Acts of Light (Complete Trilogy): Rate of Change, Angular Momentum & Circles of Confusion
- Bill Brand |
- 1972-1974 |
- 53 minutes |
- COLOR |
- SOUND
ACTS OF LIGHT is a trilogy consisting of RATE OF CHANGE, ANGULAR MOMENTUM, and CIRCLES OF CONFUSION. Together they develop a study of pure color based on the notion that film is essentially change rather than motion. The films build one on the other as first pure change, then relational change, and finally, irrational change. They can be seen together or as separate works
RATE OF CHANGE (1972) has no original, no frames, only slow continuously shifting colors, cycling around the perimeter of the spectrum. The changes are so slow as to be unseen, yet they alter perception of the color.
In ANGULAR MOMENTUM (1973) continuous color changes rotate around a spectrum at varying speeds of rotation and degrees of intensity. The colors on the left start nearly white and rotate very slowly. As the film progresses the color value become darker and the speed of rotation increases until, by the end, the color is nearly black and rotates around the spectrum about once per second. On the right, the opposite occurs. It starts black and progresses nearly to white. The film has an improvised electronic soundtrack by Richard Teitelbaum.
In CIRCLES OF CONFUSION (1974), circles of colored light (red, green, blue) pulsate and flicker as they move around the frame. Where they intersect, they display a variety of secondary colors. The term, circles of confusion belongs to the physics of the lenses. Here it has to do with the focus of light. It refers to the focus of mental and emotional energies as an irrational system for composing a film.