Spark of Being @ WFC 2/2/12

It was free and I thought it would have some kind of live music, like when I saw the premiere at the Highline.  This show wasn't live, so it was the DVD with the same music and players as what I saw.  That was fine by me.  When I first saw it, I hadn't re-read Frankenstein in a number of years.  The project inspired me to read it again.  It's still my all time favorite book.  I recently read it yet another time and I'm amazed how quickly I forget everything.  It's always fresh and new each time.

This was my 2nd time viewing the silent film and listening to the score composed by Dave Douglass.  The music is phenomenal and I'm impressed with the film.  Bill Morris was there to talk a little about it.  His work is comprised of footage from documentaries and real life.  It makes for very interesting art.  It was very well done.

http://billmorrisonfilm.com/feature-length-films/spark-of-being

http://www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com/cgi-bin/Go.cgi?q_id=1188
Curated by John Schaefer, host of WNYC Radio’s New Sounds and Soundcheck

Bill Morrison has reinvented the lost art of the silent film–often using decaying footage from old silent movies but also creating his own luminous, evocative world out of new images and new music. This series looks at a selection of Morrison’s major works, all done in collaboration with some of the finest new-music composers. The opening and closing films are shown with live orchestral accompaniment: The Miners’ Hymns features a riveting, brass-heavy score by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, played by the Wordless Music Orchestra; and the grand finale, Decasia, brings the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble to perform Michael Gordon’s score. In between, the new film The Great Flood is paired with music by eclectic guitar hero Bill Frisell, and Spark of Being includes an electro-acoustic score by trumpeter and bandleader Dave Douglas.

Film Forum will present additional screenings of Bill Morrison films February 8 – 14. For more information, visit www.filmforum.org.

THE MINERS’ HYMNS
Live music by WORDLESS MUSIC ORCHESTRA
Tuesday, January 31

THE GREAT FLOOD
Wednesday, February 1

SPARK OF BEING
Thursday, February 2

DECASIA
Live music by OBERLIN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Friday, February 3