3 from Brian Beletic


Basement Jaxx – Red Alert (1999, 10.5MB, 3:42)


Fatboy Slim – Don’t Let The Man Get You Down (2003, 9MB, 3:08)


Lady Sovereign – Love Me or Hate Me (2006, 12.2MB, 2:43)

Three videos from Brian Beletic.
His work spans the last decade,
these posted in chronological order.
Basement Jaxx’s video is conceptual: what if
music was illegal?
Love the idea and execution.
The track itself takes me back to my younger,
raving days.
Fatboy Slim and Lady Sovereign also should be
proud of their Beletic vids. Both garner at least
a few chuckles and some definite appreciation for
the editing.

3 from John Murphy

Hanging Around
Hanging Around (2008, 14.7MB, 1:35 min)

Cuckoo Land
Cuckoo Land (2008, 28.6MB, 3:03 min)

Alone
Alone (2008, 6.2MB, 51 secs)

2008 work from John Murphy, whose work we’ve featured here before.

Three videos which differ sharply in tone and which despite
a apparent simplicity of construction resonate long afterwards.
Case study: Cuckoo Land.
* found footage
**the good old forwards/backwards routine

still amusing/engaging enough in this case to hold one’s attention, but
***the muzak Grieg piano concerto
on the way back seemed a bit like over-egging it at first but
I find it speaks to me here more than the rather crude formal
device might warrant.

Partly this is due to the setting. Each piece gains in depth from its
association with the others, but I wonder also whether
it isn’t a sign of great artistic confidence on Murphy’s part:
“Here’s what I did – make of it what you will!”

3 from Alan Sondheim

me.jpg
me (2008, 12MB, 1:06 min loop)

slbarrier.jpg
slbarrier (2008, 33.1 MB, 4:32 min.)

elo1.jpg
elo1 (2008, 46.3 MB, 5:26 min.)

Three from 2008. As always, utterly watchable and quite unparallelled.
PS I’m going to post beneath a text piece by Sondheim from around the
time the movies were made, not because it has any direct
relevance to them (though of course it has relevance)
but because it’s great & a further demonstration, if such were required,
of his range of technique and vision…

