Robert Darroll Statements
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Filmography – Biography – Exhibitions – Awards – Bibliography – Statements
From 1984 until 1990 I produced three abstract animation films based on
three very different compositional concepts. All of these films were hand
drawn and shot as multiexposures. Formally they are rooted in the tradition
founded by Ruttman and Fischinger and are closely related to compositional
forms associated with contemporary music. These three films form “THE KOREAN
TRILOGY”, a project that I commenced after nearly two years residence in
Korea.
THE KOREAN TRILOGY
LUNG (1984-1986)
In the first phase of the composition, variations of eight motifs were
structured in overlapping layers. In each sequence, a series of forms evolve
but only when a specific constellation of form and colour is reached, is
sufficient tension generated to carry the evolution through to the following
sequence. The film is a closed system of values of colour, form, movement
and sound but the principles inherent in such a closed system are not
different from those of the open environment. The underlying function of
such a closed system is to indicate new possibilities of seeing, hearing and
understanding the way in which things appear to exist – to understand what
is seen and heard rather than merely seeing and hearing what we already
understand.
FENG HUANG (1986-1988)
The film is based on a linear composition in which forms and form groups
undergo a continuous process of transformation. In the process, form
elements occasionally arise which are related to naturalistic forms, i.e.
forms that have a recognisable function in conventional reality. Their
arisal is however, merely transitory as they return either as form or
non-form into the stream of change. The composition indicates the intimate
relationship between form (matter) and non-form (field) and the continuous
flowing exchange that takes place between these two poles.
STONE LION (1988-1990)
The ways in which individuals can be portrayed are very diverse and are not
limited to the mere naturalistic reproduction of physical appearances. In
the same way that the life of the subject is a dynamic flowing process in
time, so does this film attempt to retrace the individual process of
evolution by translating the consecutive phases of his existence into
rhythmic sequences of forms and colours. The main body of the composition is
dominated by strong rhythmic sequences based on rhythmic elements, which are
irregularly varied, by slight extensions and contractions. These rhythmic
units are correlated to chromatic shifts in the main themes. Reoccurring
variations of minor themes overlay the main themes.
SUKHI KANG produced the sound tracks for all three parts of the Trilogy at
the Electronic Studio of the Technical University of Berlin. KIYOSHI
FURUKAWA and XIAOYONG CHEN produced a second alternative soundtrack for
“Stone Lion”.
In 1990 I converted my studio to digital technology and began work on my
first computer animation entitled:
MEMB (1990-1993)
The compositional form of MEMB refers to a subjective mental process in
which form-entities act as mental events, penetrating the imaginary plane
dividing self from non-self. This is an archetypal process in which the
interplay of mental events within their field of activity provides the
momentum for a cyclical development. The dissolution of this plane is merely
a natural part of the cycle, which could be endlessly repeated, in countless
variations. KIYOSHI FURUKAWA produced the sound track at the ZKM, Karlsruhe.
MOÉ’S FIELD (1993-1996)
Several entries in a diary form four sections of this composition. The
sections encompass very diverse pictorial elements but the semiotic
connections of these elements is not predetermined for the viewer who will
find whatever “meaning” is pertinent to him at that time. The four parts are
based on various techniques of collage and the juxtapositioning of visual
elements in long intertwining lines of change that often attain such a high
degree of complexity that only single lines can be followed in each viewing.
The film is intended for repeated viewing and intuitive reinterpretation
despite the fact that during its production I was guided by a very specific
content. KIYOSHI FURUKAWA produced the sound track at the ZKM, Karlsruhe.
STELE (1996-1999)
Does an increase in complexity imply a qualitative evolutionary advance and
are we able to impose a sense of direction, or indeed a goal, on that
process? Are these impositions not in fact the servants of our innate need
for purpose related value? Is an illusory orientation more effective than
disillusioned disorientation? Or insane contentment better than morbid
insight? From this distant perspective, all that can be witnessed is an
apparently aimless and fragmented ebb and flow, leaving myriads of spent
forms adrift in the virtual afterworld of memory.
CYNET art prize for computer animation, 2000.
Kiyoshi Furukawa produced the sound track at the ZKM, Karlsruhe
NOEMATA No. 1 (1999 – 2000)
This composition uses documentary material interlaced in various rhythms.
The individual frames of the original material have been reworked and then
placed so that their numerical order is retained although they are separated
by other sequences of frames. The object of this is to create a new sequence
of images by blending different sequences together and by decreasing the
continuity of the frames. The video also includes passages of continuous
animation.
