words and art by w a l t e r w s m i t h

Posts tagged “The Whipping Machine

experiment: set the controls | video art

My second video in the “Experiment” series is entitled “Set the Controls”. I worked on the formatting of the video over the last few days. Working mostly at night, I felt driven by the quiet solitude to create noise and kinetic energy visually and with sound. The video itself is a collection of clips from older videos (The Whipping Machine, The World Spins Black | White, Island – Water – Bridge) and new imagery from this past summer vacationing at Virgina Beach. Again, the theme centers around the ideas relating to the Futurism movement of the early 20th century: Modernization, Ambiguity. Complexity. And the fear of things getting out of control. In my work, I like the thought of creating images that juxtapose and provide tension to one another. All the while the soundscapes of cold wind and a distant jack hammer push the tension even further until it climaxes with an atomic blast and a requiem of church bells.


Moments In Time (A Yesterday Video Remix)

Sometimes moments in time are like the possession of precious jewels only remembered briefly…..

My latest video entitled “Moments In Time (A Yesterday Video Remix)” starts off with clips from previous videos and a multimedia performance before evolving into my most recent ventures of 2012; finding new forms in the mountains of Western North Carolina. My early video work began back in 1988. Of course there were no digital cameras, and we had to use those large, bulky, VHS Cameras. At the time I was fortunate to have some rather unique video editing software, and hardware courtesy of my Amiga 1000 digital suite and the third-party supplier of a video mixer called the Genlock. Now with a HD digital camera, there is much higher resolution, creating a more definitive, sharper image. I recently purchased the Avid Studio Pro video software, and hope that the quality, and versatility will yield several levels of high performance (within a modest price range).

One of the major traits in the processing of my previous video work, has been my ability to layer video sources. So I am looking forward to using this new capability (the latest digital hardware and software) to continue this process. In the end I hope to create thought-provoking video imagery that is abstract, ambient. and minimalistic.

So I hope you enjoy what I think may be a transitional video on the path to new ideas, and processes.

Moments In Time (A Yesterday Video Remix)….

http://youtu.be/6ti_CrYaRzk


Post Canvas and Paint 03: The Whipping Machine Acid Flex Dance Remix

The Whipping Machine Acid Flex Dance Remix 1989 / 2010

http://youtu.be/rvSKJjCkVx0  Youtube video

In continuing the Post Canvas and Paint series, I am presenting a video piece entitled The Whipping Machine Acid Flex Dance Remix 1989 / 2010. It is a video art abstraction created as a video segment of The Whipping Machine, a multi-media performance of modern dance theatre performed at The Painted Bride Art Center in June of 1989 in Philadelphia. Utilizing the Amiga 1000 computer and multi-layering soft and hardware effects, I explore the pulsating ambient rhythm of marbled abstraction. In this segment the video represents the mesmerizing intoxication and manipulation by the industrial complex on the masses. Today I am posting this piece as a reflection of our current political and economic struggles.

Stay informed and stand up to tyranny and deception.