she can MOVE FRUIT FROM ONE KIND OF TREE TO ANOTHER
she can MAKE OTHERS FALL ASLEEP OR WAKE AT WILL
she can MAKE FIRE BLAZE FROM WEAPONS
she can FLY THROUGH AIR
she can SEE THROUGH WALLS
she can TRANSFORM A CAVE INTO A PALACE AND SEAL THE EXITS
she can REMOVE THE TUSKS AND TRUNK FROM AN ELEPHANT AND RESTORE THEM
she can MAKE A KING SPEECHLESS AND RESTORE HIS SPEECH
she can GENERATE DEMONS AND COMPLETE DEMONS
she can END DROUGHT AND HEAL ILLNESS
she can SUBDUE LIONS AND TIGERS AND BRING THEM TO FAITH
she can REMOVE ARMS AND LEGS FROM SOLDIERS AND RESTORE THEM
she knows ALL LANGUAGES AND ALL DOCTRINES
she can EAT ENDLESSLY AND DRY UP WELL SPRINGS AND RESTORE THEM
she can CUT OFF HER HEAD AND FLY THROUGH THE AIR AND RESTORE IT
she can MOVE A BUFFALO AND HER CALF BACK TO THEIR HOME
she is SAFE FROM ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND BLOWS WITH CUDGEL AND ARROW
she can TURN AROUND ARROWS IN FULL FLIGHT
she can TURN INTO AN OLD WOMAN AND BACK AGAIN
she can SEE THINGS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
she knows ALL FUTURE AND ALL PAST EVENTS
she meditates FOR DAYS ON END WITHOUT SLEEP OR DRINK OR FOOD
she can HOLD SEVEN HUNDRED UMBRELLAS ABOVE HER WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM
she can RAISE THE DEAD AND RESTORE THEM TO DEATH
she can BE IN SEVERAL PLACES AT ONCE
she can TRAVEL INSTANTANEOUSLY FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER
she can MAKE SMALL THINGS ENORMOUS AND ENORMOUS THINGS SMALL
she can MAKE DEVOTIONAL IMAGES CRUMBLE AND RESTORE THEM
she can CARRY A TEMPLE ON HER BACK
she can CLIMB ENDLESS STAIRS AND OTHERS CANNOT FOLLOW HER
she fits THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE INTO A TINY CORNER OF A CAVE OR HOUSE
she disappears AND APPEARS AT WILL
she conquers DEATH
she eats CORPSES URINE EXCREMENT SEMEN MENSTRUAL BLOOD
her slightest MOVEMENT TRANSFORMS WORLDS
her dance CREATES AND ANNIHILATES WORLD
she loosens BOUND ANIMALS AND RELEASES THEM
she can WALK ON WATER AND WALK THROUGH FLAMES
she can CAUSE THE EARTH TO QUAKE AND FLOWERS TO FALL LIKE RAIN
she can DISCOVER HIDDEN TREASURES
she can WALK THROUGH WALLS AND CLIFFS
she can SEAL CAVES AND CREATE GREAT HALLS WITHIN THEM
she can MAKE HERSELF INVISIBLE AND MAKE HERSELF VISIBLE AGAIN
she can CREATE OVERWHELMING TEMPESTS
she can SUBDUE SNAKES AND OTHER WILD ANIMALS
she can SING PERFECT SONGS OF HER OWN DEVISING
she can ALLEVIATE THE SUFFERINGS OF THE ELDERLY
she can ALLEVIATE THE SUFFERINGS OF THE POOR
she can SCORCH CLOTHES AND RESTORE THEM
she can READ MINDS CLOSE BY AND AT A DISTANCE
she can EAT ANY SORT OF IMPURITIES
she can LAUGH AN EIGHT FOLD LAUGHTER
she can DRAW STELES AND JEWELS FROM THE GROUND
she can ERECT VAST PALACES AT AN INSTANT
she extracts POISON FROM WATER AND WALKS THROUGH BLAZING FLAMES
she can CHOOSE THE DATE AND TIME OF HER DEATH
she can MAKE DRUMS AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS TO SOUND BY THEMSELVES
her steps MEASURE GREAT OR TINY DISTANCES AT HER WILL
her gaze CAN SHATTER AND RESTORE ANYTHING
she can TRANSFORM HERSELF INTO A SKELETON AND A RAINBOW BODY
her gaze CAN OPEN CAVES IN SOLID ROCK AND SEAL THEM AGAIN
she remembers HER PAST AND FUTURE BIRTHS
she can TARRY WITH CONSORTS WITH OR WITHOUT ELABORATION
she can SELF ILLUMINATE
she can WALK AIMLESSLY DAY AND NIGHT
she can SPREAD THE SCENT OF PERFUMES IN EVERY DIRECTION
she can SIT LIE OR WALK IN MID AIR
she can WEAR APRONS OF BONES
she is FLEET FOOTED
she changes THE COLOR OF HER BODY AT WILL

Some Versions of Pastoral

Extended Camera
Extended Camera (2005, 5.5MB, 2:19 min.)

Night Performance #3
Night Performance #3 (2005, 12.1MB, 7:54 min.)

In May 2005 Garrett Lynch & co-conspirators blagged some
money from Arts Council England to spend a weekend at a
country house playing with video.
The result is documented on this great site.

At their best these vids do absolutely match up to the
funding application rhetoric. They combine performance,
technology & layer upon layer of knowingness to produce results
which had me, at least, open mouthed with admiration.

Wonderful!

Roel Wouters – zZz – Grip

Grip
Grip (2007, 101 MB, 4:13 min.)

Grip is a video clip for the band zZz.
It is a one take, top shot video with trampoline gymnasts simulating
video effects, and has been recorded live as part of the opening “Nederclips”,
a showcase of Dutch videoclips at the Stedelijk Museum.
The important criteria were that the audience at the opening would be able to
witness the whole shoot, and that the videoclip would be added to the exhibition
immediately after the shoot.
The project developed by Roel Wouters.