Aurora
V.A. : AURORA Edition 1 (CAN,2007)**°°
When we're talking about constructive music the possibilities in the evolutions of visual abstractions should be of interest too. In our digital age there is more and more control possible on sound and image. For some of the audio possibilities of construction comparable and new animation techniques should be considered. Aurora is a festival where 75 films were shortlisted for competition. A selection has been picked for this DVD compilation.
The first piece by Bret Battey immediately sets a tone in this manner. The audio is constructed entirely using modulated feedback-techniques which the artist developed since the late 90s. What we see is a continuous animation of nearly 12000 individual points. The audio is another continual transformation of one synthesized process. We hear sandy sounds for the little points moving around, the bowl-like sound effect works together with the light, and also the tones change the shapes. Pieces like this show a vision on the new possibilities.
The second clip by Volker Schreiner, “Radar” is not presenting a new technique, but it is a brilliant collage from old movies where a candle is used, creating a new surreal piece of movie, slightly frightening still meditative like a play with light. The next piece is the image a wrapped plastic bag slowly moving towards a bigger form.
The piece by Joe Gilmore & Paul Emery are again the works of an audiovisual composer. We see stroboscopic visions of moving lighting on a changing digital 3D form. The soundtrack is the result of a real-time conversion of image into sound. Another stroboscobe effect with a near claustrophobic result difficult to watch fully is the half scientific experiment of Thorsten Fleisch, showing controlled beams of electronics in a cathode ray tube, resulting in a 30,000 volt discharges of lightning flashes, at times looking like a small sun.
The movie by Ben Rovers succeeded with different lightning techniques to make the images more abstract. The printing was done using a torch and breaks free from the frames.
“Krypt” by Lars Nagler is another digital construction mixed with animation, with moving digital mountains and sand, then industrial buildings being overloaded by the rhythms of the mountains, combined with a soundtrack.
Like Schreiner, Sylvia Schedelbauer created a montage of 50s movies, creating a new film where the viewer makes automatic associations throughout all the images. Felix Dufour LaPerriere & Domique Etienne Simard also heavily manipulated old found footage. Something remains recognisable, so that a filmic character and story is created, dominating a bit more unconsciously.
Dami Cucic made a collage from digital “detritus” from different tapes, coloured points, speeding up with sound and image, like a colourful journey into digital garbage, when moving fast becoming vaster a bit.
The last few tracks I liked less so I prefer not to describe them fully.
The movie gives some ideas of useful techniques and a few exceptional tracks utilizing them. Therefore the choice of the competition is understandable.
Video : Bret Battey : “Mercurius” (unsharp fragment)
