Monday, April 02, 2007

CANDLELIT TELEVISION EYES

I've decided to release a series of DVDs entitled Candlelit Television Eyes. There is no unifying concept for the videos that will make it onto these editions. They range from installation video to music video to absurdist humor to abstract colors.




This post details some of the vids from Vol. 1 and a few destined for Vol. 2.


SURFING
A year-and-a-half ago, I was scurrying across that great mess of light known as Times Square. My scummy-modernist hotel sat a block off this whole mess, and traveling anywhere in the city required a walk through this humming, bright-pink/yellow/neon cityscape. Perhaps feeling overly caffeinated, I decided to confront the square with rushing through, to sit and observe. I had shortly begun surveying the scene through my super8 camera; the viewfinder would limit my range of vision to only what I wanted to see.


Something struck me about the normally vile, absurd jumbotron screens flashing all around me. If I simply zoomed in a little, the revolting becomes, well, quite quite interesting. Even quite beautiful. The grid of bulbs, pulsing. The mechanics and construction of the images flashing all around us, all the time.


The title is a sly reference to the images of the man surfing and the admonition for one to "Log On" to the internet. In a way, I think surfing (water-based) best sums up the necessary approach to this absurdly riotous, violent, fast-paced world in which we live (not that I'm particularly adept at surfing). Namely, don't look forward, don't look back, step into the wave, step into the moment, etc. All that West Coast Buddhist slop. Which is all true !


Or, as my friend Sam says "I'm just gonna get on my surfboard and ride......." To be included on Volume 2.


On a side note, stills from this image were the artwork for SOUND TEAM's "Movie Monster."



GEORGE STRAIT

The music is all my own voice. The image came from a boot store.




IT'S ALREADY HERE (EVERYTHING YOUR'E WAITING FOR IS GONE)

Vaguely absurd comment on people walking around with literal and metaphorical bags-on-their-heads. Which ties into the lyrics, I suppose, but the lyrics aren't quite as playful, or don't seem that way to me. To be included on Volume 2 of Candlelit Television Eyes.



END OF THE WORLD

The world moves fast, far too fast. This was all shot on super8 film. The locations range from Hampstead Heath in North London to the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland.

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NEW YORK LOVE
This is about the most vulnerable I can get. The video shows New York from high above and then down on the ground, amidst the largest single-day snowfall in New York's recorded history. Again, all super8 film. The poor resolution does no justice to the video, but, alas, this will have to do for now.

1 comment:

mpierini said...

the surfing video is most excellent... the surging power of waves is captured in a beautifully haunting way...