A series of images collected in 2010, captured during travels in North America and Europe.

The time of the white nights is quickly passing. In this part of the year I try to make regular excursions out into the countryside to record during the late evening and early morning solitude. One of my favorite places to visit is an embankment on the western shore of Peipsi lake (bordering with Russia). If the air is still enough, the subtly changing colors of the sky reflect beautifully off the surface of the water. The photos above are just a humble tribute to this magical display of light. On this particular night, it was so quiet, there was almost nothing to record sound-wise except for the occasional fish leaping up to catch insects. Below are two excepts from longer recordings made in the past month.

This first recording was made by a small pond in the forest. There are frogs moving around directly in front of the mics, but you can hear many soft sounds in the distance from the forest and a remote farm.

This recording was made after the traditional mid-summer day (St. Johns day or Jaanipäev), when the evening soundscape shifts dramatically from bird life up in the trees to cricket and grasshopper life in the grassy open fields. Unfortunately there are mosquitoes present nearly all the time and they seem to like the furry wind covers on my microphones.

During the week of April 7th-15th 2010 I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin just north of San Francisco.

animate structures #4

Click here to view the embedded video.

this video features a set of specific locations where aspects of the land, abandoned structures and forces of wind come together.

just some of the materials and textures to be found in the areas around the headlands.

Travel support provided by Eesti Kultuurkapital.

2010 New Years greetings to everyone. I’m posting some photos taken during the recent days of crystal clear but cold weather (-15C to -26C, 5F to -15F). Its a time when everything seems to come to a frozen standstill, everything except the last remaining moisture in the air which condenses as crystallized ice on all the surfaces. Much of it crystallizes directly in the air causing an endless flow of glittery sparks as it refracts in the golden beams of sunlight in the mid afternoon.

There will not be much to report for a few weeks but I’ll be posting some material from my archives.

This is a small gallery of images collected during a recent visit to Austin and the desert area of West Texas known as Big Bend.The patterns reflect much of the arid desert-like climate which has been growing more dry and hot over the years.

With the recent temperatures falling far below zero, the lakes and rivers have finally frozen over. Its a special moment because there has not been any snow to cover the ice. The ice on the pond next to our house was clear enough to see fully through. There were bubbles and leaves frozen still and preserved just below the surface.

approximate time: 1 hour
thermodynamic+graphic : light, heat, noise, basic forms, complexity patterns

There are five parts to this video work. The first focuses on a montage of electronic wave forms from an analogue oscilloscope monitor. The second is a literal use of water waves taken from the Elbe and slowly abstracted over time. Thirdly, the water transforms to air and we see the slow moving patterns of clouds. From the large to the small we zoom in using macro photography to capture movement patterns in aquatic environments. Subtle currents, types of debris and varied lighting and feedback techniques are all qualities that define the visual field. The fifth and final part is a reworking of the original hand painted films of Rick Reed a colleague of mine based in Austin, Texas. Attention is devoted to each subject as the intricacies are given enough time to be visually absorbed.

A live mix formed from a diverse archive of recordings of the past year is used for the soundtrack. This consists of acoustic recordings of piano and pure tone ‘chimes’ and computer synthesis which is being used as material for new compositions.

Thermographic Sequences’ has been presented at: t0 Public Netbase Vienna, Cyberpipe Ljublajana, Klub MaMa Zagreb, Access Centar Sarajevo, Academy of Fine Arts Budapest, Center for Contemporary Arts Prague and Videomedja Novi Sad.

MoKS ja Y- galerii esitlevad:

Y kohtumine

teisipäeval 27.novembril kell 18.00 Y-galeriis Tartus.

Kolmanda Y kohtumise sisustab John Grzinich. Sellel õhtul toob John lagedale oma kõige värskema loomingu ja kaasab kokkutulnud kodanikud filmiaktsiooni.
John kõneleb enda praeguse aja töödest ja esitleb esimest osa oma uuest filmist “mimema”. See 22- minutiline film uurib “vahepeal olemist” looduses. Märksõnaks oleks selle töö puhul polaarsused: öö-päev, hele- tume, ülal- all, sees- väljas, vaatleja- vaadeldav, ärkvel- uinunud. Materjal on filmitud HDV formaadis 2007. aasta suvel Eestimaa erinevais paigus. Film valmis inspireerituna Johni enese heliteosest “mimema” mille ta komponeeris 2007. a talvel. Y galeriis esitletav film ei ole selle lõplik versioon. Kuna see on käimasolev töö (work in progress) siis oleks autor väga tänulik vaatajate kommentaaride ja küsimuste eest.
Pärast filminäitamist korraldab John Grzinich filmiaktsiooni, mille jooksul ülesvõetud materjali võib ta kasutada “mimema” edaspidistes osades. Ta ootab osalema 4-6 inimest, kel ei ole midagi selle vastu, et natuke oma käsi määrida. Filmimine keskendub kätele ja nende liikumisele, reaktsioonile erinevate materjalide suhtes.

BIO
s. 1970 New York state, USA
Elab Eestis alates 2003. aastast.
Heli ja videokunstnik, koordinaator.
Multimeediakunstnikuna töötab John Grzinich valdavalt helide komponeerimise, heli performance ja -installatsioonide vallas alates 1990-ndate algusest. Sellest ajast alates on ta aktiivselt esinenud ja töötanud üle kogu Euroopa ja USAs. Samuti on ta oma heliloominguga välja andnud rea CD-sid taoliste plaadileibelite alt nagu SIRR (PT), Staalplaat (NL), Edition Sonoro (UK), CUT (CH), CMR (NZ), erewhon (BE), Intransitive Recordings (US), Orogenetics (US), Elevator Bath (US), Pale-Disc (JP), Digital Narcis (JP), and Cloud of Statics(CH).

Praegu on John Grzinich projekti- ja meedialabori koordinaator MoKSis (Mooste KülalisStuudio MTÜ-s)

Tort ja limonaad!
Üritustesari Y kohtumine toimub 2008. a kevadeni iga kuu viimasel teisipäeval Y- galeriis. Üritustesarja eesmärgiks on tutvustada MoKSi residentkunstnike tegemisi. Üritustesarja toetab Tartu Kultuurkapital ja Eesti Kultuuriministeerium.

Rohkem infot:
http://www.ygalerii.blogspot.com/
http://moks.ee

sound+video presentation

presented at Stazione Topolo 2003 | PostsovkoZ 3/Territories, Estonia

Equal and Distant Lines is one aspect of the larger Time [::] Frames project. Time [::] Frames investigates, analyzes and reflects on the process of living and working in a mobile context using the broad context of the current European cultural landscape. Equal and Distant Lines offers an experimental public viewing platform for expressing the transitory aspects of being a mobile artist. Space and movement are transformed and transplanted into an audio-visual experience… much of the material used as the soundtrack for this piece found its way on to a CD release with the same title.

for Stazione Topolo: “equal and distant lines” is a piece for returning, to scale the macro back to the micro. My return [to Topolo] is a dedication and expression of what one place can give an individual and what an individual can bring to a place. Through a mix and presentation of collected audiovisual materials of the past year I wish to return and build upon the idea that: there are no forgotten corners of the earth, we all affect and are affected. Video material was an in-camera film made on a journey from Sarajevo to Friuli Italy.

a semi-transparent screen works well with the evening backdrop

thanks to mbehrens for documentation