On beginning(s) as revenant

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"[A spacious garden-room, with one door to the left, and two doors to the right. In the middle of the room a round table, with chairs about it. On the table lie books, periodicals, and newspapers. In the foreground to the left a window, and by it a small sofa, with a worktable in front of it. In the background, the room is continued into a somewhat narrowerconservatory, the walls of which are formed by large panes of glass. In the right-hand wall of the conservatory is a door leading down into the garden. Through the glass wall a gloomy fjord landscape is faintly visible, veiled by steady rain.]"

Upon beginning the first act in a series of repeated Nordic displacement(s), Sam Renseiw, having some slight deja-vue(s) from Ibsen, concocted an appropriate ghost-voodle from footage on the premisses. View the investigation into space(s) and body morphologies by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 786, 03'18'', 49MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Bliptv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video, supplementing the above voodle, presents a fine fjord landscape with moving, urban elements (Lum # 281 "chop & cruise", 00'56'', 10MB Quicktime/mov)

On the infinity of polka-doted universes

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" A polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colourful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots can't stay alone; like the communicative life of people, two or three polka-dots become movement... Polka-dots are a way to infinity."

This particular voodle is both generic and specific in its nature: the magnificence of Yayoi Kusama's installation will permit any fool to record intriguing imagery. Thus, this voodle is concocted with special emphasis on (added) sound correlations with impression from her internal, seemingly infinite, space installation; Yet another attempt at describing bits of a morphology of body and space. View Sam Renseiw's internalized, murky cameo appearance in a fine moment of Gleaming Light of the Souls by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 782, 02'18'', 26.3MB Quicktime/mov - other versions at Bliptv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video features a multi-screen, art[voyeur]experience. (Lum # 279, "take care of yourself", 01'00'', 12MB, Quicktime/mov)

On Kuleshov effects in some spaces

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" This particular voodle studies the space-effective and filmic creative means such as framing, cutting and narrative perspective and transfers those from architecture: The filmic concept of framing which deals with different views of the frame introduces for example the concept of the offscreen into architecture voodles and explains how the imagination of the viewer can be stimulated by deliberately hiding parts of the space. The analysis of the voodle cutting assumes that space perception in architecture is no continuous process but consists of single segments, sections or visual spaces. This idea leads amongst other things to the formulation of the spatial cut, which describes the experience of space, taking into consideration the subject-related visual sensuous understanding. The narrative perspective finally investigates discursive structures and spatial narrative strategies transferring them into the architectural analysis."

Sometime the compression of spaces is partly a re-po act of many layered space views just compressing the impression(s), muses Sam Renseiw while montaging recent footage from two interior locations. The first location is an fine academic one, while the second is a public x-room. View the spatial voodle with included oblique Kuleshov effects by clicking here, on the tumbnail, or on the links above. (patafilm # 773, 04'55'', 62MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Bliptv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video features a hanging biosphere.(Lum # 273,"biosphere" 01'00'', 11Mb, Quicktime/mov - .m4v)

On spatial occurrences in voodles

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" After I've slept many dreams, I go out to the street with eyes wide open but still with the aura and assurance of my dreams. I'm astonished by my automatism, which prevents others from really knowing me. For i go through daily life still holding the hand of my astral nursemaid; my steps are in perfect accord with the obscure designs of my sleeping mind. And I walk in the right direction; i don't stagger; I react well; I exist. [...] And it is then, in the middle of life's bustle, that my dream becomes a marvellous voodle. I walk along an unreal downtown street, and the reality of its non-existent lives affectionately wraps my head in a white cloth of false memories. I'm a navigator engaged in unknowing myself."

Paraphrasing Pessoa, Sam Renseiw begins to share the quiet anxiety of compulsive production while uploading yet another voodle. View the concoction of left-over footage from the past 3 months combined with some recent bits by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 747, 04'33'', 67 MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Blip.tv)

On forward moving in voodling

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" Having heard, or more probably read somewhere, in the days when I thought I would be well advised to educate myself, or amuse myself, or do some serious voodling, or kill time researching space(s), that when a man in a forest thinks he is going forward in a straight line, in reality he is going in a circle, I did my best to go in a circle, hoping in this way to go in a straight line. For I stopped being half-witted and became sly, whenever I took the trouble… and if I did not go in a rigorously straight line, with my system of going in a circle, at least I did not go in a circle, and that was something. "

The conclusion of this year's voodle activities raises more questions than actually presenting any reasonable answer to the actual core of my moving, obsessive-compulsive undertaking. I did, nevertheless, try to submit some plausible clarifications at some respectable institutions, here and there, at the end of the year.

