A dark delirium of images, a disintegrated vision of a complex world - a digital version of William Blake's poetry...
This is how the work of media artist Solu (aka Mia Makela) has been described. Makela is an internationally acclaimed leader and innovator in the field of live cinema, by which I mean the live, real-time mixing of images and sound for an audience, where the sounds and images no longer exist in a fixed and finished form but evolve as they occur, and the artist's role becomes performative and the audience's role becomes participatory. The Finnish artist is fascinated by editing and argues boldly in her essay, "The Practice of Live Cinema," that "live cinema is not cinema" at all. Her assertion rests on the idea that cinema privileges storytelling, but for Makela, live cinema thrives in the exploration of the transitions between bits of storytelling sequences. Referencing the haunting shots of the dark asphalt that stretches through parts of David Lynch's Lost Highway, she writes that these kinds of shots "are the basic material for live cinema performances: the transitions, the movements, the pure visual beauty and intrigue, the atmosphere." Makela's work is rich with lush, stuttering imagery flecked with information and graphics rendered live, in real time, and in response to the audience.
I'm delighted to say that Makela will present Real Time Live, which is both a two-part, hands-on workshop at USC starting Friday, October 9, as well as a live performance on Saturday night! Get the full details after the jump...
In the two-part workshop on Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Makela will offer an overview of the history, tools, techniques and craft of live cinema. Makela has written extensively on live cinema, and her workshop has been offered to artists all over the world. The first Blur+Sharpen reader to express interest in the workshop with an email (to hwillis (at) cinema.usc.edu) will be welcome to attend.
On Saturday evening, beginning at 8:30 p.m., Makela will perform live, giving viewers a wonderful opportunity to see live cinema at its best. The evening performance is free and open to all. Please come!
Real Time LiveReal Time Live Workshop
Friday & Saturday, October 9 & 10, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Institute for Multimedia Literacy
746 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles
Real Time Live Performance
Saturday, October 10, 8:30 p.m.
SCA 112, George Lucas Building
School of Cinematic Arts Complex
University of Southern California
900 W. 34th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90007
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How fun. Artist-audience interaction always bring the less artistically-educated of us into the mix, a welcome invite.