comp.tot 4
comp.tot 4
romutation
neoklijt
zarakesh
These three pieces can be presented either collectively as the comp.tot 4 project or as separate compositions.
It is the square waves which make the page vibrate, which make the sheet of paper bend toward them and press against their eye. It is the square waves of repetition, which they do not hear, which they must sense and select.
The project can be considered an intermedia piece, as it works between and with the established forms of film and music. In this area of semiotics the question of equivalence is posed in addition to reflections on signs, symbols and icons. With narrative music, combinations of harmonies would produce a relationship to narrative film which is only nearly equivalent. As this piece enlarges upon the general standardized limits, the result is more than a mere answer to the question, as it has become obsolete. This element, embedded in the system of repetitions, is augmented by a significant dynamic facet: It is the tape within the tape, the interference within the interference, which develops progressively, becoming immune to conventional phrases. The viewer must accept the fact that there is no antidote to presumed understanding. The issue of understanding becomes relevant only with regard to the quantity of comprehension. A great deal of what is seen and heard, and then taken away, one has brought along.
It is the square waves which make the page vibrate, which make the sheet of paper bend toward them and press against their eye. (Thom Ballhausen)
comp.tot 4
1999
Austria, Netherlands
35 min