blake carrington || new video and sound work
-2007-
Sky and Wires: At Home and Homeless [single-channel video and stereo audio, 9m30s]
Sky and Wires: At Home and Homeless is a response to a contemporary life of engaging with places not as a space to be, but as a space to chart a trajectory through. In two movements, still imagery from locations in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Arizona, Indiana, Louisville, Austin, and Las Vegas is introduced and then destroyed in a hyper-rhythm of image and always-progressing serial sound. The aggressive pattern and flow of image and sound become predominant, as the importance of individual scenes and notes is blurred. One of the work's central questions is in thinking about how we construct identity through the places we inhabit. Do we lose a bit of this core identity as we move from place to place, or are we at home wherever we are?
-2006-
Organic System 02 [2-channel video, 4m36s]
Objects reminiscent of biological cells are connected by structures resembling dendrites. The placement of objects implies an organic, non-conscious formation of connections and pathways. The first incarnation of my theme "bacterial mating pen".
Nocturne Crush [4-channel audio, 4m18s]
Grains from Chopin's 'Nocturne in F Major' are sampled, looped, mashed up and cut up into a new composition that invokes both the stillness of sleep and the tension of nighttime drama.
The Power Chord [single-channel video and stereo audio, 1m05s]
3 chords of Baba O'Riley, thank you Pete Townsend.
Viewing Fuji [single-channel video and stereo audio, 16m24s]
‘Viewing Fuji’ was shot at the peak of Mt. Takao, a popular destination in western Tokyo known for its view of Japan’s highest mountain, Mt. Fuji. In various shots of the Takao summit, hikers and daytrippers are seen looking at Mt. Fuji in the distance, sometimes taking a photograph. The slow-motion footage and the meditative audio emphasize the contrast between the eternal spirit attributed to Mt. Fuji and the relative eyeblink of time taken in viewing it.
-2005-
Motion Blurs Me [sound, image, butoh dance performance, 25m00s]
A live performance in Tokyo with dancer Rita Turner. Created with the theme "Sometimes I feel so fast I become still. Or maybe my stillness contains motion."
A Living City [single-channel video and stereo audio, 10m00s]
Pockets of the city interact via audiovisual rhythm. The spaces in between are silent. Riding the train in Tokyo I feel like all that exists are the bubbles of city built around each train station. If I tried to walk from one bubble to another would I fall off?
Motion Window [single-channel video and stereo audio, 5m50s]
A tornado inside a tornado. A warm-colored video image travels between 4 virtual screens in an empty environment. The video window reveals the artist spiraling along with the movement inside, while the viewer spirals around the screens in the dark.
