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Media: painting and scratching on 8mm film, continuous loop; black, white, color, and experimental sounds transferred to HD video on a LED monitor in a wooden box. Dance with me (2016, 02:07 min) is an experimental video paying homage to the silent film era. Lacking dialogue, it integrates theatrical musical sounds to depict character emotions. The video layers a Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote, remixed Joséphine Baker footage, and my performance. My soundscape is inspired by lexigrams—symbols representing words. Drawing from the idea that music can symbolize words and emotions, I crafted an artificial language using unique sounds, primarily from a vintage xylophone and grand piano. Adapting John Cage's prepared piano approach, I manipulated the instruments using objects, like placing items between strings or attaching them to xylophone keys. These sounds were then mapped to a set of symbols based on the Latin alphabet, forming constructed sentences. Similar to silent films, the music complements the on-screen action while separate text frames narrate the story. |