Here it is pure and simple: I find experimental video art to be extremely difficult to engage in. This might have something to do with the fact that I really have no idea how one goes about conceiving or creating it; the extent of my video editing knowledge is trapped somewhere in the early aughts when imovie seemed crazy sophisticated. So one would think I would have some reverence for artists who can bend, manipulate, and edit the shit out of digital media in such a way that they create complex compositions out of real life footage. But alas, I just find myself ignoring video art. Something about it shuts my sensory experience down and I find myself either day dreaming, or growing frustrated by my lack of context with a piece and a whole genre of contemporary art.
It was much to my surprise then last night whenExperimental 1/2 Hour a bi-weekly cable access show produced by Eva Aguila and Brock Fansler (you can read some more about here) presented some video art that held my attention and got me excited about experiencing the medium again.
The act that was probably the most thrilling last night, and that easily stole the show was the performance put on by Lucky Dragons, the video/sound magician duo populated by Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Now I already know I’m going to sound like an idiot here, because I have absolutely no idea how their piece worked (and couldn’t track them down afterwards to ask), but from what I could tell. Lucky Dragons built some kind of motion capture audio platform that they were able to generate ambient sound from when objects moved upon the machine’s sensory field (oh my god I’m not doing this justice). Basically the duo each held a large piece of striped gray and white paper that they would slide across a glass platform. When the lines of the two sheets matched up, there would be no sound, no distortion coming out of the speakers. But then when moved, when the lines crossed and mixed, sound would grow, become manipulated, change, and soar. And what’s more, all of this was then projected on the screen behind them so we could follow every little move they made with the machine. It was an engaging piece and impressive in its craftsmanship and execution.
I’m wondering if any of our readers (or maybe a Mr. Matt Stangel?) could tell us better how these crazy kids made this magic happen? Anyone want to chime in?
Also, how do you feel about video-art? And did anyone happen to Tivo the live broadcast of last night’s Experimental 1/2 Hour?
moire patterns on paper>digital camera input>max/msp/jitter patch> projector and ears
Lucky Dragons: Was that a light-sensitive theramin? It was cool that they were creating moire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moir%C3%A9_pa…
Experimental half hour has a vimeo. http://vimeo.com/experimentalpdx One can only hope they’ll put some of the performances up. I am crazy to see the Princess Dies video again. Did I ever know such contentment before I watched Ashby Lee Collinson run around with her braid attached to a large helium balloon?
As the dude taping up that bottle was mislabeled. So who was that?
I think they were doing something with light controllers– manipulated by what the host described as live moire– selecting frequency and oscillation ranges and applying those parameters to values of light and dark. I spoke with Abe Ingle after the performance and he knew a lot more about the types of input devices that I’ve seen Lucky Dragons use in this and past performances (tune-yards’ release show for Bird Brains resulted in a Lucky Dragon set where the audience controlled synths with rocks and an input device that manipulated sound via human touch– in the end, a pile of people were writhing on the floor of Holocene, the sound reflecting the cumulative, touchy-feely human mass.)
I bet Abe could talk more on this in technical terms– you out there Abe? Fill us in!
I didn’t get a close look, but I suspect that they’re using Max MSP and possibly also Ableton Live. It’s hard to gauge exactly how a shadow equates to a change in sound (it could have all been pre-recorded for all we know,) but it appeared that simple light sensitive sensors were wired up to alter elements of the synthesizer sounds. If people like Lucky Dragons and other acts that use non-traditional interfaces – I would HIGHLY suggest doing some research into mid-20th century electronic music. No dissing on Lucky Dragons, etc… who make no claims to be doing 100% original stuff – but none of this stuff is remotely new, just forgotten. Conceptual sound artists have been doing work like this (but with -gasp- conceptual underpinnings) for 70 years now. Interested parties should look up Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Subotnick, and Wendy Carlos
-abe