James Houston – Official Secrets Act – So Tomorrow (2008, 12.6MB, 3:21)
Video for Official Secrets Act, made by James Houston.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
Jonathan Schipper – Opposition
Opposition (2005, 4.5MB, 1 min.)
Interactive kinetic sculpture from Jonathan Schipper performed at Pierogi gallery in 2005.
“Two participants are taken from the audience and buckled into the saddles on either
end of the machine. The participants are then lifted into the air. Both participants are provided
hand controllers that allow them to control the movement of the saddles, which are on
pneumatically powered gimbals, and the central rotation of the machine. Some movements
are shared and some affect only one or the other of the two participants. The function of each
input button on the controllers is changed by a computer on a regular basis so that the
participants can not gain full control of the machine. A rock and roll band is playing electric
instruments near by. The amplification for the band is turned on by the machine while the
machine is in the air. The band members (Outside Man) wear helmets that isolate the band,
who can not hear anything other than their own sounds. After a few minutes the participants
are brought back to the ground and released from the machine. The band is turned off and
the machine is ready for the next cycle.”
The Perfect Song
Thunderant – The Perfect Song (2008, 21.6MB, 3:42)
Clever piece from Thunderant, which is primarily Carrie
Brownstein and Fred Armisen.
Hilarious and sometimes very odd, I’m so into this duo,
if only because I love what they’re doing in theory.
More folks should get together and make comedic
goodness in their free time.
Or sing weird answering machine songs. Whatever.
A holiday wish from Carl Weaver
A holiday wish – Carl Weaver (2005, 2.3MB, 0:43)
Carl Weaver is a renaissance man – photographer,
writer, doer of many things. He also has a dry humor
and delivery most of us would kill for. In 2005, he
called to wish his friend Dwayne a merry Christmas.
We similarly extend holiday greetings and well wishes
to you, from everyone here at DVblog.
Mr. Nom Nom
Katrine Emme Thielkes – Sweet Christmas #19 (2008, 1.8MB, 0:31)
The nineteenth in the Sweet Christmas series by Katrine Emme Thielkes.
Audio by Mikkel Westerkam.
KontraKontrolle – by Roel Wouters and Luna Maurer
KontraKontrolle (2003, 8MB, 3:13 min.)
Performance during the Visual Power Show, Paradiso Amsterdam, October 2003
by Poly-Xelor (collaboration between Roel Wouters and Luna Maurer).
“KontraKontrolle is a performance concept where we literally stepped into the
computer-screen. By placing ourselves as icons (via bluescreen technique) on
top of the presenters screen we could interact live with the presenter’s actions.”
Curt Cloninger – Pop Mantra #3
Pop Mantra #3 (2008, 103MB, 9:53 min.)
The third in a series of performances where Curt Cloninger continuously
performs a short excerpt from a single pop song for several hours,
blindfolded.
At OTO in Brooklyn, New York.
Excerpt: “tonight / wait, now” from The Ramones song “I Just Wanna Have Something To Do”
Duration: 6 Hours
Media: Electric Guitar, Voice, Black Felt Blindfold, Black Converse All Stars, Time
Read more here.
Earth to Earth – Nick Scott
Earth to Earth (2005, 23MB, 3:22 min.)
“This film was made according to the hardcore rules of Straight8, which gives
filmmakers a single roll of Super8, forcing them to edit in camera and shoot
every shot as a first take. You submit the exposed cartridge plus a separately
recorded soundtrack and hope that the two match up. Luckily ours turned out
OK and it was selected one of the straight8 Cannes finalists in 2005.
The idea came from having a crappy DVD player which kept skipping and I was
overcome by an incredible desire to drive a garden fork through the front of it –
you can see the result in the background.
We had great fun shooting the film, during which time it snowed heavily
Justin Kemp – hard timez
Justin Kemp – hard timez (2008, 35MB, 5:52)
Justin Kemp is a ridiculously funny video artist who,
among other things, remixes YouTube videos.
Almost nothing video related brings me as much joy
lately as this does.
Sally – by Roel Wouters and Luna Maurer
Sally is a project by Poly-Xelor (collaboration between Roel Wouters
and Luna Maurer). Sally is a movie for the project ‘Grote kunst voor kleine mensen‘
and has been be presentend at cinekid 2005, @ the Stedelijk museum.
The movie shows marbles in a room. The gravitation of the room is variable
therefore the marbles will dance over the floor, walls and ceiling.
