In a simulated sense of loss

We were dancing's first released EP I can't recall how love feels, memory fails to remind me is an emotional and experimental three piece EP based on lo-fi field recordings.

Sam Renseiw included WWD's as prime soundtrack for Celebrity's Constellation momentary mooring at Langelinie. View her newly re-painted elongated maritime urbanity by clicking here or enter above (patafilm #208, 01'32'', 6.7 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version here) If the cruise was to boring, try some fine maritime pastoral loveliness with an architectural, formalistic twist made by Giles Perkins at DVblog, by clicking here.

A walk through some orchard

Pure and simple: "..A music making blog where Strawberry Love Love posts her polaroid snaps and, through each polaroid and text input, composes sounds and music that compliment the mood of the day - just like wine and meats.."

Mash-up time. A new, cool blog from Sweden with fine indie/electronica soundings is the backdrop for today's video post by Sam Renseiw. Enjoy by clicking here or join the walk above. (patafilm #207, 02'29'', 10.7 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

On living with the Future

Bellevue is a sea resort close to the city of Copenhagen. The area consists of apartment blocks, terraced houses, a theatre, a restaurant, sports facilities such as a rowing club and a horse-riding school hall, and a petrol station - all designed by architect Arne Jacobsen.

Jacobsen's other contribution to pop culture is his flatware design, with right- and left-handed spoons as seen in 2001: A Space Odyssey; Five years later, the futuristic cutlery is still used in the restaurant in the picture above. Yet, it is the beach that attracts visitors. Jacobsen's House of the Future (1929) might soon be added to the complex. Sam Renseiw recently caught a quiet view of Bellevue's morning (dub) traffic on the way to the beach. View it by clicking here or pass the stripes above. (patafilm #206, 00'54'', 3.9 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

Based on feedback from the horse

"The good riders and trainers know that riding is not about mechanically applying a particular set of aids. They understand that since shades of meaning can change continually for a whole range of reasons, they can never quit riding when they are in the saddle. They must ride every stride mentally and physically. They ask the horse for a stride. Then, based on feedback from the horse's response to that asking, they may ask for the next stride by applying the same corridor of pressures exactly the same way.."

Mechanically speaking, for example, the corridor of pressures used for a figure of eight at a walk, trot, or canter are the same. But, practically filming, Sam Renseiw just translated a simple corridor with three horses on track. Enjoy the moving "still" by clicking here or try the pace above.(patafilm #205, 00'50'', 3.7 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

On student caps and customs

In Denmark, the student caps are the last remains of the old school uniform of the University of Copenhagen. They came in two colours: black for the winter uniform and white for the summer uniform. When this school uniform vanished in the late 1800s, the two caps came to denote two different kinds of Studentereksamen: the classical-linguistic exam with the black student's cap and the white for the modern language + mathematical exams. Both with a Bordeaux-coloured band.

After receiving one's student cap, it is customary for a class in Copenhagen to drive around the town in a rented lorry, and end up dancing around the equestrian statue in Kgs. Nytorv ( 55° 40' 45,75'' N 12°34' 52,26'' E). Sam Renseiw observed an unidentified fresh class of students after performing the ritual. Enter by clicking here or join the crowd above. (patafilm #204, 01'04'', 4.8 MB, Quicktime/mov -Flash version here

The ambient bonfire

In Denmark the midsummer solstitial celebration is called Sankt Hans aften ("St. John's Eve"). It takes place on the evening of June 23. It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings and of Odin and Thor, by visiting healing water sources and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water source tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by. Holger Drachmann wrote a beautiful midsummer hymn in 1885 called "Vi elsker vort land" that is sung at every bonfire on this evening.

On a pleasant midsummer evening on Amager beach, Sam Renseiw enjoyed the ambient chill out DJ'ing after the bonfire. Enjoy a short panoramic view by clicking here, or touch the balloons above. (patafilm # 203, 01'30'', 6.3 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

On epistemological icebergs

One could once again advance the idea ... that everything in the world, everything, every event, every property of things and events, every relation that things and events have to each other, are each one of them an epistemological iceberg. Our knowledge and rational belief about all these things, though real, is selective and limited. If you take this view then it becomes easier to accept that the secondary qualities might have hidden depths to which we cannot penetrate in perception, Yet, on the other side...