Media Prize awarded by the Bund Deutsche Industrie,
2001.
Asolo Art Film Festival prize for computer animation 2002.
Sean Reed produced the sound track.
NOEMATA No. 2 (2000 – 2001)
Noemata No. 2 was completed after one year back in Asia. In the West, the
most banal of artefacts of contemporary and traditional Asian Culture are
often viewed as though, behind their sometimes obvious banality, they were
concealing some profound, mysterious insight into the world, obscured from
Western vision. Whereas African, Amerindian or Polynesian cultures are often
observed with condescending interest, Asian Culture suggests, to the Western
eye, that the enchantment of the world, the remystification of nature and
existence, may be regained if one could find the key to understanding it’s
signs and symbols. This is it’s mythology. Here we are on an island where
reality is always virtual. It comes in nylon, neon, Neo-Post-modern
fluorescent TV format, as mobile manga-mania of Fressundfickkultur with
false eyelashes and jogging clogs. The Buddha got it right after all. Form
IS emptiness. Emptiness IS form.
Shigenobu Nakamura produced the sound track.
BEDLAM (2001-2005)
Starting point for this work was a performance text for 5 performers, who
were to interact with various instruments on stage whilst reciting the text.
In other words, the first text only version was conceived exclusively as a
live stage performance. Later, I decided that the original text dialogue
should be recorded and that I would then translate the text associatively
into visual imagery. Parallel to this, the composer created a sound track
from collected material related to the meanings inherent in the text.
Finally there are three levels in this work: the spoken text, the sound
composition and the visual imagery, which were then synchronised together.
The original version is conceived as an installation for 5 synchronised
projections on 5 large screens set in a semi-circle in front of the viewers.
Subsequently a mono-screen version was also edited.
5 X DVDs Installation version or 1 X Mono-screen version
Notes on Bedlam
ORACLE (2006-2007)
This work uses a 360 degree interactive installation produced by the the ZKM, Germany.
The installation uses a 6 projector system to create a single continuous animated image around the entire screen. Viewer operation is made possible by a touchscreen interface.
The system uses a large database of short animated clips, which it assembles in unique variations. Each assembly follows a specific structure, namely that of a typical oracular ritual. Less focus is placed on the ritual aspect of the work, than on the way viewers draw meaning from data, in particular data presented in an overwhelming format suggesting informative authority. Sean Reed designed the sound compositions accompanying all the animated clips in such a way that irrespective of their combinations a musical structure is always apparent.
FUTURE PALEONTOLOGY (2007 – 2011)
Future Paleontology (2011) is a 10 minute composition, a “New Narrative” in which the narrative line is fragmented and temporally and spatially inconsistent (much like Chien Andalou, Bunuel 1929). Seldom does any
individual have one consistent interpretation of all the dimensions (introspective consciousness, social, medial, global and cosmic awareness) that make up our spheres of consciousness, but rather we live with quite contradictory interpretations. Even our physics, based on pure logic, has given us three completely incompatible interpretations of the world: Einsteinian, Newtonian and Sub-Atomic physics. Future Paleontology implies that what is currently accepted as “true knowledge” (correct interpretation), will be regarded as mythology in the future when it is replaced by newer versions of “truth and certainty”. The narrative is fragmented. Some segments are based on memories of past “absolute beliefs” which have since been discredited. Some fragments reflect on the potential madness of current mythologies. Some fragments speculate on the ephemeral nature of future interpretations. The disjointed narrative of Future Paleontology is interwoven with references to mythologies and ideologies ““ for these are the meta-structures with which we seek to create unity in an essentially chaotic world. Mythologies are dysfunctional ideologies; they are meta-interpretations which have lost their context.
THE TAIWANESE TRILOGY (2011)
(1) “Things Fall Apart” is a short animation using video footage to reflect on the relentless process of disintegration. You cannot see the process but only the results of the process. It is part of the greater natural recycling plan. Objects of civilization return slowly to nature.
(2) “How Technology Saved the World” reflects on the blind belief that we can “fix” everything with technology.
(3) “What Ghosts Like Most” is an ironical look at the belief in ghosts that apparently inhabit our island. We burn ghost money to appease them so we can be successful and get more money. But what do the ghosts do with their money? Do they buy ghost Gucci bags and ghost cars? The curious afterworld of ghosts seems to reflect all the obsessions of the real world in which their descendants live.
SHORT STORY (2011)
This short work in HD format is an epilogue to Future Paleontology. It is a narrative construction without consistent time/space continuum. What seemed normal in the past seems outrageous today. What then will we think of today in the future?