Text Of Light

A polite but enthusiastic applause rings out through the ACMI cinema as the four improvisational musicians take silently to the stage in front of the large screen. Stan Brakhage's 1985 film The Loom begins. Without a glimpse at the screen, the noise also begins, softly at first. Percussionist Tim Barnes drives the initial movement but after a slow build the other players join in the overwhelming improvisation. Guitarist Lee Ranaldo plays continuously, at times scraping his strings with a violin bow or hitting the back of his guitar. Saxophonist Ulrich Krieger rarely touches his tongue to his reed but creates the largest sound of the players, at times whipping his body furiously to produce the desired feedback. Alan Licht uses an array of devices to add layers to his minimal guitar playing. It is when the ensemble are ignored visually, however, that things start to make sense. As the screen shows a series of superimposed shots of an animal menagerie, the cacophony created below seems to synchronise with each cut. The music continues as Brakhage's 2001 film Rounds begins. The array of flittering colours clash with the jarring symphony. The forced combination of two art forms produced an overall piece of which no one interpretation will be the same. A lesson in the ambiguity of meaning.

At ACMI, season finished