Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Field Trip: Michael Snow

Michael_Snow_Place_des_peaux_1998
Michael Snow Place des peaux 1998, 34 wood frames with gelatin, lighting, 15,45 x 5,75 cm, Biennale de Montréal, 1998; Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Photo: Guy L’Heureux (source)


Michael Snow Wavelength 1967, Ontario, 45 min.

The zoom is punctuated by what Snow laconically called "4 human events": a woman directs two men who carry in a bookcase and place it against the left wall of the room; two women come in and listen to the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields" on the radio; a man briefly appears after protracted crashing and glass-breaking noises, wheels around, and drops dead; a young woman comes into the room and makes a frightened telephone call reporting the dead man ("And he doesn't look drunk, he looks dead."). (read more)

On the soundtrack we hear (among many other things) an aural equivalent to the zoom lens shot(s), a sine wave which goes from its lowest note (50 cycles per second) to its highest note (12000 cycles per second). (read more)

Michael Snow (link)

No comments:

Post a Comment