Calendar : Puls8 Film Program, Curated By Other Film

22 April 2006 3:00pm

Screening in Brisbane (Australia).

A collection of short films by major American experimental filmmakers of the 1960's & 70's with soundtracks by Terry Riley, curated by Otherfilm.  What with old Tezza coming to Brisbane and shit.  Introduced by Danni Zuvela, projected by Sally Golding.

to wit:

Crossroads (Bruce Connor, 1975, USA)
Music by Patrick Gleeson and Terry Riley.

"Conner bases his film on government footage of the first underwater A-bomb test, July 25, 1946, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Recorded at speeds ranging from normal to super slow motion, the same explosion is seen 27 different times - from the air, from boats and land-based cameras; distant and close-up. The opening segment emphasizes the awesome grandeur of the explosion - the destructiveness, as well as the dramatic spectacle and beauty. As the repetition builds, however, the explosion is gradually removed from the realm of historic phenomena, assuming the dimensions of a universal, cosmic force. And in the film's second section this force is brought into a kind of cosmic harmony, part of the lyrically indifferent ebb and flow of life that one sees in a lingering, elegaic view of the ocean." - Thomas Albright, San Francisco Chronicle

Corridor (Standish Lawder, 1970, USA)
With music by Terry Riley

"a marvellous meld of music and cinematic tension that maintains visual excitement throughout with its constant exploration of horizontal and rectilinear patterns, chiaroscuros and deep grains, pulsating double and negative exposures, and constant tracking shots of a nude figure standing at the end of a long, close corridor."

Matrix III (John Whitney, 1970, USA)
With music by Terry Riley

A beautiful animation from John Whitney, Matrix III is quite three-dimensional and illusionistic. The variety of shapes is broad, and therefore, the types of visual harmony are also diverse. On its surface, it is quite simple and pretty. With an eye for Whitney's theory of digital harmony, however, one can discern an incredibly rich and intricate method, as the film plays with different types of visual balance, not only in shape, but also in color. Terry Riley's music, "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band," is a perfect complement for the graphics. The emphasis on repeated variation in the music, through analog looping and delay, so clearly matches the film's emphasis on mathematical ratios and harmonies that it is almost impossible to conceive of the film being any other way.

get a brief taste of John Whitney's "Arabesque", one of the earliest computer animations, here: http://www.siggraph.org/artdesign/profile/whitney/graphics/arabesque.mov

Then turn up here to see one of his films projected from actual film, and some other films too:

Saturday April 22nd. 3pm – 4:15pm
Rooftop Terrace, Brisbane Powerhouse

$9.50/7

NB. this program is listed on the promotional flyers from the powerhouse as being on the saturday.  Sally & the powerhouse website assure me that it's on sunday, but maybe check here: http://www.brisbanepowerhouse.org/ where you should also be able to see the rest of the program for the dreadfully named, but basically interesting Puls8 festival.
or call them and check, then buy tickets accordingly on (07) 3358 8600

Added by jpeatt on 17 April 2006