Singing Stone

Australia, 1980

Artwork

A hand clutches an oval stone which is drawn back and forth in tight circular motions, grinding pigment. Produced with a black and white half inch reel-to-reel portapak video recorder (manufactured c1975). ‘Singing Stone’ demonstrates Callas’ early experimentation with colouriser painting techniques. The effect is one of visual distortion in which pictorial surface and depth oscillate, creating a sense of dislocation and hallucination.
Notes by Rachel Kent, reprinted courtesy of the author and d/Lux Media Arts.

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has been digitised but due to rights and access requirements can only be viewed onsite at ACMI over WiFi or by an access request.

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Previously on display

22 April 2019

ACMI Viewing Booths

Credits

creator

Peter Callas

Duration

00:04:22:00

Production places
Australia
Production dates
1980

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

B2001496

Audience classification

Mediatheque - all ages (ACMI classified)

Subject category

Digital Art

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Object Types

Artwork

Materials

Single channel moving image, colour and audio

Holdings

MOV file H264; ACMI Digital Access Copy - presentation

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/116704--singing-stone/ |title=Singing Stone |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=4 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}