Still no formula, just video. This one, slightly epistemologically altered for the sake of the argument in which Sam Renseiw's accounts for the question of the white stallion's actual colour. Ckeck it out by clicking here or stand in line above.(patafilm # 202, 01'09'', 5.2 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

No storytelling recipes, no formulas

I would never mump ahead. I would have no idea where the story would take us. No "dramaturgy." No forced ending. No storytelling recipes. No formulas. That's the way Sam will post the videos. A process that in itself feels more like going on a journey than vlogging. All I know is, like on any other real journey, being on the road is more important than arriving at the destination. Click here to view or jump on the flying saucer above (patafilm # 200, 01'36'', 7.2 MB, quicktime/mov/ flash version here)

By adding little to little...

Well, let's have a valedictory maxim. From Ovid: "Adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit," which means, "By adding little to little there will be a great heap." That is how I feel about my videos, link inclusions in the posted texts and my thoughts. You cannot get much done in one day, or even in two, but once you start to string together videos for several weeks or months, you have the start of a body of work that hopefully puts some mark on the world. Add your little to your little every day. You must work in faith, and it will "add up."

In this videopost, Sam Renseiw's # 200 since the start of spacetwo : patalab, a particular situation is examined: standing in the middle of the road. Irritating, yet right on the spot. Note the particular tint of this small piece: all the shades of next year's global colour trend(s) are present; Green will be predominant, as well as orange. Deep red will first re-appear around 2008. Examine by clicking here or by entering the path above. (patafilm #199, 01'00'', 4.4 MB, quicktime/mov -Flash version here)

The writing on the wall

"Art was once an active agent of change, as opposed to fulfilling the role of passive commentary it does now. It has been almost entirely stripped of these ancient powers, imprisoned behind bars of gold. When people go to a gallery to experience some art they leave perhaps thinking, "that was beautiful" or "gee, it really makes you think" but their psychosocial imprints are left generally unaltered. Graffiti, on the other hand, forces one to confront and evaluate these imprints in day-to-day life when one isn't prepared to experience art, which can be a disconcerting, though potentially cathartic, encounter for many".

Symbols are essentially interfaces, mediating between consciousness and the unconscious and by participating in both. Sam Renseiw recently caught this fine sentence at a street corner. Enjoy the semantics by clicking here or drive through to the high placed above. (patafilm 187, 00'58'', 4.3MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

The condensed Ladonian daydream

"Someone has to take the responsibility for madness, deviance and expanded imagination of Ladonia and Ladonians. After all, this is the original source of our common universe. The general task of this ministry will be to bless madness and grant its various expressions a free haven. (Personal counselling will be limited, however.) The Day of Full Madness is the 21 of June, the Day of Half Madness is the 21 of December." Wenche Blomberg, Widow Countess, (Norway) Ladonian Minister of Madness and Euphoric Travel.

Remix urge, again. This time Sam Renseiw scratched-altered some fine original footage from bitlamalmo in the midst of Nimis - and, considering applying for Ladonian citizenship and nobility with the motto: adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit . Decypher the daydream by clicking here or enter the Pollock above (remix #9, 01'43'', 7.4 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here) Bonus info: Zoe Tati has fine Nactus this week, while Brut Smog currently displays potent Cubic Capacity; Enjoy.

The discovery of Resolution

Seven amateur divers trying to free snagged lobster pots have discovered the well-preserved remains of what is thought to be 17th century warship Resolution. Although Resolution's approximate location was known, no trace of her had been found until the divers, who were asked by a fisher on shore to retrieve the pots, suddenly found a large anchor in 3 ft. of water. Their find, made last April but kept secret until this week so as not to alert treasure hunters, has led to the government giving the wreck protected status to allow archaeologists the chance to establish beyond doubt that it is Resolution.

All great things start in small scale Sam Renseiw pondered, watching the impediments unfold from ashore. Enjoy the dislodging by clicking here, or dive in above (patafilm #197, 01'05'', quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

The enticing colour cognition bridge

"The first major step toward understanding the role of vision and language is to build a testbed in which vision and language work together to understand a projection of the physical world that is simple, yet features paths, agents, causes, both language and visual inputs and outputs, complex state changes, and support for abstract reasoning in abstract worlds. Accordingly, we have been developing the Bridge System, which uses typed English input to drive an imagination system. Given a sentence such as "The fast hawk flew from the top of a tall tree via a pink rock to the top of a yellow pole and then dove on a brown rabbit," the Bridge System conceives and displays an imaged sequence of motions in blob world..."