Best of all was the continuous inspirations by other's works and the many, many considerate comments and dialogues underway. In random order, here are a few cross-links to important sources of inspiration during 2009: DVblog's ongoing video compilation work, and Michael's splendid, prolific & diverse production; Robert's superb video work, generous and attentive comments after joyfully scrutinising fellow vloggers works; Daniel's subdued moving amalgam of bright, minimal poetics always combining its refined visual lavishness with genuine humanistic substance and humour; Steven's razor sharp, inventive ongoing audio-visual research and near encyclopaedic knowledge; Philip's alert, canny & perceptive AV works, permanent attention, & his recent inventive "Lumiere et Son" re-makes, stretching Brittany's & Andreas' seminal project into new audio-visual territories of re-constructions. The Lumiere project and manifesto remains, to me, the most crucial investigative tool: liberation and deliberate focus, at once; Rolf and Inger's collegial Nordic voodle-mirror and didactic dedication; Loiez' delicate poesie des desir en desordres; Jimi's ongoing wave of personal, oblique video works continue to motivate me; Rupert's fine experiments in new, moving, communicative cellphone imagery and 12 seconds videobites; Gurdonark's energetic ongoing musical work, probing the generous shores and shares of web 2.0 treats; Last not least: missing Pepa's, but then enjoying Juan's new videos both featuring such fine South American focii; Many, many thanks to you all and also to the many fellow vlogers & other regular and casual visitors at Patalab. (+ not to forget: Blip.tv, always with superb service)

Best wishes for a happy, prosperous and fruitful new year (and new voodling decade)! Kind regards from Sam Renseiw. (patafilm # 744, 00'41'', 8MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Blip.tv)

On the semantics of portrait voodling

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The hallmark "blur"—sometimes a softening, sometimes almost a hard smear —has two effects: 1. It offers the footage a painted appearance; and 2. Paradoxically, it testifies the voodler's editing actions, both skilled and coarse, and the plastic nature of the voodle itself. In some voodles blurs and smudges are severe enough to disrupt the footage; it becomes hard to understand or believe. The subject is nullified. In these voodles, images and symbols (such as landscapes, portraits, and other footage) are rendered fragile illusions, fleeting conceptions in our constant reshaping of the world."

Re-considering dogmas on documentary clarity, Sam Renseiw smudges portrait footage with virtual brush strokes. Posted the same day as Richter's London opening, the moving footage atempts to re-frame the semantic fixtures of the portrait voodle. Click here or on the links above to view. Patafilm # 665, 03'31'', 28.5MB, Quicktime/mov - Other versions at Blip.tv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video features a quiet sunset, in a particular window. (Lum # 180, "setting" 00'59'', 6.6 MB, Quicktime/mov).
Sadly, this week one of the worlds finest architects passed away. A previously posted Lumiere captured his fine didactics in a public space.(lum # 176, "sverre's didactics " 0'59'', 6MB, Quicktime/mov)

On the persistence of place - part two

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"A voodle is more than a visual structure or series of moving images; it is the dialogue it establishes with its viewer and the intonation it imposes upon his/her sight and the changing and durable imprints it leaves in his/her memory. A voodle is not an isolated being: it is a relationship, an axis of innumerable relationships."

"Oh longing for places that were not/Cherished enough in that fleeting hour /How I long to make good from far/The forgotten gesture, the additional act." remembers Sam Renseiw, paraphrasing some Rilke while assembling cottage footage, hermit-wise, back home. View the morning poetics of space by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm# 607, 04'39'', 20.4Mb, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Blip.tv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video features a short, watchful moment of blind spot awareness in traffic. (Lum# 123,"blind spot watch" 00'54'', 4.2MB, Quicktime/mov)

Today's Patalab Metaphor Video features an early miniature voodle depicting the embodiment of the passage of time; Chuang Tzu once stated: "Voodle cannot be conveyed by either words or silence, just images”. (patafilm # 56, "Zen and the Art of Whirling", 01'28'',[17.01.2006 post] 3MB, Quicktime/mov)

On external and internal presence(s)

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"The external object had broken with its normal environment, and its internal component parts had, so to speak, emancipated themselves from it in such a way that they were now able to maintain entirely new relationships with other elements, escaping from the principle of reality but retaining all their importance on that plane."

