[-empyre-] Species of cinema/sculpture/digital/animation live action objects and soundtracks

[Suzanne Buchan]

After Chris's articulated concern about digital 'rules of engagement'  to Richard 
and his raising the 'human condition', I'd like to ask Thyrza to say a little more 
aabout her collaboration with

" the artist and inventor (ZOOB) Michael Joaquin Grey who makes
computer based film animation objects that he just showed at Sundance and
also at P.S. 1 this summer. We can talk about these at some point because
they are their own species of cinema/sculpture/digital/animation live action
objects." 

I'm thinking of ways to align a discussion of objects - 'stuff', matter, non-digital objects,  to how works - for instance
from the Quays - incite engagement with the viewer. I'm specifically thinking about an
 engagement with non-anthropomorphic sculptures, puppets, screws, even animated sunlight
 (IN ABSENTIA) that deeply affect our experience of being in the world via being in the 'world' 
of the Quays' animated films.

Thyrza already topicalised this: 

Here's a tiny aside: what animation does which I will never get tired of, is
really what is its most simple, -- take a blank space and with only one dot
or one line -whether it be ink, zeros and ones, cut paper, hair, a bowling
ball or kitchen sink- + movement  make the simplest magical, moving,
astounding, anything. It's as simple as that. (. . . ) In fact I am blown away by the line rather
than the character but that's my taste or rather, when the line itself and
the blank space becomes character.  

Much of the emotional experience of watching the twins' films has to do with the soundtrack, 
Larry Sider's work and much of Lech Jankowski's compositions, that add an abstract emotional
quality - but not a 'human' one - to the screws, sunlight, pulleys, dust. I've written about the soundtrack
extensively in the book on the Quays, and discovered that part of the reason their films have 
such an emotional impact is because Sider and Jankowski actually manage to create what I call
an 'ambient, diegetic soundtrack', something that is obviously technically impossible in single frame
(i.e. same-time sound and image recording 24 FPS). 
And what' remarkable is that this contributes to the credibility of the realms they create,
 the metaphysical machines and the vitalist (Bergson, Schopenhauer) undercurrent that is 
rampant throughout their work.  

So I'm wondering what folks out there think about matter, 'stuffness', and the soundtrack, for instance.


Suzanne


-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 4366 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : https://mail.cofa.unsw.edu.au/pipermail/empyre/attachments/20100224/bdabf6b4/attachment.bin