Still puzzled by the complexities of colour cognition, Sam Renseiw captured a banal act of synaesthesia, at an urban playground space nearby. View the scene by clicking here, our try catching the bird above (patafilm #193, 00'48'', 3,6 MB, quicktime/mov -Flash version at Blip.tv)

On the joys of trainspotting

"So why did I do it? I could offer a million answers, all false. The truth is that I'm a video addict, but that's going to change, I'm going to change. This is the last of this sort of thing. I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already. I'm going to be just like you; the job, the family, the fucking big television, the washing machine, the car, the compact disc and electrical tin opener, good health, low cholesterol, dental insurance, mortgage, starter home, leisure wear, luggage, three piece suite, DIY, game shows, junk food, children, walks in the park, nine-to-five, good at golf, vlogging, washing the car, choice of sweaters, family Christmas, indexed pension, tax exemption, clearing the gutters, getting by, looking ahead, the day you die."

Sam Renseiw trainspotting in Northern Sealand: an exceptional departure view of DSB's Øresund ET/FT # 4570 leaving a station, with some surprising after effects. Post a commentary if you have guessed the name of the station. View the video, by clicking here, or by knocking on the train window above ( patafilm # 195, 01'07'', 5 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version at Blip.tv)

The water discovery

"Each year more than 500,000 tourists experience Copenhagen from one of DFDS Canal Tour's 15 comfortable open and covered boats. The tour is great fun in the sunshine but also offers a unique look at Copenhagen on a rainy day, thanks in part to the knowledgeable guides who tell the city’s eternal story in several languages. Copenhagen’s story is also that of a big city undergoing constant growth."

Sam Renseiw (re)viewed some of his old acquaintances from a more aloof angle, on a hot, sunny Monday afternoon. Click here to participate or jump on the boat above. (patafilm #193, 00'59'', 4.4 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

God is only the question

"God is only the question, the answer is YES", said Viktor IV. Viktor was not part of any particular art movement or group, though he kept contacts with artists such as Anton Heyboer and Robert Jasper Grootveld. Viktor IV was a well-known local figure in Amsterdam, living and working aboard an old riverboat. On his boat, Viktor began painting on boards, driftwood and ships' hatches, which he found in and around the Amstel River. Besides painting "Ikons", Viktor made "Logbooks". These "logbooks" contained a stream of stories, notes, drawings and collages with specific titles such as "The Logbook of the Ship Henry David Thoreau" and "Thank You Silent Sun".

At Vaterpas Fine Arts in Copenhagen, artist Teddy Parterre is currently exhibiting his "Wrong Artist" contemplation, a loving homage to Viktor IV; Sam Renseiw manufactured a cut-up video-triptic of some of the outstanding works on show. View them by clicking here, or check the timeline above. (patafilm # 194, 01'34'', 7.1 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

Copenhagen forecast

Until Friday this week:Dry and sunny. Maximum day temperatures around 24-27 degrees Celsius, minimum night temperatures around 10 -12 degrees Celsius. Light to fresh winds.

Too nice weather to watch videos, probably. Well, vacations have not come yet, and Sam Renseiw has captured a fair amount of Copenhagen summer activities for the trusted Patalab audience. Expect new contextual outdoor footage next week ! Today's short post, is a bite of Copenhagen's big blue, Earsound with a dash. Enjoy by clicking here or dive in above (patafilm #192, 00'39'', 3 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

copenhagenfridaynightskate II

above IS THE VIDEO FROM JUNE 9 !

UPDATE:
VIDEO FROM AUGUST 4 is also available here:
WMV file - Flash file - Quicktime file ( 05'06'' 23.3 MB )

and
download quicktime for windows to watch all videos on the blog!

"In cities such as Paris, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Vienna, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Ljubljana and Tallinn, skaters, with the co-operation, or at least acquiescence, of local police, block cars at intersections and skate for kilometres. Organizers usually change the route each time so that skaters can pass different landmarks and neighbourhoods. The skates are deliberately held at night, when streets, bars and restaurants are full, and are a mixture of a workout and a moving street festival."

