Body Navigation by Recoil Performance Group from ole kristensen on Vimeo.

Body Navigation by Recoil Performance Group

An exersize in deconstruction this video of a live performance through the Six Viewpoints:

SPACE- The physical relationship between the performer, projector, light and camera is linked through this group's innovative use of technology that pushes the boundaries of shadow into magically possibilities. The architecture and spacial landscape for the performance space and the performer's bodies feed off another to use light as the only "set" which established place, space and focus.

SHAPE- The shape of light and shadow is geometrically and organically conceptualized to follow and influence or play into the shape of the performers body. Physical form is observed in the patterns and within the performers body. The positive and negative space that defines physical form is very clear and crisp. The use of line and amorphous moving blobs is a great use of shape.

TIME- The timing of technology with the timing of the body is directly related now! There is no middle man "running" light and projection or camera...what have you. The duration of the videos content on moments in the peice is enough to let the viewer feel involved and included but does not give away the power of the full duration of the peice that occurs in real time. The systems of duration that the performer's body participate with simulate insects.

EMOTION- The state of the film's being is observant and a window into the live performance. The state of the content of the film, the live performance itself, exists anywhere between anxiety and complete calm. Such range.

MOVEMENT- The physical sensations of the video show the peice's use of technology reading and following love body physical simulations within a matrix of movement which provides for astounding moving visuals.

STORY- Logically, the metaphors, symbols, and other arrangements of information allow the veiwer to draw upon their own individual conclusions while clearly understanding a sort of system that talks about duality, light and dark, etc.

This interview with Hélène Cixous is highly intellectual at first, but as it settles reveals very interesting perspectives. In her interveiw, Cixous explicates the intellectual as a universal sort of capability. This concept works with and against culture, to address the phenomenon; Phallocentrism. Cixous, a french feminist is part of a feminist movement that is really very differant from "material" feminism. The difference is that the material feminist beleives that women should push to rise above the phallogocentric (masculine/male centered) system to be the new leader. That women are greater and have been oppressed, women are to come up and conquer the pyramid structure. The once weak woman in history has been hitting the glass ceiling and must break free. Now, french feminism deconstructs all structure so that there is a sort of anarchy thread among all humans, and there is no pyramid, there is no glass ceiling. Women are empowered already and always have been in there own way. They are already rooted deep within the earth and there is no great wall they need to conquer- There is no wall. The perspective simply changes internally within the many complexes of what makes a human and the defininities of gender. The woman does not need to become more like man in order to be less opressed. Women should be women, and know that in macrocosims, the return to or the persistence with their own natural qualities is simply...beautiful.

This breif window into a larger film shows the clean and clear cinematography that establishes time and place. I also enjoy that we see the interveiwerer and that we as the viewers are allowed to follow along the journey of the interveiwer and naturally see topics unfold with the interveiwee.

This breif interveiw with Dmtry Chepovetsky is a really relaxed and welcoming conversation about a Canadian project. Although the lighting is really dim, and the audio is slightly echoed, the establishment of space is good, and the veiwers invitation to see the subjects body language is great. I would have liked to seen a closer shot of Dmtry, and as a veiwer gotten more personal with him. The sonic element with his name and his names font and position works really well for me. Also, the music at the end, with Dmtry's voice over feels like a really clean finish. The transition cuts throughout the interveiw with the white flash gives the film a bit of a rough-cut feel to it, that I enjoy and adds to the mood of the interveiw for being casual and in a real hop atmosphere.

This video is just a preview for the film I just recently went to see at the Durango Film Festival in Colorado. This documentary was shot in your traditional format of interviews and fly on the wall sort of scenes. The beginning credits were incredibly well done and the introduction to the project being documented was really engaging and also emotional stimulating. The film work was clean crisp, well edited and extremely personal. The project itself called for a certain aesthetic criteria for the documentation. The project was basically about this guy who goes by someguy who, inspired by graffiti-bathroom walls, took on this project of making 1000 journals to place in the world for the unknown finder to discover and hopefully use. He created a website to track, discuss, facilitate, and document the projects process. Well, the journals ended up traveling the world and touching the hands and hearts of many people globally stirring up quite personal issues and striking journalistic touchstones across humanity that speak to the creative outlet of speaking the silence in journals- publicly. Well, someguy wanted to take the next step in the project later in its development to push it out in to the public even more- whether through a gallery installation or book publication. However, the nature of the project leaves a lot of journals out there floating in space that are not exactly track-able. And how do you chose which journal entries to keep and omit when the artistic framing calls for delimiting the material? I think this video documentary is really quite suitable for framing this project and allows it reach many viewers, giving them a solid idea of the project as a whole and its ephemeral-ness, while being able to see a good portion of the journal entries recorded. All in all- this documentary covered it subject really well and accurately and clearly framed the project but compositionally- as far as the art of film goes, the concept and relay of information couldn't have been really farther pushed graphically and the tempo of the piece generally stayed at one level. ---Kinda makes you want to journal.

