diff --git a/art/mechnaique.html b/art/mechnaique.html index 55c0954..552e245 100644 --- a/art/mechnaique.html +++ b/art/mechnaique.html @@ -61,23 +61,32 @@
Artwork Link: Ballet Mechanique
-
- Ballet Mécanique (1923–24) is a short art film created by French artist Fernand Léger working with Dudley Murphy, an American film director. The American Composer George Antheil also wrote a score for the film, but it was orginally released seperate from the film, and a version of the film with the addition of the soundtrack was not released until 2000. Many consider it to be a masterpiece of experimental filmmaking. The film is in a post-Cubist style, and is part of the Dadist avant-garde art movement. The film was created during what has been dubbed Léger's 'mechanical period', where he combined abstract Constructivism with the surreal qualities of Dadism.
-
-
The film was summarised by a viewer as "a world in motion, dominated by mechanical and repetitive images, with a few moments of solitude in a garden.", which matches the heavy, and seeminly chaotic sounds of the musical accompaniment. It alternates between images of humans, and images of machines and mechanisms. In some scenes, such as a scene where a woman repeatedly climbs stairs, humans appear to move much more mechanically, which makes it seem as if they are becoming machines. In contrast, in other sequences machines appear much more fluid than humans, humanising the machines. This alternation between human and machine, and the film showing each taking on characteristics of the other, allows the film to suggest the mechanisation of humanity, and the humanisation of machines.
-
Ballet Mécanique (1923–24) is a short art film created by French artist Fernand Léger working with Dudley Murphy, an American film director. Many consider it to be a masterpiece of experimental filmmaking. The film is in a post-Cubist style, and is part of the Dadist avant-garde art movement. The film was created during what has been dubbed Léger's 'mechanical period', where he combined abstract Constructivism with the surreal qualities of Dadism.
+The film was summarised by a viewer as "a world in motion, dominated by mechanical and repetitive images, with a few moments of solitude in a garden.". It alternates between images of humans, and images of machines and mechanisms. In some scenes, such as a scene where a woman repeatedly climbs stairs, humans appear to move much more mechanically, which makes it seem as if they are becoming machines. In contrast, in other sequences machines appear much more fluid than humans, humanising the machines. This alternation between human and machine, and the film showing each taking on characteristics of the other, allows the film to suggest the mechanisation of humanity, and the humanisation of machines. +
+
+ + The American Composer George Antheil also wrote a score for the film, but it was orginally released seperate from the film, due to the piece being almost twice as long as the film, and at the time film soundtracks were played back from a roll of tape, in a 'player piano', and there was no way to synchronise the soundtrack and film. A version of the film with the addition of the soundtrack was not released until 2000. The soundtrack fits perfectly with the scenes in the film, heavy, mechanical and seemingly chaotic sounds perfectly accentuating the robotics and mechanisms shown to the viewer. The piece uses very unusal instruments to create some of the sounds, such as seven or so electric bells, a siren and even three airplane propellors, into the blades of which sticks were inserted. +
+The piece that inspired this direction of research:
+ +
This link to Ballet Mechanique was additionally inspired by the direct link between the representation of mechanisms in the film, and the mechanical basis of my project.