white noise film program

Free Radicals Len Lye

From some the earliest abstract cinema through to egdy contemporary experiments with digital, lose yourself in this program of abstract films.

Including historic works from Viking Eggeling, Hans Richter, Walter Ruttman and László Moholy-Nagy, it also features the rarely-seen short films of America's pioneer animator, Mary Ellen Bute.

Drawn from the ACMI and LUX (UK) collections, the contemporary selection includes moving image makers from Len Lye and John Whitney through to Steina and Woody Vasulka, Lis Rhodes, Malclom Le Grice and Semiconductor.

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program

Viking Eggeling
Symphonie Diagonale
United States, 1921-1924, B& W, mute, 7:39 min

Hans Richter
Rhythmus 21
Germany, 1921, B& W, mute, 3:30 min

Walter Ruttman
Opus IV
Germany, 1925, colour, mute, 4min

László Mohology Nagy
Lichtspiel Schwarz-Weiss-Grau (Lightplay: Black, White and Grey)
Germany/Soviet Union, 1930, B & W, mute, 6 min

Mary Ellen Bute
Rhythm in Light
United States, 1934, B & W, 5min
The earliest American abstract film. Premiered at Radio City Music Hall with "Becky Sharp"

Mary Ellen Bute
Abstronic
United States, 1952, colour, 7min
Oscilloscope-generated images set to music

Len Lye
Free Radicals
United States, 1958 (revised 1979), B & W, mono, 4:03 min

John Whitney
Permutations
United States, 1966, colour, mono, 7 min

Steina & Woody Vasulka
Noisefields
United States, 1974, video, 12min
Noisefields is an important example of the Vasulkas' early experiments, a visualisation of the materiality of the electronic signal and its energy. Colorised video noise (or snow) is keyed through a circle, producing a rich static sound that is modulated by the energy content of the video.

Lis Rhodes
Light Music
United Kingdom, 1977, 16mm/video, 15 min
Lis Rhodes has conducted a thorough investigation into the relationship between shapes and rhythms of lines and their tonality when printed as sound. The imagery is restricted to lines of horizontal bars across the screen: there is variety in the spacing (frequency), their thickness (amplitude) and their colour and density (tone).

Malcolm Le Grice
Arbitrary Logic
United Kingdom, 1989, video, 5min

Semiconductor
Yes, You are Right
United Kingdom, 1999, video, 1 min

Total program duration approx. 90mins