Music in the Air |
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2023, 15 mins., two 16mm projectors, spinning propellor, audio
In a live double-16mm projector performance, Scott Stark feeds gorgeous Kodachrome found footage, from a 1950s promo doc about a fabled teen music camp near Stockton, CA, into his propeller-driven system to generate a transformative visual spectacle. Using two reels of film, the on-screen image alternates between the left and right projectors, transposing objects onto bodies, landscapes onto buildings, sidewalks onto swimming pools, and subtle musical instrumentation onto frenetic explosions of color.
Review
My other favorite film from 2023 was the latest gem by one of the genuine luminaries of experimental film, Scott Stark. Having conceived and produced over 85 films over the past 45 years, Stark, in his latest masterpiece, showcases stunning Kodachrome found footage of a 1950s promotional film for a teen music camp near Stockton, California. At screenings, Stark tends to feed the film into his propeller-driven, duel-16mm projectors that, he stated at this year’s Crossroads Experimental Film Festival, "uses two reels of film while alternating between the left and right projectors, transposing objects onto bodies, landscapes onto buildings, sidewalks onto swimming pools, and subtle musical movements onto frenetic explosions of color."
Feeling like an amalgamation of Stark’s: Angel Beach (which was invited into the 2002 Whitney Biennial) and Back in the Saddle Again (1997), the film demands you do whatever it takes to experience its truly transformative visual spectacle. Warning: A strobing effect occurs throughout the entirety of the 15-minute running time that may affect photosensitive viewers.
--Jesse Hawthorne Ficks, 48hills