Well, night in Copenhagen is actually fairly bright, considering that it first gets really dark by 10:30, so Sam Renseiw donned his skates once more for some genuine Copenhagen fun. Watch the second summer ride by clicking here, or click on the image above. It's a long ride, this time, fresh footage, undaltered; pure ambient with lots of local sights on the way....(classic vlog #4, 05'32'', 24,6 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version at blip.tv) And: for all of you still on a PC, download quicktime for windows here. Best viewed with Firefox browser)

On the contrivance of the cinematographer

In several essays and in the final chapter of Creative Evolution, Henri Bergson employs what he calls the "cinematographical apparatus" as an analogy for how the intellect approaches reality. This analogy appears within Bergson's epistemological dualism, where intuition is placed alongside the intellect as a means of acquiring absolute knowledge. According to Bergson "movement is reality itself". The intellect is by nature a spatializing mechanism, which means that to acquire knowledge it employs concepts, symbols, abstraction, analysis, and fragmentation. Hence the intellect can only express movement -reality itself- in static terms.

In another futile attempt to short-circuit the intellect, Sam Renseiw post a short sequence of movement, while a dual intellect can be seen, statically fixed, on some higher horizon. View it here, or enter the setting above. (patafilm # 181, 01'03'', 4.8 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here)

Directions to the vision's department

"..The word leg has no pictorial resemblance to a leg. It refers to the spoken word leg. so we may forget that a written word is an image and that written words are images in sequence, that is to say moving pictures. So any hieroglyphic sequence gives us an immediate working definition for spoken words. Spoken words are verbal units that refer to this pictorial sequence..."

Compared to a novel such as "The Naked Lunch" ,"The Electronic Revolution", William S. Burroughs's virtual samizdat text published in 1970, pointed, for some musicians , the way to a new methodology. «It was almost a handbook of how to use tape recorders in a crowd,» For today's video-post, Sam Renseiw gazed at crowded escalator, musing about the Electronic Revolution, while directional instructions in French and English pass by. Experience the cut-up ride by clicking here or take a straight flight of stairs above. (patafilm #191, 01'05'', 4.8 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here) For PC user: download quicktime)

Luxe, calme et volupté

"For my own part, I am pleased enough with surfaces - in fact, they seem to me to be of much importance. Such things, for example, as the grasp of a child's hand in your own, the flavor of an apple, the embrace of a friend or a lover, the silk of a girl's thigh, the sunlight on rock and leaves, the feel of music, the bark of a tree, the abrasion of granite and sand, the plunge of clear water into a pool, the face of the wind - what else is there? What else do we need?"

"I am aware only of the forces I use, and I move along the course of the video's creation, pushed by an idea that I come to know only gradually as it develops" is the credo for this simple video post, covering Sam Renseiw's familiar view from his balcony. Enjoy it here or take a walk to the willow above. ( patafilm # 190, 00'52'', 3.9 MB, quicktime/mov . Flash version here)

Vers La Suède: Comprenne qui voudra

Want to show your work on a local videoblog TV-show in Copenhagen? This was an open call to all wanna-be as well as professional media-makers to submit their work to the local tv-station tv-tv on the Kanal København channel. T-Vlog aims at being a direct link between the viewer and the transmission, blurring the boundaries between the two by enabling direct upload to an rss feed that goes live on tv, unmoderated. Take a filmic journey to La Suède and participate in a collective videoblog experiment to be part of the 1st T-Vlog transmission on tv-tv.

Hidden inside the BC37 Badminton hall on Amager is a Swedish-French oasis: Café La Suède. On Sunday the 14th of May, Sam Renseiw caught some typical Amager situations, compiled in a small video essay, uploaded yesterday to T-Vlog. The only requirements for participation in the project were to feature some of the context of La Suède in the video. The live tv-show is supposed to be aired on tv-tv on Thursday the 8th of June at 23:00 hrs. Tune in on Thursday or (pre)view it here.(T-vlog film, 03'04'', 13.2 MB. quicktime/mov -new large screen version here - Flash version here)

First difficulties about complimentary steps

"My wish would be simply to present it to thee plain and unadorned, without any embellishment of manipulations or uncountable muster of customary blur, colour corrections, and filters, such as are commonly put all over captured footage. For I can tell thee, though composing it cost me some labour, I found none greater than the making of this video thou will now be viewing..."