Invited to view a rare typology of stored maritime artefacts, Sam Renseiw entered an old building to discover an interior space oozing with dignified, yet functional new poetic(s). View the somehow slightly surreal, condensed monumentality by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 578, 02'24'', 12.9MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Blip.tv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video features a close-up from a fine Baroque interior, complete with boxed-in blondes. (Lum # 95 "blondes in grey box" 00'59'' 4.8MB, Quicktime/mov)

Today's Patalab Metaphor Video re-play supplement features a climbing corridor view from the same interior as the Lumiere, then proceeding to a broader impression of the intricacies of a particular space. (patafilm # 385, 02'22''[14.04.2007 post], 10.8MB, Quicktime/mov.

On poetics of daydreaming and peripeteia

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"Voodles ... are little houses, each with its cellar and garret. Common sense lives on the ground floor, always ready to engage in ‘foreign commerce’ on the same level as the others, as the passers-by, who are never dreamers. To go upstairs in the voodle house is to withdraw step by step; while to go down to the cellar is to dream, it is losing oneself in the distant corridors of an obscure etymology, looking for treasures that cannot be found in words. "

Stepping inside an attic gallery space, Sam Renseiw engaged with oneiric architecture, drifting, while consciously day-dreaming in an ambient, voiced-over "before parting" flow. View the housed, rear window like detournement by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 574, 03'14'', 18.4MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Blip.tv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere Video features a more prosaic architectural view from last autumn; a rare prospect, as the back facade of the station is being replaced by a new one these days. (Lum # 90 "fast and slow" 00'54'', 5.8MB, Quicktime/mov)

Today's Patalab Metaphor Video re-play-supplement features an antique garden voodle - before the patafilm taxonomy and the voodle neologism, thus antique in web 2.0 terms - (backdated patafilm # 53, 01'24''[11.11.2005 post]6.4 MB, Quicktime/mov) Click on the bold links in the text to view or for more oblique, didactic info.

On arcades and things around us

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" By close-ups of the things around us, by focusing on hidden details of familiar objects, by exploring commonplace milieus under the ingenious guidance of the camera, the voodle, on the one hand, extends our comprehension of the necessities which rule our lives; on the other hand, it manages to assure us of an immense and unexpected field of action...With the close-up, space expands; with slow motion, movement is extended; with the altering of high-definition snow blindness, filters can add oblique oneiric subjectivity; with montage, inserts can unfold the poetics of simultaneous - short-circuiting - surrealistic glimpses."

Apart from literary preoccupations, and still dabbling with combining sight, seen and semiotics, Sam Renseiw reshuffled some studious insights. View the blurred and montaged voodle complete with arcades, monument(s) and a short glimpse of Breton's Nadja by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 558, [senamal08week2], 02'19'', 13.9MB, Quicktime/mov - other versions at Blip.tv)

Today's Bonus Luminere video features a subdued and serene scene of night fodder. (Lum # 75 "fodder", 00'58'', 5.8MB, Quicktime/mov)

When space becomes the true background

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"I began taking liberties a long time ago; When I am shooting a video I never think of how or why I want to shoot something; I simply shoot it. All I can do is imagine for myself what the future will be like, in the same moment. When space becomes the true background, words, dramaturgy and concepts will have lost their meaning, and we will no longer have to use them... we will silently walk and see freely."

Somehow wondering about the present situation of on-line art videos and their various taxonomies, Sam Renseiw attended a gathering on the topic, yesterday. View the ensuing voodle, complete with a glass of brennivin, Lotte's hand and Annette F's Gobelin by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 545, 02'04'', 12.5MB, Quicktime/mov - other streaming versions for Pc at Blip.tv)

Today's Bonus Lumiere video features a central Copenhagen novelty: the new Patalab voodle-screen kiosk at Kgs. Nytorv. (Lum # 63 "patalab kiosk, kgs.nytorv", 01'00, 6.1MB, Quicktime/mov)

The detournement of space: Voodle # 03

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"At first I had planned a memoir of only a few moving images, but my subject carried me along in spite of myself, and imperceptibly the memoir became a kind of treatise, too large indeed for what it contained but too small for the matter with which it deals. For a long time I hesitated whether to publish it or not, and I have often felt while working upon it that voodling a few videos does not teach one how to compose a film."

Visiting a Rousseau inspired cottage, Sam Renseiw continues to investigate the relationship of spaces and how they might interact. View the short interior voodle that could also be titled "Emile, Julie or the new Eloise" by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 528, 01'34'', 9.3MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash and MPEG4 versions for Pc at Blip.tv)
For exploring "meaning" in the pataphysical texts on all posts, click on the bold enhanced links in the text.

On the impression of plenitude

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" Both musical unity and musical structure are facilitated by the clear and distinct arrangement of tonal properties. Thus, the greater a musical passage can be anticipated, the more likely we sense it as being temporally continuous. And central to this anticipatory aspect is the employment of tonality, obeying the logic of modulation, succession, and resolution."

