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Atelier 105, en résidence / July 15, 2015

BEAT THE OPERATING SYSTEM - LAURIE O'BRIEN

The film is about our world that has become increasing more connected and also more distant. The project began last year by working with a photo archive in Rochester, New York, home of Kodak. People from the 20's, 30's and 40's are placed in our own era by giving them cell phones, computers and jet planes and forcing them to live in the digital age. All of the images are from the Soibelman News Agency Archive courtesy of Visual Studies Workshop.

The project began by sending images and ideas to writer Doug Harvey and he sent back text using a variety of "paracritical Interrogation Technique -- real world implication of Alfred Jarry's science of pataphysics which pre-existing texts are subject to extreme stress to reveal their hidden meaning. The texts inspired me to create a set collages that were then animated at the Light Cone Residency Atelier 105.

In this way, the filmmaking process mimics the complexity of our desire to connect with people through distance, translations, and corruptions using images, music and language.