into abstraction | form and data | on the edge of everything there is | a moment in time we can never bring back
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There is so much one can say about the possibilities inherent in the creative process. Do we move definitely in a pre-determined direction (unwavering, specific in structure), or allow our intuition (and the tool itself (in my case, the computer)) to guide us. Perhaps a little bit of both. Creating contradictions, beauty, and ambiguities along the way: Magic and loss while searching through memories. Finding that time does not stand still at all, but evolve and return. A returning ecstasy. And so does a work of art. And so too the recollection inherent to its evolution. My video work is a collection of memories, images, and sounds, purposefully or unconsciously contradicting and re-inventing themselves. Disintegrating into loops of color, texture, movement, geometric form, data, time, and space. I want my work to reflect our internal and external existence; to visually and musically create a sense of things happening all at once.
images for android phones | a portrait in reflection
A Portrait In Reflection continues my focus on images created with Picsart software on an Android phone platform.
images for android phones | a spiral inward | prelude to form and data
We can only be who we are, and at one point that has to be enough.
In delineated dreams, we search for that which is truly us. And find that we are only ourselves ….
Today I continued to work on my latest video piece entitled Into Abstraction | Form and Data. Hence, the mention of it as a prelude in this post. In the creative process there seems to be a continuing presence of form and the collection of data. Form and data that can be found in the complexity of thought, inspiration, and imagination. It propels us and shapes our day around it. Almost as if it has a will of its own. As it most certainly does: Shaping beauty from the shadows of our subconscious and giving light to our conscious ambitions, ideas, ambiguities, and dreams.
into abstraction | form and place | holding our absence | a returning ecstasy
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“Into Abstraction | Form and Place” continues my exploration of various forms that manifest elements of the surreal, abstract and memory attachments. The piece structure is centered around a time-lapsed progression. It moves from a visual kinetic movement to a slower more meditative movement. The electronic sound scape mirrors this movement with several layers of organic and industrial sounds centered around a continuous ambient drone. Within this complex musical structure, different distinct modalities emerge. And after several minutes of frenetic movement, the sound structure slowly washes away (with ocean waves) into a quieter more delineated infused drone. In each new video in the series “Into Abstraction”, I am attempting to find new ways of manipulating the film software. This process is very satisfying because the possibilities seem endless.
I have been working on this piece for several weeks. And over that time, I found myself contemplating many aspects of my life, as I often do, and searching for visual parallels that may compliment the emotional context of the moment. As in most of my work, I find that I repeat and remix many of my images, sounds, thoughts, and voices. Sometimes I wonder if the emotional connections of the past and the present ever change at all, or just evolve into the future: Evolve into the continuum which is the work. Evolve Into Abstraction, where form and void, form and memories, form and mutation, form and impermanence, form and dreams and form and place become one. Art has a way of giving us a moment of clarity, but does not necessarily save. Our work at times can reveal the life that lives in shadows. But may never quite give us the answers we seek to sustain us. So we are driven to go at it as if there were no history before now.
into abstraction | form and dreams | across the river the city that sleeps with dreams | your world disappearing, a world apart remix
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My latest video in the “Into Abstraction” series, infuses elements of surrealism and is a remix of several images from previous series. The piece also continues the evolving elements of recent images and the examination of memory attachments and the evolution of ambiguity in the psyche. The central theme is dreams; their possessive sensitivity, longing, and their magic and lost. Musically, I have moved away from the “glitch” forms of previous soundtracks in the series, and focused on a more ambient “drone” sound. Again, the complexity of sound is balanced and created with small nuances of processing. Most notably the use of various resonance and pitch, filters, reverb, and overall tonal control.
into abstraction | form and impermanence | what memories and karma may come | a maps, mountains, and trails, remix
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The complexity of the impermanence that fosters ambiguity in our lives. Everything changes except a persistent memory.
