Thursday, 04 November, 2004 - 22:30

vespers4

Vespers 4
A series of films and videos related to experimental music and audio art
Vespers is a series of film and video screenings at ausland in Berlin,
related to experimental music and audio art, produced by ausland and
curated by Thomas Ankersmit. The series will focus on film and video
work made by artists who make music as well as films, collaborations
between experimental musicians and filmmakers, films about experimental
music and audio art and films that show close parallels to contemporary
musical work.
Programs will include Berlin premieres by Max Neuhaus, Maryanne
Amacher, Takehisa Kosugi, Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Tony Conrad, Jim
O'Rourke, Kevin Drumm and others.
Supported by the "Initiative Neue Musik Berlin e.V."
Programme November 4:In Order Not To Be Here
Film - Deborah Stratman
Music - Kevin Drumm
2002, 33 minutes, sound, 16mm
An uncompromising look at the ways privacy, safety, convenience and
surveillance determine our environment. Shot entirely at night, the
film confronts the hermetic nature of white-collar communities,
dissecting the fear behind contemporary suburban design.
By examining evacuated suburban and corporate landscapes, the film
reveals a peculiarly 21st century hollowness… an emptiness born of our
collective faith in safety and technology. This is a new genre of
horror movie, attempting suburban locations as states of mind.Picture of Light
Film - Peter Mettler
Music - Jim O'Rourke
1994, 83 minutes, colour, sound, dvd
What begins as an expedition to Canada’s Arctic in search of the
northern lights becomes a cinematic exploration of how light itself is
perceived and represented. The inherent paradox of attempting to record
the haunting, natural beauty of the aurora borealis becomes both the
subject and form of Mettler’s film. Mettler – whose tastes run to the
transcendent and the abstract, to questions of metaphysics and matters
of the soul – contemplates the relationship between nature and
technology and examines the gap between reality and our mediated
perception of reality.
The film combines glimpses of the eccentric characters who inhabit this
remote corner of the planet with spectacular shots of the aurora
borealis. As crew members try to cope with the extremes of the North,
Mettler’s inimitable lens investigates the distance between light and
dark. He renders the power of the elements almost tangible and infuses
the documentary form with a sensual dimension that is nothing less than
lyrical.
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