Jonathan Spencer - Triathlon pt2 v03: an audiovisual piece about cadence and texture
2:02, 2011, Video ArtThe BPM is 96 and it is 48 bars long all in E. The sounds come from a range of gear including (if you listen hard some old fashioned guitar feedback and the birds in my back garden). The visuals make extensive use of Processing software
DirectorJonathan SpencerProducerJonathan SpencerWriterNaCameraNaEditorNa
CountryUnited KingdomEdition2011
< overview
Who is Jonathan Spencer?
I am an aficionado of Italian motorcycles and musical hardware, educated in the North of England. I have lived and worked my entire adult life in and around London. I currently work for the BBC on developing and promoting the use of virtual and augmented reality within news and current affairs. Outside of work I’m involved with grass roots football and music.
What is Triathlon pt2 v03: an audiovisual piece about cadence and texture about?
This audiovisual piece was made as a result of reading about the Triathlon. The structure of three radically different stages within one event is both intriguing and attractive. The nature of the events, one through water, one on the road with a machine and finally running presents a rich source of material for the imagination: just as the location in Hyde Park provides a wide range of colour and texture. This combination of actions and environment lends itself to rhythms loosely based around the recommended cadence of 90 to 100 rpm for the cycling stage, whilst the various audio structures range from samples taken from the natural world, to mechanistic clicks and the bass drone work with the visuals to provide an intense (and short) experience.
How did you start with film? And do you have an educational background in art or film?
I studied Fine Art painting at Newcastle Polytechnic, but as I went through the 3 year course I gravitated towards media and experimental audiovisual works, often sculptural pieces and installations led by chance interactions and relationships between images and sounds. The Kodak S-AV 2000 was a stable tool along with audiotape (and some 16mm film loops) and later video. Since the late eighties I have been working commercially with computer graphics in television.
Could you explain how you work, what themes or concepts you use and what is important to you?
Most of my work is led by the concepts of chance and potential within a framework that looks at the relationships between long and short durations. I like to set a series of rules and record the output. This forms the raw material, which is layered and distressed: sometimes re-sampled and re-sequenced. To some extent this process follows my earliest experiments with painting and especially printmaking. My work has been led by process since my teens. I try to work within certain constraints for example I generally try to produce works that are just 128 seconds long.
How long do you usually work on one project?
Each project takes between one and three months to create.
Do you carefully plan the production process or do you work more intuitive?
It’s a mixture of the two. I find that sometimes a rigid plan can take me to a place where intuition takes over: and by extension sometimes the inspiration found through working intuitively can only be successfully exploited by a strict process. For somebody whose work is partly about a process I’m very open to distraction.
How does the title relate to the work, and how do you find a fitting title?
The titles always describe the ‘seed’ or starting point of a project, I’m keen on the version numbers and letters as they help me keep track of where in the process I stopped.
How do you finance your projects (by yourself, sponsors or subsidy)?
Finance them myself, but to be fair the biggest commitment is time.
How important is sound in film, and if you use sounds, do you create your own or use existing?
I’m here because of the SOUND, at art school I was like one or two others before me involved in music (bands and experimental solo projects) and since then have consistently played music live. The sound of a slide projector (a working Kodak S-AV2000 displayed as a design classic) recently brought me back to the stream of audiovisual work I had abandoned as an undergraduate. Prior to this I had been making tradition videos to accompany my audio experiments. My palette of sounds comes from samplers and synthesizers. Some of the sounds are sampled found sounds, some are found sounds that are heavily processed, and some come straight from hardware synthesizers or any combination of these. Occasionally I will use guitar and effects pedals to create a specific sound. I allow myself to interfere and play or sample instruments should the piece demand it. I try to work fast and not fix every imperfection. I’m looking for a musical outcome, but not a traditional harmonic or narrative one. I believe that each piece should be logical and consistent within itself. This use of generative patches and reliance on accidental and deliberate juxtaposition to make sound is a personal journey.
How would you describe contemporary videoart?
I wouldn’t attempt a description of such a lively and dynamic sector.
What possibilities of the web are yet to be explored?
If I knew this I’d be exploring them right now!
Did the web changed your view on art, or your career?
It has certainly changed how I work and think about my own work, SoundCloud and Vimeo are particularly important channels and provide a constant source of interest and stimulation. I think that it has made the search for audiences a lot easier and allowed people to distribute their own content (obvious I know) which in turn has made the more traditional media conduits question their methods, a process which I would like to think still has a long way to go.
Where would you place your work; cinema or art. And what is the difference between those according to you?
Defiantly Art (capital A note), I produce the work for myself and to some extent I eschew any aspects of engagement with traditional narrative or documentary techniques. I look at these pieces as purely sensory rather than as significant or as stories. Having said that, there are aspects to decode as I make the inspiration, sources and methods used clearly available as a part of the piece (through the title and supporting writing). Cinema has a very different tradition although I would argue both art and cinema come for the same tradition of devotional narrative painting (and I can argue it quite hard after a beer or two).
How important is the reaction to your film by the audience?
