THIS WEEK’S FEATURED FILM PREMIERE: "Silence is Deathly Painful” (April 19-25)
WATCH THE TRAILER (CLICK IMAGE ABOVE FOR THE FULL MOVIE)
Description
The audio used in this work comes from an archive of recordings that were conducted by a computer program. This program listened to talk radio broadcasts across the United States from 2019-2022 and recorded what happened before, during, and after moments of silence that occurred on these broadcasts. This software generated an archive of recordings that captured the voices and ideologies of broadcasters commentating on events that happened throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
This audio material was manipulated and used as the sound design for a new animation work where a boy explores a surreal world that is overrun with radio infrastructure. Many of the visual forms in the work are robotically replicated, which echoes the path toward "radio homogenization" in America that began in the 1990s with the 1996 Telecommunications Act that made radio monopolies flourish.
Runtime: 19 minutes, 30 seconds
Best Viewed: Any Screen, Cinema Presentation, Projection
Director Biography - F. C. Zuke
F. C. Zuke creates audiovisual and interactive artworks that investigate how beliefs are acquired, transmitted, and performed in society. His latest installation, animation, and video projects examine influential historical texts, American talk radio, human-canine relationships, intelligence tests, and other systems of belief and power. In addition to his individual practice, He has collaborated with filmmakers, choreographers, musicians, scholars, and other artists to produce video works, performances, and short films. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Digital Media at the University of Mississippi and has taught courses that explore video, sound, digital imaging, installation, performance, creative coding, and interactive media.
Director Statement
My motivations as an artist are fueled by a desire to put audiences inside of art experiences that reveal and question systems at the heart of our existence as 21st-century beings. I believe art and filming are useful for investigating the differences between peoples. I also believe it holds extraordinary potential for exploring the connectedness of systems that are seemingly disparate. Systems theory plays a significant role in my research-based practice, and I am particularly interested in systems of belief, classification, and epistemology. My works invite viewers to enter systems that are alive and moving, listening and watching, and reactive to their actions.
My practice grew out of a background in music composition. I am drawn to sound as an artistic medium because of its mystery. Sound is an invisible, ephemeral energy that further informs our visual experience, and I believe the potential for pairing sound with the visual arts is profound. It can evoke intensely specific emotions, it is incredibly useful as a mnemonic device, and it is naturally immersive and omnipresent. At times, I use it to disorient and overwhelm the viewer. At other times, I visualize and demystify sound so that audiences can better understand the power of sound as it functions within societal systems. My projects often challenge the invisible boundaries between art, film, sound, and music, and I do not think that art experiences need to be restrained to one of these areas. My installations and audiovisual works are designed to be accessed by diverse audiences: the general public, historians, philosophers, other artists, other researchers, and those who are not specialists in the field of art and film.
Credits & Specifications
Director: F. C. Zuke
Completion Date: March 1, 2023
Production Budget: 500 USD
Country of Origin: United States
Country of Filming: United States
Language: English
Shooting Format: Digital
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