into abstraction | form and mutation | a history before now | a life after yesterday
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My series “Into Abstraction” continues with the video “Form and Mutation” – “A History Before Now, A Life After Yesterday”. Like the previous videos in this 2015 series, “Into Abstraction” is an exploration of abstract forms, digital processing and kinetic visual constructs. Each video in the series expresses a distinct form of motion and visual perspective. This new piece, “Form and Mutation” is circular in its movement (the two previous videos were linear). And its emphasis is on the emotional sense of life spinning, evolving, and mutating into new forms of expression and ambiguity. In keeping with my overall process of linking one video to the next, I implore many similar effects and visual elements from previous work into each new piece: Subtle nuances and connectivity is important to the elemental construct; with bold shifting colors, fused layers of imagery, and glowing white highlights being an important part of the process. They, along with my personal subjective themes of memory attachments, also play an intricate part of the surreal and abstract expression found in all my work. Musically, I am continuing to create ambient soundscapes mostly from organic and industrial sources, sound samples, and spoken word. This is a multi-layered aural construct. Dense and complex.
into abstraction | form and memories
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Into Abstraction | Form and Memories, the artist Walter Smith continues his exploration of field recordings translated into abstract constructs.
into abstraction | form and void
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The exploration of abstract forms and memory attachments.
into abstraction | all the days are long | a we’ve come so far remix | a place of subtle nuance
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In life it seems, at times, that all the days are long. Caught in-between work, play, dreams, and aspirations. Those days can take the form of too many hours worked, too many hours away from home and loved ones, or too many memories and missed opportunities–taxing, struggling, pushing forward day after day. Sometimes we get a moment of reprieve; a day at the beach, a solitary place in time and space, the joining together of friends, family, and loved ones, or a beautiful hike on the summit of a mountain. Subtle nuances all converging in daily life, testing our resolve, our purpose, or giving pleasure and peace to our efforts.
into abstraction | a better place
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Sometimes in the waking the reality is more pressing than the dream. And the search for “a better place” takes me inside the abstract. It seems that for only a moment, when art becomes a reality, that I am free from the stress and trials of life. When burden by the complexity of life, I long for escape: Into the abstract. Into the meaning of what it is to be alive. To delineate the constraints of the mundane. To have passion. It is here, in the expression and story of my life through the process of creativity, that I encounter that which gives me any measurable sense of peace and self-awareness.
“Into Abstraction | A Better Place (a viable nuance remix)” continues the theme of the smallest of nuances being the focal point. Within those nuances, the layering of sound and imagery are explored through the digital process. Each film builds upon the vision and nuances of the previous films.
into abstraction | nuances – extended video remix | an abstract thought becomes reality
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Nuances, the extended video remix is a further working towards the abstract in form and complexity. Each element of the video is explored through various micro-tonal nuances via add-on effects. Through this process, I am gaining insight into the various visual options I have via the software and how to implement them to create a visual cohesive construct. The variations seem infinite indeed. Again I am using both my own film and stock film together. Musically I am continuing the theme of electronic ambience, through the use of sound samples, field recordings and piano phases. As I explore the makings of sound for my films, I will be utilizing various sound effects and recording techniques in the process. Slowly things will evolve, as the learning curve for both the visual and aural elements are investigated, manipulated and constructed.
into abstraction | nuances
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This is the first film of 2015 in my new series entitled: “Into Abstraction”. The piece is called “Nuances”. It is a short multi-layered video and electronic soundscapes. As the series implies, the idea is to progress towards a state of abstraction both psychologically and visually: An inward emotional journey; full of delineated thoughts, complex constructs and fused memories. Although this piece contains figurative images and landscapes, it is the nuances of the film that contain elements of the abstract. I hope to slowly evolve through the series to a more definitive state of abstraction. It is true that I often merge, both surrealism and the abstract to create my visual themes. I also will be experimenting to the best of my ability to create beautiful and challenging electronic soundscapes, full of sampled ambient drone, field recordings, glitch/IDM, and thematic sounds.
into abstraction | all these nights in blue are where our love use to be | rooms of indigo paintings | i dream dreams without you
My first piece of 2015 in the new series entitled: Into Abstraction ~
all these nights in blue are where our love use to be
rooms of indigo paintings
i dream dreams without you
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 