Each video file contains a movement accompanied by a sound I have created for it. In some cases, the sound came first, followed by the visualisation. There are also videos for which I recorded both the sound and the image simultaneously with a camera. The sounds circle around the same harmonic and rhythmic structure, generating constantly changing, yet continual music. The viewer may also notice visual patterns and variations of recurring themes within the work.
I have sourced images from the Finna.fi and Internet Archive search services, among others. While creating the material, I studied various animation techniques and developed some of my own. I found sounds from various services, such as freesound.org, and also produced them myself using a range of mostly free digital tools. The individual videos reflect my varying interests in either form or content, and building the video collection has been a diary-like process.
In the foreword to The Book of Imaginary Beings, Jorge Luis Borges makes a distinction between “necessary monsters” (such as the dragon) and “ephemeral” or “casual” creatures. MKE generates the latter and also serves as a kind of solitaire version of the cadavre exquis method. It operates on the boundary between order and chance, producing fleeting and momentary sensations whose meaning lies in their uniqueness. They are audiovisual flashes that are not easy to verbalise, instead vanishing like butterflies or laughter.
This work is part of a broader series that stems from the characteristics of the Tomutonttu creature I have developed, as well as from my complex relationship with music as the most wondrous art form. I want to thank Marko Vierimaa for programming MKE, and the Pirkanmaa Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation for supporting my work.
Contact informatio
jan (a) kemiallisetystavat.com
https://www.janderzen.net/
https://www.instagram.com/janderzen/
