Educational Media Reviews Online

Established in 2003 by San Francisco artists, Lightrythm Visuals is a label that licenses content from artists around the world. Designers, artists and VJs (video performance artists) are included in 12 visual performances/animations. These pieces are set against soundscapes by established musicians spanning 5 continents and, according to the press release, even in gender. The press release also mentions that “the results of advancing software and live interfaces (…) have allowed some of these works to be captured on this interface.” Unfortunately there are no liner notes and the information on the DVD sleeve is sketchy at best. It would not be possible to know in advance that “A key element of the project is its collaborative concept: original works were shared with leading visual artists and designers who reinterpreted the visual notations. Remixes were produced; artists from different cultures put their own unique twist on elements of each track.” Again, it would have been useful to further elaborate on this topic in liner notes. There is an incorrect assumption by the producers that the philosophy and practice of the Lightrhythm Visuals label is well-known enough to exclude background information. The disc menus are somewhat difficult to navigate with the remixes disconnected from the originals while its presentation is needlessly busy-looking. There is a separate designation to view the remixes but this whole feature could very well have been missed because so little information is provided with the disc and thus many interesting aspects of the disc could easily be overlooked.

Setting the shortcomings aside and looking at the material in question is worth the price of admission. The notion of providing original works which are then appropriated and re-created is a relatively novel one and worthy of viewing and discussion from the academic viewpoint. Downloading material and manipulating it is a contemporary concern which in this case is isolated and fully explored from a creative standpoint. Both the originals and the remixes are clever and innovative in their approaches while their soundtracks resonate with beautifully mixed techno sounds. Notable pieces are Hobble, a set of animated images that resemble Russian constructivist planes, Water for the Last Moment that vibrates with textures of what appears to be multi-layered film stock, Architype, a CAD design animation and Bubble, presenting humorous graphic global robots.

Anyone purchasing this DVD will want to do some online searching about the production of the disc and artists as nothing is provided with the disc. It is valuable for anyone studying or teaching animation or, as it most likely will be used, as background music and visuals at a party.