more light, and more darkness (program notes)

notes from the recent screening in los angeles,
thanks to those who came and sent kind words.
dvd out next year on invisible birds *

light in the darkness, or darkness moves
recent work by tarrl lightowler and matthew swiezynski
(and the ingenting kollektiva)

matthew swiezynski - i can feel the sea falling over my head - 2008-2010
filmed on christmas in 2008, this video documents some beautiful harmonium playing by d granahan accompanied by the sounds of a warm fireplace. the work starts out as a somewhat straightforward documentation, and then moves towards the end into abstraction, not dissimilar to alvin lucier's i am sitting in a room, though more akin to the transcendent qualities of indian classical music.
matthew swiezynski - it is something invisible - 2008-2010
the work for this video started by using a camera to collect images of trees using a method inspired by the films of michael snow and stan brakhage. this method involves spinning the camera around in the woods for as long as the body can tolerate (60-90 seconds), and then using a computer to layer and extend the raw footage. one way to think about the film is of a camera gathering small fragments of time from a forest that exists in larger periods of time (the life of the forest), and stretching these moments into something more appropriate to what the trees would see rather than someone passing through.
tarrl lightowler - as yet untitled - 2010
mr. lightowler has been making films of light on water for some 15 or more years. these 3 excerpts are from a longer planned work that involves an extremely refined way of thinking about and photographing the way light, movement and time leave an impression on water. this new work is accompanied by recordings made by the ingenting kollectiva on christmas 2009, edited by mr. lightowler.