a co-founder of the collective Double Negative, dedicated exclusively to experimental film.

Lines of Force, 2008 Dennis Miller, music and images

Lines of Force (2008) is driven by multiple simultaneously threads of continuity that
appear in both the visual and musical material. Among these are the color palettes, amorphous shapes and repeating rhythmic motive, all of which recur in varied repetition.
The main lines of continuity are occasional interrupted by secondary events that add tension and contrast to the work.

Lines of Forces uses a variety of software resources including Studio Artist and Isadora for the images and Forrester for the music.

cNOte, 2004 Chris Hinton, images;
Michael Oesterle, music

cNote is that rarity, an eye-opening masterpiece that illuminates the past work of an established artist. Chris Hinton has been making fine films for over twenty-five years but none of his previous pieces had the improvisational magic of this spectacular collaboration with composer Michael Oesterle. Freed by the computer from the older, slower methodologies of animation, Hinton has at last been able to combine his love for music and art into a brilliant abstract film. cNote harkens back to McLaren and Fischinger but also blazes a path for a new generation of animators. (from NFB One site)

Tower Bawher, 2006 Theodore Ushev, images
Georgy Sviridov, music

Tower Bawher is like a whirlwind tour of Russian constructivist art, and filmmaker Theodore Ushev pays homage to the movement with cascading, energetic animation. Constructivism was born out of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and Tower Bawher is filled with visual references to artists of the era (including Vertov, Stenberg, Rodchenko, Lissitsky and Popova), who saw their art as being in the service of the people. The work of these artists was a key part of the cultural landscape in Ushev's native Bulgaria . Over the same stirring Georgy Sviridov music that opened the Soviet regime's nightly newscast in the 1970s, Ushev highlights line, form and dynamic rhythms in place of volume and static mass. The title of the film is an allusion to constructivist architect Vladimir Tatlin's tower, conceived in homage to the glory of the proletariat. Drawing on the tower's design, the movement in the film draws us continually upwards towards a utopian summit. But in the end, all of the grandiose, futuristic forms that point to a glowing future wind up crashing under the weight of ideology. In Tower Bawher, Ushev celebrates the genius of constructivist artists, while also offering a scathing commentary on art in the service of ideology. (freom The Big Cartoon Database )

Black Noise White Silence, 2006 Marcel Wierckx, images and music

Zwarte Ruis Witte Stilte ( Black Noise White Silence ) is a compact, computer-generated audiovisual work that makes use of minimal resources to demonstrate the impact possible with digital media. The tight synchronization of video and audio is the dominant source of tension in this piece—the visual activity is mapped explicitly pixel-per-pixel to the audio track, resulting in an intense multi-sensorial experience for the viewer. It was inspired by the experimental video works of computer graphics pioneers such as Lillian Schwartz and John Whitney. The use of fractal-generated source material gives this work an organic quality, while its compact form provides a sense of immediacy and contiguity.

2BTextures , 2008 Bonnie Mitchell, images US
Elainie Lillios, music http://immersiveinstallationart.com

This two-movement audio/visual experience leads viewers through abstract environments influenced by nature and life. The first movement, "Branches," reflects natural growth and evolutionary patterns often found in the structure of trees, river estuaries and
other organic processes. The second movement explores breath, the indicator and moderator of life. Sonic breathing and gasping juxtaposed with an icy visual environment, metaphorically illustrate the fragility of our existence.