In profound silence Sam Renseiw listened to what his friend said, and his observations made such an impression on him that, without attempting to question them, he admitted their soundness, and out of them he determined to make this video; wherein, gentle viewer, thou wilt perceive his friend's good sense, his good fortune in finding such an adviser in such a time of need, and thou hast gained in receiving, alas, with some additions and alterations, a short view of the bravest Scandinavian Samba. (patafilm #189, 00'59''. 4 MB, quicktime/mov -Flash version here)

Almost La Sirène des Tropiques

" We celebrate her as a tribute to our civilisation ", wrote Poul Henningsen in 1928 in a remarquable review of Josephine Baker's first appearance in Copenhagen. Thus PH clashed frontally with the outraged Danish public opinion, scandalised by the dancer's famous nude banana-skirt act. Much later, reality was seen with different focus, and in the start of the 1950's, PH wrote a poetic lyrical tribute (music by Kai Normann Andersen) to the now respected and much appreciated world famous artist.

As yesterday marked Josephine Baker's 100th anniversary, Sam Renseiw caught a local dancer on stage at the 25th Copenhagen Carnival. A much, much more restrained performance, in cold weather. View it here or jump on the stage above ( patafilm "188, 00'42'', 3.1 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version here) - If still on a PC, get quicktime here.

Unless it was Boris's dog

A -"Philosophy consists of offering reassurance to children. That is, if one prefers, of taking them out of childhood, of forgetting about the child, or, inversely, but by the same token, of speaking first and foremost for that little boy within us, of teaching him to speak - to dialogue - by displacing his fear or his desire." B -Labyrinths can be constructed in many ways: strict geometrically, prismatically, symmetrically, or loose organically as the classic romantic English garden apparently composed of a random mix of curves and asymmetric places.

Today's geo-taged video post by Sam Renseiw consist of an asymmetrical, visual riddle, complete with concrete tank enhanced soundtrack. "If I clearly saw ahead of time where I was going, I really don’t believe that I should take another step to get there" is the credo for this entry, where the main dialogue consist of a parallaxed Danish monologue, in which a certain Boris's dog seem to play a culpable role in the staging. (patafilm #186b, 00'43'', 3.1 MB, quicktime/mov - Flash version at blip.tv)

On the complexity of simple living

The Fishmonger is both a granite sculpture and alive as well. The sculpture was erected at Gammel Strand in 1940, some few years before the local fish market was moved to more modern premisses. The breathing fishmonger woman still sells the catch-of-the-day from her same humble, makeshift flexible waterfront stand next to the sculpture, to loyal, older customers. Tourists mostly glean and take snapshots of this incongruous character from bygone times. Her unassuming, yet powerful and empathic presence, will soon be gone, as she is the last of her breed to practice the art of living a simple life amidst the urban languish along Copenhagen's central canal.

As the granite sculpture most likely will survive this century, Sam Renseiw captured instead a fleeting moment of the activities around the fishmonger's storefront - while the further architectural translations are to be discussed. View the sequence by clicking here, or buy a smoked eel at the icon above. (patafilm # 185, 01'12'', 4.8 MB, quicktime/mov.)

The cartographer's assumption

Cartographers are subject to the same cultural biases and blind spots as ordinary citizens and may consciously or unconsciously employ the elements of their craft in ways that can lead users of the maps to incorrect impressions and conclusions. That is, the cartographers may expect the world to be ordered in a particular fashion and that assumption is carried in their maps. Or, they make decisions about which choices work best for the anticipated user and wind up habitually skewing the map presentation in ways that become institutionalized over time and carry implications not foreseen by the cartographers.

The rising popularity of geotag-map projects on the net inspired Sam Renseiw to the following map sequence, charting locations somehow between Dortmund and Shanghai, complete with meteorological data from the Tonga insularities. The interactivity consists in the mental effort to be exercised. View by clicking here or enter the vlogsoup above. (patafilm#182, 00'54'',4.3 MB, mov/quicktime)