Oh man. Tom Buckholz’ GEMSTONES was the opening short for HL’s first big event at State Theatre in Ann Arbor a couple years back. We installed a sound system with a giant subwoofer & his video pumped so hard during the dry run the night before — we were psyched. The night of the event, there was a short in the system and it played silently for a good 30 seconds — no pumps. We still owe this talented dood some tacos.
Here’s University of Arizona’s Assistant Professor of Art Gary Setzer on GEMSTONES:
The video transcends the original source material (the sum is greater than the individual parts). The intense visual effect achieved with the editing parallels the induction of hypnotism–pointing to revelations about sales-driven brain washing and the many forms of human desire. The layered audio plays no small role in making the sale.
And Tom on GEMSTONES:
Something I never publicized about GEMSTONES is that it was created as a sort of appropriated diary. The clips used in the video come from things that I watched or listened to with people socially, and reflect the relationships and interactions that I had with those people. There is a narrative thread to the entire work as a whole, but I’m not sure how much that comes across if you don’t know the references. It might come across more like a half-dreaming channel surfing experience, which is appropriate too, because thats kind of a good metaphor for my life at the time.
For more on Tom Buckholz, please consult his pretty website on the internet.
Gemstones played at HOTT LAVA in Ann Arbor on June 26, 2009 and at INSTANT RICE on January 16, 2010.
