DVD - Winds Measure
Randomly found old Kodachrome slides and an uncomplicated digital set-up (laptops, midi controllers, a video projector, two diaprojectors, dimmer, lights and induction/contact microphones) are the basis of "Lacunae", an audio-visual project by Gill Arno, better known as Mpld, the Italian-born music investigator now residing in Brooklyn. Through the controller, the software manages iterations realized by the four microphones. The two induction mikes are located on the diaprojectors, while the other two are arranged by the fans, which are accurately positioned in line with the light beams. The final set-up is complimented by a mixer and a more general controller for adjusting the speed of the image flicker. There is vintage quality to the overall feeling of the performance, which is at the same time sentimental, detached and poetic, perhaps due to the texture of the images or the undoubted charm of the diaprojectors. These are scenic icons of yesteryear; they were innovative and essential tools in experimental theatre productions in the seventies. Here they produce "drifts of memories" that suggest nostalgic interactions and emotional landscapes, tinged with lo-fi technology thanks to the mechanical sounds produced. The musical potential is enhanced by the combination of these multiple structural elements, giving life to a carousel (similar to photos made with the software instagram), that makes us forget all the contradictions and anxieties of a purposefully fabricated "memory".
Aurelio Cianciotta