Chromatic Aberration: Signs of Things to Come, short film, duration: 2:34min

In Brief: A complete piece on its own, this short film showcases a few different aesthetic landscapes that will be in the upcoming series of Chromatic Aberration short films. Each film will be 2-12 minutes long and will have focused imagery and scores to create an immersive viewer experience - each one distinct from the other.

The audio on this film is composed of authentic Numbers Stations recordings, used with permission from the Conet Project.

Full Artist's Statement:

“Signs of Things to Come” is the second short film in the collaborative series “Chromatic Aberrations” by director Rebecca Wasilewski and photographer Ben Pender-Cudlip. “Chromatic Aberrations” grew out of an experiment in which the goal was to realize the monochrome, abstract landscapes from Wasilewski’s paintings and prints in real motion and full color. Moving in real time makes it easier for viewer to truly experience these scenes and, more importantly, the concepts– moment by moment.

“Signs” features an assemblage of imagery from the most recent shooting sessions, paired with the audio of genuine recordings from Numbers Stations. Numbers Stations are shortwave radio stations characterized by unusual broadcasts, often at night, in which lists of numbers or incomprehensible coded messages are spoken either by what seems to be a real human voice or a speech synthesis device. These signals have been noticed all over the globe, have exceptionally powerful signals and long ranges, and contain no information about the transmitter location or for whom the transmissions are meant.

In “Signs,” the viewer gets a brief window into a variety of worlds, each carrying many allusions and possible readings: a nighttime sky, cosmic landscape, glimpse through a microscope, visceral innards. There is purposefully plenty of room for multiple interpretations. Matched with indecipherable Numbers Stations, “Signs” may confuse and thus provoke feelings of disconnection. However, as each moment unfolds with new visual and auditory information, viewers edit their theory of what they are meant to grasp. This intuitive striving for comprehension –the need to interpret, understand, and thus belong– is hardwired into human nature and truly connects us all. “Signs” is a distillation of this interpretive, seeking process. After all, what is art but a transmission of ideas, emotions, and complex information, put out into the world with a hope for understanding and thus connection?

Notes:

-The HD video was shot live in Wasilewski’s painting studio and uses no animation or digital manipulation.

- The audio on this film is composed of authentic Numbers Stations recordings, used with permission from the Conet Project.

Chromatic Aberration A, short experimental film, duration 11:56 min

*sound is an integral part of this piece

This piece was an attempt to realize my prints and paintings in motion. Visually, it is not very focused and has technical issues, but musical duo Connector did such a fantastic job with the score that it is worth viewing in total. Headphones are recommended. This was a launch-pad for a second session of more directed shooting with improved technique.