Out of all the fantastic pieces, master filmmakers, and truly unique ideas I’ve gotten to experience this semester; Bill Morrison has had the most impact on me. Specifically his video ‘Light is Calling’. I’ve gone through a few recycle art pieces and artists now, but Morrison sits on an entirely separate level from the rest. His use of materiality is just astounding, mesmerising even. It immediately evolves the base film into so much more than what it was to begin with. It turns an old archive film into a fading memory, a memento of a time long past; barely holding onto the future. it’s an eight minute video with more depth than most blockbuster movies do now. A lot can be learned about portraying messages and ideas just from Light is Calling, let alone the rest of his filmography.

There is an immediate provocation of existentialism within me when I watch it, an inert feeling of dread almost. I have mentioned previously a multitude of times that I am heavily inspired by Cosmic-Horror. I think this nails that concept on the head. Cosmic-Horror is mostly interpreted as ‘space horror’ or about narratives of isolation with super-natural motif’s. It is far more than that. the full scope of it is the exploration of the ‘unknowable’, a delving into the primordial fears of man. Death is one of those fears. Of course there is a fantastical element to Cosmic-Horror, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be filled by a creature or location, it just needs to be in the idea. And a fading memory stuck between comprehension and forgotten memory fits this perfectly. An overwhelming sense of Existentialism. The fear of being forgotten.

It does fit the prompt for my research, but I am going to change the name of it. After looking through all these artists I believe a better term is ‘Reiteration Art’. I’ve found that the the themes and ideas of the materials used when making art from reclaimed things don’t go away. They merely enhance what was already there, evolving it; when in juxtaposition with the new intentions.

The last decade has seen the United Kingdom face an unprecedented rise in Knife related crimes and assaults, as far as I currently understand. I was reminded before about an artwork created only a few years ago to raise awareness to this issue. The sculpture is dubbed ‘Knife Angel’. It was created by Alfie Bradley. The knifes were gathered from knife reclamation bins that were set up by UK police.

There is something poetic about an angel being created from the tools of death and violence. ironic in an unfunny way. These instruments could have been used to destroy many peoples lives, some may have already done so. Now they are unable to do so, distorted into something better. A symbol against the very purpose they were created for. The reason for the sculptures creation is clear enough, it’s overwhelming condemnation of the perpetual violence that is happening. In the future I hope that it will serve as a beacon and symbol of when times changed. similarly to the twentieth century tech-punk music that I’ve explored into, this too is the result of an overabundance. IT’s a surprisingly common conclusion I keep coming too. A lot of the things are only possible to be made when there is too much of something, technology, weapons, space, etc. or is it just another form of progressive consumerism, disguised under the veil of purpose. I think not with Knife Angel.

The further I research and try to define what I mean by Recycle Art, the broader the concept becomes. I’m starting to reconsider the phrasing for what I initially meant. Because I think recycle might not have the depth I am trying to discover. It’s merely just the process that is used to get to what I am beginning to understand. I’m not looking for processes, but results and impact.

I have a very large passion for music. When I was younger I was pulled into that ‘Dudes only listen to rock’ mentality, but that changed mid high school for me. I near suddenly just wanted to listen and experience as much as I could; similar to how I’ve always been with film. I’ve always had a fascination with most things actually, there’s a lot to appreciate about a lot of things. A keen interest I’ve developed is the niche of people creating music using things that aren’t instruments, specifically with late twentieth century technology. There’s just something very cyberpunk about it, makes me feel like we are living in the future. Recently I discovered a YouTube channel that creates cover’s of famous songs using hard-disks and floppy readers. And it doesn’t even sound that bad.

The creator (Paweł Zadrożniak) dubs the machine ‘The Floppotron’, and I can not think of a more deserving name. Thematically this is similar to what ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS! does with Cathode Ray Televisions. I think I can make a lot of similar conclusions that applied to their blog post too. The over abundance of goods that society has seen with its rise in consumerism is what has made projects like this possible. People move on to what is newer, faster, better in cycles of two to five years. After a while the remnants of previous decades pile up. IT’s good that they aren’t just wasting away in some landfill, polluting the environment with the degradation of their parts. I’m hoping to see more things like The Floppotron become more prevalent in the next few decades. Culture is starting to shift into being very conscious about our impact on the world, projects like these are in direct response to this. Even if the intention was purely just to make it for fun, it wouldn’t have occurred without these factors all pushing the creator in that direction.

