Film Loop 34: Ryoanji – TRT 1:30
Soundtrack by Elia Moretti and Stefano de Ponti
Shot on 16mm film using a 35mm SLR and developed in Matchanal — home-brewed with powdered green tea, vitamin C, washing soda. Filmed at the Ryoanji dry landscape garden (枯山水) in northwest Kyoto. The soundtrack is an excerpt from ‘Schianta e Brucia’ by Stefano de Ponti and Elia Moretti. Images from the Film Loop Series were used in studio during the recording of this track.
This short film is part of an ongoing series of digital video loops based on segments of hand-processed 16mm film. Various techniques are used to make the loops: patterned tape is attached to clear leader; 16mm film is used in 35mm and medium format cameras; expired film is hand-processed using household ingredients such as instant coffee and powdered green tea. Many of these loops were screened as part of the ‘Echoing Calce’ live performance by Stefano De Ponti and Elia Moretti at the Imago/Varvara Festival in Turin, Italy, which led to the soundtrack of the current film.
MICHAEL LYONS (Canada/U.K.) is a researcher and artist based in Kyoto, Japan. He regularly contributes to conferences such as SIGGRAPH and SIGGRAPH ASIA, co-founded the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, and is active as a filmmaker and sound artist. He is currently Professor of Image Arts and Sciences at Ritsumeikan University. His video received the Best Experimental Film Award at the M Film Festival (Porto, Portugal). His video as screened at numerous festival including; Montreal Underground Film Festival (Montréal, Québec), Rencontres Traverse Vidéo (Toulouse, France), Patio De Salvataje (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Revolutions Per Minute Festival (Beijing, China), Retro Avant Garde Film Festival (Venice, Italy), Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival (Istanbul, Turkey), Girona Film Festival (Catalonia, Spain) Azores Fringe Festival (Azores, Portugal), 26th Croatian One Minute Festival (Požega, Croatia), Salón Internacional de la Luz (Bogotá, Columbia), Cinema Perpetuum Mobile (Minsk, Belarus), Proceso de Error 2018 (Valparaíso, Chile), Analogica 7 (Bozen/Merano, Italy), Winnipeg Underground Film Festival (Winnipeg, Canada), and the Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival (Istanbul, Turkey), among many others.
17 Days Video Series 