victorian organ
by Christine Victoria Dunn
A celebration of the musically and
mechanically organic.
an experimental animation, digital video, 5
minutes
...the message...
This film attempts to contextualize the
mechanical, or man-made, within nature. The comparative crudity or blockiness that seems to be
characteristic of most man-made structures, need not be seen as evidence of
alienated, "unnatural" or shamefully inferior human craftsmanship. Instead,
it can be viewed as a perfectly natural manifestation of our developing
conceptual capacities--charming mimicry of the somewhat simpler elements of an
infinitely intricate world. This is an assertion that there really is no
"man vs. nature", but only man as nature, in which case disharmony is
only manifest through, or lies in, our own self-perception.
...the metaphor...
The attempt to convey this message is made
by pulling the viewer through the innards of a self-winding, mechanically
musical tree. The central metaphor is the encrypted code of the music box
cylinder at the heart of the tree, whose rotating bumps dictate the pattern of
cell growth-- a spinning
mechanical chromosome. The cylinder is wound by a key nested in the center of
the root structure, pushed by the treeÕs own organic roots. The key eventually reverses and turns
the cylinder, playing out its code like a music box. This winding and unwinding
is in keeping with the balanced nature of the tree, and is a companion theme to
the harmony of complementary elements: 'concrete mechanical' and 'amorphous
organic'.
More layers of metaphor are at work. The
surface of the image is constantly veiled by transparent hand-painted glass
slides, periodically interchanged by a mechanical arm, much like looking
through a Viewmaster. This functions both as representative of the unavoidable
and ever-changing personal filters of our own perspectives, and to frame the
experience as safely detached, while overwhelmingly intimate.
The
concept of mechanized growth extends to the blossoms of the tree-- jingle bell buds
open as silver flowers, extending red spiral stamens. Pearls and jewels,
dotting the white crystal sands from which the tree grows, are also embedded in
the roots and trunk of the tree, as ingested bits of experience. The
translucent white body of the tree, stained with moss, stands as a fantastical
birch tree.
Éthe deliveryÉ
This film stems from an obsession with ideal
growth, codes and perspectives. Far more time, (maybe too much!) was spent
researching the golden ratio, phyllotaxis, clockwork music, color organs,
Victorian aesthetics, and the roots of computer programming, than in actual
construction, shooting or editing of the project. The tree was built using a
wide assortment of materials- some traditional, like clay and wire, others
improvisational, like hot chocolate mix and hairspray. Some sequences were shot
using stop-motion, others were sourced from real-time capture (MiniDV) and
animated in AfterEffects. The soundtrack was made using noises from my Bolex
camera, film projectors, toy piano, wooden xylophone and whale songs. These
clips were all woven together using Soundtrack, on my Mac G4.
I was born in Newport, Rhode Island, 26
years ago. Technically, my endeavors as a digital artist began in the 80's, as
a child using MacPaint. I later earned a B.A. from URI in Studio Art,
specializing in filmmaking and computer art. I'm now completing my M.F.A. in
Film and Animation at RIT-- this project is my thesis film. My previous film,
"particle valentine", has earned me awards and met with great reception
at roughly a dozen international festivals, namely Slamdance, Chicago
Underground, Antimatter and Not Still Art. I plan to spend my energy studying
and promoting the work of experimental motion picture makers- a film librarian
by day, video artist by night.
contact info:
http://homepage.mac.com/stineshine/