Curt Cloninger –TOM

see me
See Me (2011, 57MB, 6:11 min)

feel me
Feel Me (2011, 11MB, 1:03 min)

Two parts of a rather good new work –
TOM (an instrumental rock opera remix in four parts)
by Curt Cloninger, of whom we are fans.
He remixes the 1975 film of the Who’s rock opera Tommy to striking effect.
I can’t imagine crossing the road to see the original, even for free, but
here Curt’s sense of beauty, drama and balance – which have served him
well in a number of works and projects involving remix/appropriation, notably
his fantastic playdamage project –
redeem banality to something genuinely affecting.
More next week.

Alice in Wonderland, 1903.

Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1903, 136MB, 9:32)

Enthralling first ever screen version of Alice in Wonderland
from 1903, lovingly restored by the folks at the BFI.
There’s no-one –no-one – who could not learn
something about film-making from this gem.
Nine minutes of sheer, grinning-with-joy delight.

Simon Mclennan – The Mouse Escapes

the mouse escapes
The Mouse Escapes [Trailer] (2010, 4MB, 37 secs)

Difficult to gauge from the trailer what the full 12 minute piece
might be like but it will clearly be interesting & atmospheric and guided
by an acute visual sense.
The music, written by director Mclennan, is also rather good.
Website, with lots of details, here.

Lev Manovich – Little Movies #1

manovich #1
Binary Code (1994-98, 2MB, 52 secs)

manovich #2
On the Ephemeral Nature of Little Movies (1994-98, 3MB, 1:05 min)

I mentioned the Manovich Little Movies in the post I did the
other week on Eryk Salvaggio’s ‘Unfinished Mpeg Haiku’.
In the course of writing that I went to Manovich’s site to look at them
& was surprised to find that their page was in some disarray
and the movies themselves had been removed.
Nor could I find them either in the version archived on the Rhizome Artbase.

It seems a shame for them not to be available -they’re historical
(and in many ways amazingly presecient) documents at the least,
although I find them – especially the last one – gripping and touching too.

Then I remembered the wonderful Wayback Machine and I found them
there, all snug and safe and sound.

We’ll post them here in twos in the next week or so,
in the order in which they appeared in Manovich’s
original presentation of them.
Although the image linking to it has been removed from the site
Manovich’s very interesting statement remains.
(I guess if that goes too you’ll still be able to Wayback it)

“Eternal Return” by Jennifer and Kevin McCoy

eternal_return
Eternal Return (2006, 4 MB, 1:54 min.)

“Eternal Return” installed at the exhibition Stop Motion at the Edith Russ Haus,
is a remake of a scene from the musical movie The Gay Divorcee.
The piece was reworked to allow a large video projection for the exhibition.”
by – Jennifer and Kevin McCoy.