On a last note, I would love to see music created from all these machines used to create film scores for more tech noir based films or even a knew Tron film. I think it would really elevate the themes of technology and who society interacts with it.

I’ve been thinking over what I want to discuss in terms of ‘recycle art’, and the boundaries I set on myself. I’ve found that I tend to always steer towards odd musical instruments when looking for something interesting. Conceptually I’ve been looking at objects being recycled, but I want to expand outwards from that. Treating Recycling as broadly as possible, though it may shift more into the field of repurposing.

I also just want an excuse to talk about interesting things I’ve found online.

A few weeks ago i stumbled across this educational video about a piece of art created in the Great Salt Lake (Utah). It was about a jetty made of stone and rocks, formed into the shape of a spiral. The comment section was full of disgruntled and bored architecture/arts students, having been sent there to the video for homework. But my fascination was immediate. I mean what was he trying to say, if anything at all. Could it be a reactionary statement to art exhibitions, or is it more than that. In terms of my research prompt I am using it in the context of recycling space. Giving meaning to a place that is barren and without meaning. The field of art it falls under is called ‘Land Art’, that being art built into the land. The concept isn’t even new either. Humans have been making Land Art for thousands of years. The best example I can think of is the Nazca lines in Peru.

I think there is something very special with bringing meaning to the meaningless. It’s almost like birthing life from nothingness, in a way. Knowing that these art pieces are going to be around for millennia to come, eventually losing their meaning; yet still drawing people to them. The Spiral Jetty is more than just recycling space to me, I think it’s more an example of exercising our base reason to create:

Simply because we can.

I am going to be researching various artist from various artistic mediums, who recycle in order to create their work. By recycle I am referring to using things that already exist, and re-purposing them (or combining them) to create something more. Something artistic, or to convey a message. I am doing this because I believe that I have reached a point currently where I have developed a base stylistically from which I can build upon and improve. I am going to do this by researching these artists to see how they create, why they might create, and what I can learn from their work. I think all art is inspired by something else, as nothing is created in a vacuum. The research I will be conducting through watching videos of their work (if they operate within an audio or visual medium). If they don’t and they’re more classic with the creations, as in painting or sculpting, I will try to find interviews of them discussing their work. Or analysis by other people who are experts in that respective field. I want to start thinking in a similar wavelength to these people, to elevate the process of my thoughts. I feel I am still operating from the perspective of a student or novice. I think this will be useful to help me justify what I am creating to myself, and display a higher confidence and intention in the results. I have already begun researching various artists, and noticed consistency in always remaining active. I am already incorporating this by increasing the frequency of my posts on here, already exceeding the last half of the semester.

A second topic I am undertaking is viewing different works based in the Gothic Science-Fiction and Urban-Gothic genre. I mentioned in earlier posts that I am influenced by ‘Cosmic Horror’. Cosmic Horror is thematically linked to Gothic, so I feel it is best to try and absorb as much as I can to give more inspiration to  my work. I really love setting my narratives in an Industrial/Post-Industrial setting. I believe in the modern world of fiction it is more relatable to audiences than what a natural jungle is. We’re no longer afraid of what lurks in the trees and the bushes, and more afraid of what lurks in dark streets, forgotten factories, dilapidated mansions, and the shadows of a room. Modern Gothic really encapsulates this more broadly than what Cosmic Horror does in my opinion, while still thematically relating through the nihilistic view of the world and the fear of the unknown. I am going to research this by viewing various movies that fit into this genre and analyse their narrative and visuals. I will also be trying to find short stories as well, and do the same. I think I will also look into the authors of both of these mediums and see how their world view was shaped and the influence it had on their work.  This avenue of research will be secondary to Recycle Artists though for the moment, as I feel that will help me advance much better. Though that may change if I find something that interests me greatly.

ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS! is a band I discovered last year browsing online. Another testament to how fantastic the internet is. They are a band how has taken old CRT televisions and various fans, then converted them into instruments. I remember when I first discovered them being awe struck. I never thought I would live to see someone play a television as an instrument. Or a fan for that matter. I’m hoping to see more bands like this appear in the coming decades. The world is constantly obsessed with the next best thing, the latest technology and the best technology. Even I am guilty of this. But I think there is much to appreciate about older technology, it was built to last, unlike today where we see technology built to only last until the next iteration comes along. It’s just wasteful. So to see a group of people take discarded TV’s and use them for something completely different to their original purpose is inspiring. I think it is also very important the message this conveys. That something may appear to be outdated and useless in it’s original field, but may be the next best thing in another.
I think it is important to mention the importance of the use of bar-code readers in their work. I’ve never really out much thought into bar-code readers personally, but analyzing the way their used in this setting is extremely interesting to me. BC readers are usually instruments of cataloging and reading, but here their used not to read, but be read audibly. Instead of interpreting a message their producing one. This can also be applied to the television sets as well. A performance they made called “BARCODANCE” really intrigued me. They had a dancer wear striped clothing, then played her using the BC readers. Essentially turning dance into music. It really is amazing. I don’t think this could have been done without their distorted vintage tech instruments. Unless someone made an extremely large theremin, but you wouldn’t get the same results.
My work shares a thread of relation to ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!, in the way that they take advantage of twentieth century technology to create music; and I am taking twentieth century video (digitized) and creating new modern video from it. This recycling of the old world is very evolutionary in practice, or memetic. The BARCODANCE performance has got me thinking that maybe I am focusing too heavily on using programs as a way to generate my visuals and sounds, maybe there is a way to create using a combination of analogue and digital equipment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANIDBu4B9so

 

A few months ago one of my friends tagged me in the comments of a post by this Italian guy. My friends and I tend to wander across stranger more absurd places on social media than the typical person would. This is both a blessing and a curse. But as luck would happen, this was a blessing on my Timeline, this is how I discovered Petr Válek. I can’t remember the specific post I saw first, because I avidly watch all his stuff, but I do clearly remember the confusion it caused me. Petr takes what I imagine to be rubbish he discovers on the streets and dump sites, then fuses them into sculptures that move and generate “””music”””. I put heavy quotation on music because at first glance it does appear to be just pure noise. But with every new post I saw I began to understand this was more than just a guy who created absurd and useless machines. This was an artist trying to express himself and create what he viewed as music.

On the surface it appears as though he is mad and manic, but I don’t believe the surface portrays what is going on within him. His work displays a consistent theme and trend of madness and absurdity, but it feels methodical. In one video he even shows a diagram drawn before creating one of his pieces (thought it was crude, it still displayed he is thinking before he makes. I think he uses these expressions of noise to unleash what he is feeling. To me at least the work appears to come from someone who is too high functioning to just be bits and bobs created without intention. When watching Petr’s videos it occurred to me that when he is thinking about his creations he is concerned just as much about the sculpture as he is the noise it creates. The sculptures intentionally created to look like horror machines and rubbish, to reflect the noise they create, or maybe even the opposite, or symbiotically both. Another observation that supports my hypothesis is that Petr does incorporate instruments into some of his creations, and he shows to have a proficiency with them. Much like how I am taking old videos and remixing them into something fresh and new, I believe Petr is on a similar quest, but with sound. Trying to create new noises and sounds by distorting ‘classical instruments (as in other to what he creates)’ and absorbing them into something new. Petr Válek will come to be very important in the next few decades, or I hope so at least.

some of his recent work I enjoy:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2659306770974084&id=100006843614951
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2660410154197079&id=100006843614951
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2663919843846110&id=100006843614951
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2515420705362692&id=100006843614951
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2671448463093248&id=100006843614951
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2675984359306325&id=100006843614951

Petr Válek:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006843614951