The Phase Shift Video Series

Painting is the silence of thought and the music of sight --Orhan Pamuk


One Again




The videos in this series were inspired by the early phase shift music of Steve Reich. The first one that was created (One Again) analogously sets two colors (a fuzzy disk on a square background), each of which is cycling through all the colors in the spectrum, against each other as they slowly go out of phase. They come back into phase after roughly 15 minutes at which point the piece will seamlessly loop. Although in other pieces from this series, the shapes, arrangements of shapes, and color patterns become more complex -the generative system remains the same.

These pieces can be experienced on different levels. They are visually quite beautiful, and set up an ever changing pattern of interesting color relationships. They create unusual optical effects -for example, the shapes sometimes appear to change size, or even move, when in reality nothing except the colors is ever altered. Additionally, like abstract art in general, their interpretation is open to the viewer's discretion. And finally, for many, they create an absorbing meditative experience.

They have played at a variety of venues throughout the world. In addition to the usual art galleries and museums they have been included in the art and technology festival called FILE RIO 2009 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and played in the Koltsovo Airport in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

These videos are publicly viewed in a "black box": a dark room where all that can be seen is the projection at about 8' x 8'. They have also been projected at night at much larger sizes on the sides of architectural structures.

At this point about 30 different pieces in this series has been created. Below you can see two still frames from each video which may give you the smallest hint of what the pieces look like. The short installation video under the Center Galleries link should make clear why there are only still images on this page. Unfortunately given both technology constraints and the importance of scale to the work, playing any of these videos on a computer screen over the internet would be counter-productive. However, DVD's including several of these pieces are available to appropriate organizations for review purposes only. Please contact Strategic Technologies for Art, Globe and Environment for more information on purchasing or exhibiting any of these videos.



Check out the show at Center Galleries, Detroit, 2007

Someone's photos of Phase Shift: Pendant in ALBIAC

Review in the Flint Journal



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Filament



Corona



Corona Two



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Influx



Efflux



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1s



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2p



Pendant

Purchase prize winner at the Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo, in Spain



Distill



Singularity



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Resonance



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Iris



Ghost



Flare




Columns




Trinity



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