A window into the process of a choreographer. This short clip reveals this choreographers thoughts and concept for his creative process and then allows the viewer to enter the rehearsal space with him and see how the process is practiced and how he uses his experience, impulse and imagery to push the performers. The camera work is nice, clean and simple- allowing the subject to be observed completely and instigating the need to see more. The choreography itself is strong, innovative, and exemplifies the bodies creative capabilities beautifully. The choreographer that we see here became the artistic director for the Nederlands Dans Theatre in 1976. Nederlands Dans Theatre explores new techniques of performance combining the conventions of dance and theatre with subtext, narrative, and political layering. Again, great clarity, simplicity, and window into the artist's life.

Andy Goldsworthy - Sculptor

This breif excerpt from the film, Rivers and Tides, directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer reveals a glimpse into the work of Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy's sculpture is ephemeral to the mercy of the environment. Time and change are essential elements to the concepts of his work. The majority of his work is outisde and is often only witnessed by the documentation of the peice. The films resolution through the internet is a little unresolved but the shots are tight, the audio levels are excellant, and the shot by shot reveal of the peice Goldsworthy is working adds a nice dynamic to keeping the viewer curious and engaged. The cinematic timing and stillness with the moment of the peice's ultimate fall due to the wind allows the image and action in the frame to speak for itself, and let the power of the moment come through the technology. This economy of using minimal editing suites well for a documentary about a visual artist and their work, letting it be about the subject instead of about the vehicle capturing the subject.

Carpe Diem


The style of editing in this short film is

Short Fiction Film- "moment of decision"

I was interested in this short film because of its not only interesting and unique concept, but the technical tightness. Its resolution and quality of picture is excellent. The frames are really tight and controlled. The story is clear and the magic of the story is really engaging because of the director and cinematographer's mastery with the camera. The juxtaposition in the story between the beautiful and the weird is great. The lighting and sound was spot on. Crisp, clear and clean.

Butoh

Butoh. The dance of the darkness. This form of dance emerged out of Japan, and became a more predominant art form after the bombing of Hiroshima. This 'dance' form was about the portrayal of death. Tatsumi Hijikata, one of the Butoh founders has some amazing literature out there about the art form that I highly suggest you look into if this strikes your curiosity. This video, of a Swiss performer, (Butoh has since become a global art form for many culture's to express the extreme juxtaposition of death and beauty) Imre Thormanne at the Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Shiga, Japan in the summer of 2006. This video follows and aligns the frame very well with performer. Perhaps a great sense of space with a wider shot- may have been a better establishment of space. However, a lot of other Butoh video's out there on the web have very poor quality and are the typical low-quality video of the theatre experience. Theatre, I must say, is absolutely ir-replaceable by film and certainly does not do the work justice, but then again film has provided me with a lot of opportunities to get a sense for dramatic theatre art forms that I have not yet had to opportunity to experience live. The art of Butoh makes for an outstanding visual image. It would be interesting to create a Butoh piece specifically for the digital video medium.

Samurai SLICE!

SAMURAI! This video is really cool. The slow motion cinematographer, and the amazing quality of picture is truly a fascinating insight to the death of the tomato. The high contrast in color allows the visual to be powerful, impact-full and make a lasting impression. The water and juice flying out of the tomato is a mesmerizing moment. The samurai slice is soooo sweet! I had a bit of fear that the camera was too close to the tomato and it was about to get sliced. I think that very tension is what fuels this picture to be effective and exciting. The egg slice is just as awesome, seeing it split and slide open like that. Having the high speed camera allow the viewer to witness something like this is such a technological opportunity for opening a new perspective being that this event is nearly impossible to discern in real time. SCHOOOooooooo.

KiKi Smith, Jewel

This is a 3 minute excerpt from the 62 minute original cinema, Jewel, by Kiki Smith in the year 1997. I was originally searching for a sort of documentary film on Kiki Smith's sculpture, but instead found this cinema that I found to be really engaging. At first glance, the composition seemed to depict bloomed dandy-lions drifting through the air. But as I stayed with the footage longer, I realized I wasn't sure what the drifting forms were, amoeba's of sorts with long thin wrapping tentacles, or jellyfish. The mood comes across as a sort of nostalgia for me and the gentle movement of the forms conveys some kind of peace. Yet the mystery of what the picture is actually abstracted from, remains as an evoking and inquisitive thought that engages the viewer, allowing the seemingly simple composition to not loose its power and sustain its integrity. The colors are greatly contrasted. The pattern of movement and forms establishes unity. The lack of audio seems to actually work for this cinema, rather than lacking sensory stimulus, it serves the piece better than some other examples of silent cinema.

Antony Gormley Process

Antony Gormley, British sculptor, castes his own body out of plaster. He then takes that caste and layers it in fiberglass, then a layer of wax. From which a lead or iron scuplture is made, leaving the space inside the scuplture, open- a vessel for the memory of the body that used to be there. Witnessing the artist's creative process, for me, can be sometimes more engaging than the product, or makes the product that much more layered with detail that stimulates my creative energy. I appreciate this films breif window into the proceess of Antony Gormley and appreciate its time to release the verbal narrative allowing the silence and essence of the picture to speak for itself.
(photo, Antony Gormley, Three Calls: Pass, Cast and Plumb, 1984)