At the Horizon

This entirely abstract video consists of two commensurate, superimposed visual layers on a black surface. The background appears like a snowstorm at night. The layer on top of this suddenly builds itself up out of a straight white horizontal line. This line expands, growing into a three dimensional, filigree grid. The square segments of the grid rise up at the corners to become irregular mountain formations, until they dissolve into a storm of lines. After the background alternates from black to red and back again for a few moments, a rotating dice marked with a grid appears at the center of the image. Again, the corners of the object begin to rise up irregularly in all directions, until reaching beyond the edge of the frame while assuming a continually changing chaotic pattern of lines. The layer of white noise likewise changes; the pixels enlarge and change color, first to red, then to green. Associations of fire and water come to mind. An even, filigree grid layers the image and fills the entire screen, mounting up anew. While the electronic soundtrack previously had condensed itself in dramatic synchronicity with the visual track, it subsequently becomes increasingly harmonious and almost melodic. At the end of the clip the imagistic background noise dissolves entirely into graphic lines that pull back together into a single horizontal line, inverse to the beginning of the film.

Although it is clear which visual layer in this collaboration can be attributed to Takashi Makino and which to Manuel Knapp, the interplay of elements creates a hermetic overall impression. Both artists participated equally in the creation of picture as well as sound. Together they have produced an audiovisual composition as dramatic as it is hypnotic, perfectly complimenting one another without departing from their own personal styles. (Norbert Pfaffenbichler)

Translation: Eve Heller