Sounds Like Silence at HMKV

SOUNDS LIKE SILENCE
Cage – 4’33” – Silence
1912 – 1952 to 2012

08/25/2012 – 01/06/2013
Exhibition | Dortmunder U

Sounds Like Silence 87

Two works by Vicki Bennett will be included in the exhibition “Sounds Like Silence” at HMKV.

Sounds like Silence (Cage – 4’33” – Silence / 1912 – 1952 – 2012)

On the occasion of John Cage’s 100th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of the premiere of his famous “silent piece” HMKV shows 35 contemporary references to 4’33” from the fields of art and music as well as works that deal with general questions of e.g. perception of silence or sound ecology. The exhibition runs in parallel to Documenta 13 in Kassel.

Sounds Like Silence

Download the pdf of the press release

Documentation:

Sounds Like Silence 01Sounds Like Silence 11Sounds Like Silence 43Sounds Like Silence 33

THE ZONE… A Feature Length Film by Vicki Bennett

Update (2013) This film received a take down order from Mosfilm who represent Tarkovsky’s estate, so unfortunately you cannot see it at this point in time.  Read more about this.

UPDATE (2017) – Turns out the Mosfilm do NOT own Tarkovsky films, nor have they ever!!!   We were not alone in receiving take down orders from them, they’d been sending them to many people for years.  We were informed of this by Curzon who DO own them, at least now.  The Zone is up here:

UPDATE HERE: https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/interviews/vicki-bennett-speaks-to-emily-bick-people-like-us
WATCH HERE: https://vimeo.com/44258244

THE ZONE
This first feature-length film by Vicki Bennett tells one story of two journeys to the promised land, the world where dreams can be made real and reality is like a dream. The relationship between narratives holds surprising coincidences and surreal tangents and departures as they both dance their (not so) merry dance to their shangri-la. The films sit side by side, staying loyal to the linear narrative, but editing the longer film to the length of the shorter. The film was structured so that the crossover point from monotone to colour in imagery occur at the same stage. This method of story telling is challenging, sometimes jarring, but one’s patience is paid off with delightful harmonies and synchronicities both in images and narrative occurring far more than either pure chance would dictate or the imagination construct. This film is inspired by the Chance Operations of John Cage, Cut-Up techniques of Gysin/Burroughs and Kurt Schwitters, and single shot/durational films (Andy Warhol, James Benning).

“Happiness for everybody! . . . Free! As much as you want! . . . Everybody come here! . . . There’s enough for everybody! . . . Nobody will leave unsatisfied! . . . Free! . . . Happiness! . . . Free!” – from Roadside Picnic (the novel that Stalker is loosely based on)

THE ZONE by VICKI BENNETT [2012] Trailer from Vicki WFMU on Vimeo.

Press photos here
Interview about The Zone by Alastair Cameron (Arnolfini, Bristol)
Review in The Wire (January 2013)

Dual screen movie HD file
1440 x 576
97 min 55 sec
Created 2012

STILLS



Screenings:

Arnolfini, Bristol, 2012
Transmediale, Berlin 2013 – cancelled due to takedown order

Selection of People Like Us movies in one file

Not sure where to start because there’s too much? Know what you mean. Here’s where to start because there’s too much.

People Like Us
Excerpts from Genre Collage: The Look [2009-2010]
Excerpts from Genre Collage: The Sound of the End of Music [2009-2010]
Excerpts from Genre Collage: Ingrid and Tobor [2009-2010]
Excerpts from Genre Collage: DrivingFlyingRisingFalling [2009-2010]
People Like Us – The Remote Controller [2003]
People Like Us – We Edit Life [2002]
People Like Us – Nothing [2005]
People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz – Mull of Kintyre [2010]
People Like Us – Music of Your Own [1999]
Vicki Bennett – Trying Things Out [2007]
People Like Us – Story Without End [2005]
Vicki Bennett – Skew Gardens [2008]
People Like Us – 2″00′ The Movie [2011]

Bristol Encounters International Film Festival

People Like Us – Magical Misery Tour at Bristol Encounters International Film Festival.
Cube Cinema, 4 Princess Row, Bristol, UK BS2 8NQ
20:00 17/11/2011
Doors 7:30 £6:00 advance (watershed only) £8:00 on door.

Bristol Encounters

People Like Us will perform The Magical Misery Tour at Bristol Encounters International Film Festival 2011.

Look Behind You!….. She Is Back! Vicki Bennett aka People Like Us raids the tombs of HORROR films, plundering the Un-Dead and cutting up scared suburban teenagers amongst many victims into a delicious perverse A/V set which premiered at The Sound of Fear at the Southbank Centre under the working title of Horror Collage.

The source material is 95% from horror movies, with the content portraying not so much a scary nightmare but a journey through the underworld of everyday human experiences. It is not true to say you do not relate to this kind of horror movie. Truth is stranger than fiction. Having said this, People Like Us, as ever, see the positive and sometimes humorous side of the most ghastly scenarios, and by accompanying the edited found feature film footage with new sample collage pop songs, elevate you from the swamp.
Also on the same night:

AKI ONDA
Aki Onda is an artist whose musical instrument of choice is the cassette Walkman. He captures field recordings with the cassettes and then physically manipulates the tape machines with electronics in his performances to mesmerising effect. Strikingly poetic with ghosts of the physical, and invisible captured in his sound world, Onda re-examines moments of time he has spent wandering and recording. Maximising the micro-narrative/diary-like elements contained in his performances Onda fits perfectly a film festival.

Onda started making music with the sampler and computer, and formed Audio Sports with Eye Yamatsuka (of The Boredoms) and Nobukazu Takemura in Osaka in 1990. He then became a sought after producer before starting his travels and recording his cassettes, taking photos and collaborating.

http://www.cubecinema.com/cgi-bin/diary/programme.pl#6203

The Magical Misery Tour!

Introducing an excerpt of the new People Like Us live set entitled “The Magical Misery Tour”. This 45 minute concert was created between June and September 2011 and premiered at “The Sound of Fear” at London’s Southbank Centre on 3rd September 2011, under the working title of “Horror Collage”. Now that the full length live set has been completed we have changed the name to something more fitting with the content. The source material is 95% from horror movies, with the content portraying not so much a scary nightmare but a journey through the underworld of everyday human experiences. It is not true to say you do not relate to this kind of horror movie. Truth is stranger than fiction. Having said this, People Like Us, as ever, see the positive and sometimes humorous side of the most ghastly scenerios, and by accompanying the edited found feature film footage with new sample collage pop songs, elevate you from the swamp.

Magical Misery Tour

Press size version of above picture here
Magical Misery Tour collage for press
Interview with Vicki about this project here:
http://www.soundandmusic.org/features/sound-film/five-questions-people-us
Download at UbuWeb

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More press photos: these below should be credited to “experimentaclub” – license details under the links.
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