I’m very interested in any positive reaction by the audience (and a lot less interested in a negative reaction…which is at least the truth). This ambivalence to the audience reaction is a result of the unique way my films are funded, I have had to work on a number of projects in the past where the audience reaction was critical, so for this cycle of work...I’m doing them however I want, whatever anybody thinks!
What is your next project about?
Diving
< overview
CountryUnited KingdomEdition2011
< overview
Interview
I am an aficionado of Italian motorcycles and musical hardware, educated in the North of England. I have lived and worked my entire adult life in and around London. I currently work for the BBC on developing and promoting the use of virtual and augmented reality within news and current affairs. Outside of work I’m involved with grass roots football and music.
What is Triathlon pt2 v03: an audiovisual piece about cadence and texture about?
This audiovisual piece was made as a result of reading about the Triathlon. The structure of three radically different stages within one event is both intriguing and attractive. The nature of the events, one through water, one on the road with a machine and finally running presents a rich source of material for the imagination: just as the location in Hyde Park provides a wide range of colour and texture. This combination of actions and environment lends itself to rhythms loosely based around the recommended cadence of 90 to 100 rpm for the cycling stage, whilst the various audio structures range from samples taken from the natural world, to mechanistic clicks and the bass drone work with the visuals to provide an intense (and short) experience.
How did you start with film? And do you have an educational background in art or film?
I studied Fine Art painting at Newcastle Polytechnic, but as I went through the 3 year course I gravitated towards media and experimental audiovisual works, often sculptural pieces and installations led by chance interactions and relationships between images and sounds. The Kodak S-AV 2000 was a stable tool along with audiotape (and some 16mm film loops) and later video. Since the late eighties I have been working commercially with computer graphics in television.
Could you explain how you work, what themes or concepts you use and what is important to you?
Most of my work is led by the concepts of chance and potential within a framework that looks at the relationships between long and short durations. I like to set a series of rules and record the output. This forms the raw material, which is layered and distressed: sometimes re-sampled and re-sequenced. To some extent this process follows my earliest experiments with painting and especially printmaking. My work has been led by process since my teens. I try to work within certain constraints for example I generally try to produce works that are just 128 seconds long.
How long do you usually work on one project?
Each project takes between one and three months to create.
Do you carefully plan the production process or do you work more intuitive?
It’s a mixture of the two. I find that sometimes a rigid plan can take me to a place where intuition takes over: and by extension sometimes the inspiration found through working intuitively can only be successfully exploited by a strict process. For somebody whose work is partly about a process I’m very open to distraction.
How does the title relate to the work, and how do you find a fitting title?
The titles always describe the ‘seed’ or starting point of a project, I’m keen on the version numbers and letters as they help me keep track of where in the process I stopped.
How do you finance your projects (by yourself, sponsors or subsidy)?
Finance them myself, but to be fair the biggest commitment is time.
How important is sound in film, and if you use sounds, do you create your own or use existing?
I’m here because of the SOUND, at art school I was like one or two others before me involved in music (bands and experimental solo projects) and since then have consistently played music live. The sound of a slide projector (a working Kodak S-AV2000 displayed as a design classic) recently brought me back to the stream of audiovisual work I had abandoned as an undergraduate. Prior to this I had been making tradition videos to accompany my audio experiments. My palette of sounds comes from samplers and synthesizers. Some of the sounds are sampled found sounds, some are found sounds that are heavily processed, and some come straight from hardware synthesizers or any combination of these. Occasionally I will use guitar and effects pedals to create a specific sound. I allow myself to interfere and play or sample instruments should the piece demand it. I try to work fast and not fix every imperfection. I’m looking for a musical outcome, but not a traditional harmonic or narrative one. I believe that each piece should be logical and consistent within itself. This use of generative patches and reliance on accidental and deliberate juxtaposition to make sound is a personal journey.
How would you describe contemporary videoart?
I wouldn’t attempt a description of such a lively and dynamic sector.
What possibilities of the web are yet to be explored?
If I knew this I’d be exploring them right now!
Did the web changed your view on art, or your career?
It has certainly changed how I work and think about my own work, SoundCloud and Vimeo are particularly important channels and provide a constant source of interest and stimulation. I think that it has made the search for audiences a lot easier and allowed people to distribute their own content (obvious I know) which in turn has made the more traditional media conduits question their methods, a process which I would like to think still has a long way to go.
Where would you place your work; cinema or art. And what is the difference between those according to you?
Defiantly Art (capital A note), I produce the work for myself and to some extent I eschew any aspects of engagement with traditional narrative or documentary techniques. I look at these pieces as purely sensory rather than as significant or as stories. Having said that, there are aspects to decode as I make the inspiration, sources and methods used clearly available as a part of the piece (through the title and supporting writing). Cinema has a very different tradition although I would argue both art and cinema come for the same tradition of devotional narrative painting (and I can argue it quite hard after a beer or two).
How important is the reaction to your film by the audience?
I’m very interested in any positive reaction by the audience (and a lot less interested in a negative reaction…which is at least the truth). This ambivalence to the audience reaction is a result of the unique way my films are funded, I have had to work on a number of projects in the past where the audience reaction was critical, so for this cycle of work...I’m doing them however I want, whatever anybody thinks!
What is your next project about?
Diving
< overview
