Umfeld

Mash a Kandinsky with a Duchamp, crumple one of Zaha Hadid’s smaller architectural experiments with H.R. Geiger’s eerie organic forms, cram the whole thing into a high-definition television, and you might end up with something like the art of Scott Pagano. Grind down the gritty, industrial detritus of Rotterdam — one of the world’s largest port cities — and process it in a digital audio factory and you may, if you’re lucky, get something that sounds like the mechanized mayhem of Jochem Paap, a.k.a. “Speedy J.” Blend it all together in a high-fidelity digital soup and you get, well, you get something entirely new.

This is how Apple website introduces Umfeld, the result of the ambitious project of Jochem Paap (audio) and Scott Pagano (visuals) to create a total sensory experience using abstract audio-visuals. The audio makes use of full surround evoking a completely immersive experience and amplifying what lies beyond the visual field.

Through 8 separate pieces, the 56 minute experimental movie takes the viewer from electrifying collages of angular structures to pulsating organic compositions. Similarly, the camera shifts between uneasy shakes, mechanical precision and smooth flowing motion; Brakhage in a hyper-technological and information-laden universe.

Umfeld challenges the perception by maintaining a high level of abstraction yet obtaining a very ‘realistic’ character.
The movie creates the feeling as though one starts learning to see and hear a whole new dimension and manages to hint at yet another level of existence beyond even that.

Pagano superimposes, displaces, multiplies, mirrors, deforms and adds three dimensional computer generated imagery in the mix, creating a holistic experience which exceeds the individual ‘effect’.
The audiovisual experience is of such density it becomes tangible.
Both audio and video complement each other, creating a single atmosphere where the question “what came first” is completely irrelevant. There is no causality, no link, no separation: they are one and the same entity.

Paap produces a soundtrack recalling the magnificently alienating experience of ‘public energy nr 1′ and ‘a shocking hobby’ and extends it by his gained experience in surround compositions. Layers of crisp, pulsating high-energy, melodic chimes and crackling rhythms, deep basses and metallic resonance flow on top of each other and create a stunning spatial experience.

Umfeld provides a glimpse of what it might be like to not just see and hear what’s within the range of our senses, but also the frequencies outside those limits. It almost creates a heightened awareness… or did I just have too much espresso?

See and hear ‘Umfeld’ for yourself :
Go to www.umfeld.tv and download the dvd image for free or order the dvd (incl. Region Free 77 and a short documentary) online!

Article from Rupture Online

Umfeld profile on Apple website
Umfeld flickr account.

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