La vitesse – Toma (2005, 7MB, 1 min.)
La Vitesse – Raphael (2005, 6.8 MB, 1 min.)
La telephon portable – Linda (2005, 5.6MB, 1 min.)
Another round of videos from Les Filmistes Associ
By Mica.
Category Archives: narrative
Flatness:145
Flatness:145 (2006, 11.5MB, 2:25 min.)
Deftly made & somehow rather British quirkiness
from artist Rob James.
Two from Monkmus & Kid Koala
Basin Street Blues (2003, 11.3 MB)
Couple of collaborations between artist & film-maker
Monkmus and turntablist Kid Koala found on the
generously-stocked-with-goodies video page of the
Ninja Tune site, these tracks are pure aural & visual delight.
Two Moon July – David Byrne and Phillip Glass
David Byrne – Report from L.A. (1986, 49MB, 4:30 min.)
Phillip Glass – Mad Rush (1986, 29MB, 3:17 min.)
Both of these pieces, although incredibly different in feel and nature, were
preformed for the “multidisciplinary event” which showcased “experimental
video, film, visual art, performance and music in a theatrical framework”.
Shot at New York City’s infamous Kitchen, and broadcast on television sets
across the states in 1986, the production “reflects a moment when art centers
were experimenting with new modes of presenting the arts for television.”
Read more and see more here.
“More fun than you can shake your stick at”
Will Luers – Commute
Will Luers – Commute (unnamed one of eight) (2001, 3.6MB, 1:00)
Will Luers – Commute (unnamed one of eight) (2001, 3.5MB, 1:00)
I set myself the task of recording the same route
to work (Brooklyn-Manhattan) eight different
mornings from winter through spring. Each
segment was edited to exactly 60 seconds.
The linear and cylical experience of the urban
commuter lends itself to the database structure.
Will Luers, also known as Taylor Street Studios and
various projects under the name SolubleFish, has a
great history of making web video. Sometimes artists
are a little miffed when we post their older work, but
I think respecting your own history is important.
Luers’s work is no different. This piece from 2001
might seem obvious in 2008, when taping your
commute seems pedestrian (hah) and obvious.
But these vignettes – eight in total – are a lovely
reflection on repetition, routine, and subtle change.
Dan Osborne’s Investigations
Investigations (2008, 40.1MB, 2:05 min)
Perfect piece of film making by Dan Osborne.
Interesting to compare it to the piece by him we posted
earlier this year.
There’s a lot in common, true, but what strikes me is both the
real elegance & the very precise focus of this new piece.
In contrast with the (admittedly very attractive) sprawl of
the earlier work there is not a second here that doesn’t feel
purposeful & controlled.
Interesting to see how this body of work develops.
the whether|man
10_10_07 (2007, 8MB, 1:16 min.)
From Astoria, Queens, it’s the whether|man.
More vids here..
Johannes Nyholm – Puppetboy
Puppet Boy (clip) (2008, 5MB, 1:04 min.)
For more than a decade, the artist and music video director Johannes Nyholm
has been working on animated films about the little clay figure, Puppet Boy.
In a claustrophobic chamber drama, the frustrated puppet is engaged in an endless
battle against the agonies of everyday life. Nyholm
Tough Enough
Lukas Blakk – Tough Enough (2006, 11.4MB, 3:41)
Lovely, poignant film from Lukas Blakk,
who always says such honest things,
even if she’s mostly too busy to post anymore.
Isidore Bethel – Fell in Love with a Dead Boy
Fell in Love with a Dead Boy (2008, 66.7MB, 11:01 min)
I was a little chary ,at first, of posting this, not because I don’t
think it’s good (I do) but because Isidore Bethel had me a little
worried that it might be someone’s autobiography fuelling it &
I wasn’t entirely sure I should post it before that person had
thought about whether that was a good thing…a lot.
Silly me, because Isidore cheerfully assures me it’s all fictional.
He’s good.
Not to be OTT but there’s something that smacks
of Citizen Kane about this, in both a good and a bad sense.
Good, in that there is such energy & skill deployed here
(not just artistic, the guy can clearly organise too).
Furthermore, it packs a real punch, as witness my confusion.
On the debit side there’s sometimes a sense of everything including
the kitchen sink being dug out and after the initial rush (happens with
Kane for me too folks – little too much obvious desire to be epic) you
begin to see the thing as held together to some degree by sheer willpower,
even where the occasional hole is visible…
I look forward to see where Isidore Bethel will go next -we’ll hear a good
deal more of him, I’m sure.
Also: nice score from David Nyman (like its use in the piece too: non-obvious)
& a careful, intelligent performance of the script from Megan Popkin.
(not sure I’m making out the credits properly -did she share the writing credit? –
the script: that’s a piece of work too.)