Denver Performance Research

Awesome Home-Made Costumes

A Tribute to Tom

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.