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john grzinich two films (and/40) DVD - all region/NTSC
and/OAR, Maaheli Editions and Paleosol Edition are extremely pleased to present
two films by sound artist John Grzinich: Sound Aspects Of Material Elements &
Mimema which features cameo appearances by Patrick McGinley (aka Murmer),
HItoshi Kojo (aka Spiracle), Eamon Sprod (aka Tarab), Jim Haynes, Toomas
Thetloff, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Evelyn Muursepp, Mari Jõgiste,
Vivian Bohl and Pärt Ojamaa.
Technical note: Some hardware and software playback systems may need to be
adjusted to properly display the 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratio of this DVD. To do
this, go to the options menu for your TV monitor and DVD player.
Sound Aspects Of Material Elements
Black & White, 57 minutes HD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio
Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich
Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste, Estonia.
Collaborative recordings made with: Patrick McGinley, Jim Haynes, Toomas
Thetlof, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Eamon Sprod, Hitoshi Kojo, and
Evelyn Müürsepp.
Sound Aspects of Material Elements is a the film that shows a specific approach to
the artistic use of sound, covering a 3 year period (2006-2009) of the author's
personal research and collaborations with a number of close colleagues. What we
hear and see reveals how much our ability to listen with a creative ear, helps us re-
interpret and build new relations to what surrounds us. Using sound as the primary
signifier. The film documents in-situ processes of exploration and sonification of the
landscape along with various material, objects and structures found there. All the
sounds captured formed the basis for each shot emphasizing how the combinations
of certain materials (metal, wood, glass) along with natural elements (water, wind
fire), transforms our perception of even the most common everyday places or
situations.
Mimema
Color, 24:38 minutes, HD 16:9 Aspect Ratio
Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich
Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste Estonia.
Mimema is a meditation on states of liminality, of being in stasis, drifting in-between
above and below, night and day, inside and out. Mimema started out as a sound
composition and grew into a series of images that reflected my desire to invert the
world around me by capturing the 'real' and making it 'imaginary', Much like a mirror
that reflects the shifting states of human cognition we encounter moment to
moment. Mimema is the blur between what we sense and what we construct as
understanding, appearing as much a body as a fluid or boundary as a state of
dissolution.
"Sound Aspects of Material Elements by John Grzinich is a highly unique film, an
elegant collection of location sound explorations captured over a three-year
period. Empty landscapes of blowing grass and drifting clouds, slight manipulations
of abandoned and natural objects, solo engagements with architectural structures,
duos and occasionally larger groups of participants “playing” found materials. In
each case, all sounds are sourced within a location, augmented and activated
through simple acoustic techniques – tubes, wires, mallets and contact mics. Each
'situation' becomes a kind of instrument, each 'place' is approached as a rich source
of sonic matter. This film finds itself between ‘sound art’ and cinema. Unlike most
movies, the film follows strict limitations in using only location-based, real-time
sound capture. On the other hand, there is strongly disjunctive relationship between
what we see and what we hear because of the predominant use of unusual miking
techniques. The shots themselves are often medium to long, and place the objects
or figures within the landscape – desolate Estonian fields, ramshackle barns,
windswept telephone wires, nighttime fires, abandoned and corroded metal tanks or
girders. The sounds, however, are not only of, but inside the location being shown.
We hear into spaces and materials through the careful use of contact mics or the
placement of microphones inside containers, tubes and vessels. These decisions
amplify, magnify and distort the sonic landscape in relation to what is seen. It can
feel like existing on two levels at once. Sound Aspects of Material Elements
doesn’t illustrate, interpret or elaborate upon sound with image, it just shows -
demonstrating the elements at play in a particular arrangement or situation. At the
same time, the links between sound and image are more than just causal. They are
the result of careful exploration, fine-tuned framing, and a delicate balance of the
haphazard and the instigated." (Seth Nehil)
"One way to describe John Grzinich's film Mimema would be 'hypnogogic drone
poem cinema'. Watching sleeping floaters dream in the eye of the camera. The
sound and visual elements work together in such a way, that it's difficult to keep from
falling under its hypnotic spell. Very rich and deep. Meanwhile, Sound Aspects Of
Material Elements is a unique cinematic documentary experience that says much
without uttering a word. For the less initiated, it not only teaches sound appreciation
in an inspiring way, but also demonstrates where sound sources found in much of
today's field recording-based sound art compositions initially come from. Certainly a
landmark moment for and/OAR and one of the most prized releases in the label
catalog." (Dale Lloyd)
John Grzinich has been conducting his own forms of sound research for
over 15 years, including field recording, kinetic sculptures,
electro-acoustic composition, performance, videography, group workshops
and exercises in listening. Currently he lives in Estonia and works as a
program and technical coordinator for MoKS, a non-profit artist-run
center. He has published CDs of his sound works on international labels
such as: SIRR, Mystery Sea, Staalplaat, Erewhon, Intransitive, Cut,
Elevator Bath, Invisible Birds, Semper Florens and others.
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