Year (2003) is an attempt to explore and experience those things we do not normally notice because we are too busy. Because abstraction simply is, it has the potential to make us see the world differently. It makes use of both digital artifacts and analog processing effects to create abstract imagery by exploring our ability to visualize space and movement through color. Compression artifacts present us with a ready-made image of interpretation and memory, made visible by the technical properties of our technology. Digital signal decay is an almost inevitable consequence of working with compressed video, and its presence is magnified by successive generations of processing.

Portions of Year were also processed with analog machinery at the Experimental Television Center in Owego, New York, allowing me to draw together more than a decade of experiments with color, space, motion and perception.

There are twelve sequences of Year, which are organized around monthly birthdays of people I know. This connection gives a human dimension to an otherwise abstract work. In each sequence, I matched the mood, imagery and rhythm— to the person.

Review by David Finkelstein on Film Threat.

Copyright © Michael Betancourt  August 2, 2011  all rights reserved.

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