Fantastic Machine

Artist’s Statement

Project Title: Fantastic Machine

When trying to come up with a decent idea for my final video essay, I thought harder about the themes of the program than I ever had the pervious 7 weeks. It came down the question: “What amazes me? The answer to that came fairly quickly, thankfully. Rhythm amazes me. More specifically, how rhythm is everywhere. In our homes, in the streets, in the classroom, even inside our bodies. As I mention in the piece, I fancy myself a musician, and I’ve discovered myself becoming more and more in tune with every day, average sound, and how it can come together to create something really cool, and I tried to reflect that with the audio track. It includes the sounds of downtown olympia and Seattle, a heartbeat, and a metronome.

Visually, I originally wanted to use stop motion photography, but was suddenly drawn to a sort of “continuous panorama” idea, where scenes scroll by as if on one of those old player pianos. That was kind of a pain to animate.

All in all, I suppose this piece is just about my response to everyday rhythm, and some of the thoughts, memories and emotions it evokes. The writing is done in the style of a regular old personal essay, just because that’s the way writing flows easiest for me.

Enjoy!

Artist Bio

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