Beneath the impression of plenitude while walking along Thorvaldsen's scupltures, Sam Renseiw's captured footage reveals a lines of discontinuity where the things change, even though they seemingly remain the same. View the Rytm of Duration by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 400, 01'57'', 7 MB, Quicktime/mov - Flash version at Blip.tv)

On the continuity of melancholy

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".. we base all the events in our lives on the continuum of our sorrows; we translate into the emotional language of continuity what would be more accurately expressed in the clear and trenchant narrative of objective events. Continuity is but our emotion, our unease, our melancholy, and the role of emotion is perhaps only to blunt ever-hostile newness.."

Casually dropping by a random Tuesday evening, Sam Renseiw got mixed up in a rather nostalgic set-up at Vaterpas Fine Arts. While wondering about the sense of space and place in time, and, if all might be a revolving simulacrum re-performed by an atavistic new generation, blurred footage served to clarified. View the short, unfolding ballade by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 398, 01'35'', 7.3MB, Quicktime/mov -Flash version at Blip.tv)

On the love for concepts and images

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"Images and concepts are formed at opposite poles of mental activity: imagination and reason. A polarity of exclusion plays between them, in a way utterly unlike that of magnetic poles. In this case, the opposite poles do not attract , but repel. If one loves concepts and images, the masculine and feminine poles of the psyche, one must love mental powers with two different loves."

Everyone has within himself his own somnambulist, of whom he is the mesmerist... is Sam Renseiw's relevant paraphrase of J.W. Ritter while conceptualising The Poetics of Space in a corner of canteen footage. View the short dialectic moving visual, with scratch-acordeon accompagnement by clicking here or on the links above. (patafilm # 395, 01'45'', 7.8 MB, quicktime/mov - flash version at blip.tv)

On having the experience of drinking tea

"The particular implication of quantum theory that all the fuss is about is of course, as Lockwood puts it, “the simultaneous existence of distinct … experiences”. For instance, as I write this, I am having the experience of drinking tea. Quantum theory implies that vast numbers of other experiences of mine, including the experience of drinking coffee at this moment, are also taking place. The reason why I do not have an experience of having all those experiences simultaneously is that the laws of quantum mechanics restrict the operation of our brains so as to confine, as Lockwood puts it, “the gaze of consciousness to a kind of ‘tunnel vision’ directed downwards in the experiential manifold. We cannot look ‘sideways’ through the manifold, any more than we can look ‘upwards’, into the future.”

A Pure Sam Renseiw pataphrase. To experience the filmic gaze on the subject, click here or on the teapot above.(0.53 min, 3.8 MB, mov/quicktime)

From some inside, looking out

" Spring is the beginning of the Chinese New Year, usually at the end of January for the lunisolar calendar or early February for the solar calendar. After the long, cold Winter, the sun begins to warm the earth again, triggering new plant growth. Because of this, Spring and the Spring equinox is associated with the Wood element. Because the day also begins to warm in the morning as the sun rises, Spring is associated with the East direction. So these are associated with the left side of the Tai Ji, where the yang is increasing."

Another Sam Renseiw reflection, this time from a famous interior, Go take a ride in the bathtub here, or enter the space above. (2,2Mb mov/quicktime)

Towards a momentary whirlpool

Wilbur’s essay on Poe, published in 1962, summarizes the gnostic myth as follows: “The universe, as Poe conceived it, is a poetic or artistic creation, a “plot of God.” It has come about through God’s breaking up of His original unity, and his self-radiation into space; it is presently at the point of maximum diffusion, and will soon begin to contract toward a final reassembly in—and as—God. Since God, in creating the universe, fragmented Himself into his creatures … it is they who must by some counterimpulse, restore the original oneness of things… . And since the creation is a work of art, the counterimpulse that can reunify it must be imaginative. In short, the duty of God’s creatures is to think God together again by discovering, through the fusing power of poetic imagination, the primal unity in the present diversity.”

A Sam R. visual follow-up. A view from the right corner table in Paris Bar , Berlin, under Kippenbergers painting. Join in on the image, or click here to enter.

Beauty will be convulsive or not at all

" What attracts me in such a manner of seeing is that, as far as the eye can see, it recreates desire . . . It is only by making evident the intimate relation linking the two terms real and imaginary that I hope to break down the distinction, which seems to me less and less well founded, between the subjective and the objective. . . . You only have to know how to get along in the labyrinth."

A failed entry by Sam R. to last year's videomarathon. Watch it here or smell the flowers…