Gerben Kruk – 2 Movies
Vogels (2003, 3.5MB, 1:01 min)
Overdrive(2003, 4.5MB, 1:12 min)
Two 2003 pieces from Dutch artist Gerben Kruk.
I like the way the quite in-your-face soundtrack in both cases
sets the tone for & structures our response to the visuals.
There’s a curious contradiction between the bucolic content of Vogels
and the sheer noisiness and velocity of it.
(AND NB THOSE SENSITIVE TO FLICKER SHOULD PROBABLY NOT
ATTEMPT TO WATCH IT) .
Stephen Slappe – 3 out of 4
Stephen Slappe – 3 out of 4 (2005, 1.6MB, 0:45)
Short, rather humorous piece from Stephen Slappe,
which simultaneously celebrates large, antiquated rotating
advertisements and laments the disappearance of the four
basic food groups.
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen in Tokyo
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen in Tokyo – (2008, 5.1MB, 1:18)
Bear with me here: have you ever felt lost? I don’t
mean existentially. I mean alone in a place that was
not your own, a foreigner in a strange land, a stranger
in a foreign land. I have on several occasions – including
during a solo trip to Japan a few years ago – and when
this commercial came on my TV about a month back, I
couldn’t tear myself away. No, it isn’t net art or experimental
animation, but it’s beautiful and haunting and something I
certainly see far too little of on television. If you think a little
Lost in Translation, you wouldn’t be wrong for that. The guys
behind the this piece admitted in a recent interview that they
paid special attention to reproducing LiT details for fans of the film.
Other facts: this is a commercial for SAS featuring former
Danish Secretary of State, and two more similar follow-ups
are running/forthcoming (though not featuring Ellemann-Jensen or Japan,
sadly). The startlingly mournful music is appropriately from Babel.
The tagline reads, in English, “Almost home” or “As good as home.”
Erik Bunger – the Allens
Erik Bunger – the Allens (2004, 23.3MB, 3:19)
Absolutely clever piece by Swedish artist Erik Bunger,
drawn from his experience moving from Sweden to
Germany, where many films on TV are dubbed. As
language can be so central to a character, Bunger
started thinking about people like Woody Allen, who
always play the same character but also one so
connected to his whiny, nervous New York accent.
For this installation piece, a computer program
continuously changed the dubbing of Allen between
his various vocal incarnations. Totally delightful.
Doomtree – Drumsticks
Drumsticks (2008, 32.1MB, 2:43 min)
I know no more about Doomtree than you can glean, gentle viewer, from their site
& their my space but this video simply fills me with joy.
First off, nothing with massed bicycles in it can be all bad but, over & above,
it’s something to do with the combination of skillz & almost palpable & somehow
innocent sincerity that just makes a beeline for my heart. Lovely.
Invisible People
Invisible People – Larry (2008, 48.6MB, 9:21)
Invisible People is a new project from Mark Horvath
that documents homelessness in Los Angeles. The
interviews are unedited, and it can honestly be hard
to watch some of them – but isn’t that the point?
The site comes with a warning:
Caution: some content may be offensive. Our hope is
you’ll get mad enough to do something.
This particular interview is one of my favorites, as Larry
is charismatic and Mark was able to capture that easily.
But I’d encourage you to go watch the others as well.
Mark himself is in a rough financial situation that might
soon land him back on the streets too.
Seems we are often our own best advocates.
MoTV News, Episode 1 – Marisa Olson
MoTV News, Episode 1 (2005, 13.6MB, 6:20 min.)
During her American Idol audition training process,
Marisa Olson asked MTV News veteran Tabitha Soren to interview her and
then critique her
Monochrom – Killing Capitalism with Christmas
Kiki and Bubu and the Feelings (2008, 48.9MB, 4:48 min)
More splendid agit-puppetry from monochrom.
Urban Eden by Millie Niss
Urban Eden (2006, 5MB, 1:50 min.)
“This movie takes place in the “Urban Eden” of the IBM Building’s Public
Atrium & Sculpture Gallery. The soundtrack consists of quotes involving the
words, “apple” and “Eden.” Ironic, isn’t it, that the IBM Building is decorated
with sculpted Apples as if they were promoting a rival company’s products….”
by Millie Niss from sporkworld.
Disappointment – Carl Burgess
Carl Burgess – Disappointment (2008, 9.6MB, 0:58)
Amusing short remix from artist Carl Burgess.
Dizzee Rascal’s Dream
Dream (2004, 11.9MB, 3:43 min)
2004 video from Dizzee Rascal
& director Dougal Wilson.
Utterly exhilarating.
