Visible Compendium

Bits of unnamed meanings, fragments of light. Photography is, to me, not about things, but about light. Light is our primary reality when we are at the movies - light which suggests things, the secondary reality, a construct by the mind. THE VISIBLE COMPENDIUM attempts to engage the mind, and particularly what is unknown in the mind, rather than what has been seen and known a thousand times over.


1990
16 MM
Color
17 Minutes
Sound

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Exhibition: Ann Arbor Film Festival, 1991; SF Cinematheque, 1991;Cineprobe, Museum of Modern Art, 1991; Anthology Film Archives, 1991;Annecy Int'l Animation Festival, 1991, New York International Film Festival 1991
Awards: Atlanta Film Festival, Big Muddy Film Festival, Black Mariah Film Festival

The Visible Compendium reaches farther than any of my other animations. It goes off in many directions, held together, hopefully, by the soundtrack, which itself goes off in a number of directions: strange sounds, some recognisable, others not. Some music. No voices, no silence. This is intentional. The film is a compendium, as indicated in the title - a catalogue of visible possible experiences, some at normal time, some speeded up or slowed down, some continuous, others broken up. - L.J.