john grzinich
two films
(and/40) DVD - all region/NTSC

and/OAR, Maaheli Editions and Paleosol Edition are extremely pleased to present two films by sound artist John Grzinich: Sound Aspects Of Material Elements & Mimema which features cameo appearances by Patrick McGinley (aka Murmer), HItoshi Kojo (aka Spiracle), Eamon Sprod (aka Tarab), Jim Haynes, Toomas Thetloff, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Evelyn Muursepp, Mari Jõgiste, Vivian Bohl and Pärt Ojamaa.

Technical note: Some hardware and software playback systems may need to be adjusted to properly display the 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratio of this DVD. To do this, go to the options menu for your TV monitor and DVD player.

Sound Aspects Of Material Elements
Black & White, 57 minutes HD, 16:9 Aspect Ratio Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste, Estonia. Collaborative recordings made with: Patrick McGinley, Jim Haynes, Toomas Thetlof, Maksims Shentelevs, Kaspars Kalninsh, Eamon Sprod, Hitoshi Kojo, and Evelyn Müürsepp.

Sound Aspects of Material Elements is a the film that shows a specific approach to the artistic use of sound, covering a 3 year period (2006-2009) of the author's personal research and collaborations with a number of close colleagues. What we hear and see reveals how much our ability to listen with a creative ear, helps us re- interpret and build new relations to what surrounds us. Using sound as the primary signifier. The film documents in-situ processes of exploration and sonification of the landscape along with various material, objects and structures found there. All the sounds captured formed the basis for each shot emphasizing how the combinations of certain materials (metal, wood, glass) along with natural elements (water, wind fire), transforms our perception of even the most common everyday places or situations.

Mimema
Color, 24:38 minutes, HD 16:9 Aspect Ratio Concept, sound, camera, editing: John Grzinich Equipment and support: MoKS - Center for Art and Social Practice, Mooste Estonia.

Mimema is a meditation on states of liminality, of being in stasis, drifting in-between above and below, night and day, inside and out. Mimema started out as a sound composition and grew into a series of images that reflected my desire to invert the world around me by capturing the 'real' and making it 'imaginary', Much like a mirror that reflects the shifting states of human cognition we encounter moment to moment. Mimema is the blur between what we sense and what we construct as understanding, appearing as much a body as a fluid or boundary as a state of dissolution.

"Sound Aspects of Material Elements by John Grzinich is a highly unique film, an elegant collection of location sound explorations captured over a three-year period. Empty landscapes of blowing grass and drifting clouds, slight manipulations of abandoned and natural objects, solo engagements with architectural structures, duos and occasionally larger groups of participants “playing” found materials. In each case, all sounds are sourced within a location, augmented and activated through simple acoustic techniques – tubes, wires, mallets and contact mics. Each 'situation' becomes a kind of instrument, each 'place' is approached as a rich source of sonic matter. This film finds itself between ‘sound art’ and cinema. Unlike most movies, the film follows strict limitations in using only location-based, real-time sound capture. On the other hand, there is strongly disjunctive relationship between what we see and what we hear because of the predominant use of unusual miking techniques. The shots themselves are often medium to long, and place the objects or figures within the landscape – desolate Estonian fields, ramshackle barns, windswept telephone wires, nighttime fires, abandoned and corroded metal tanks or girders. The sounds, however, are not only of, but inside the location being shown. We hear into spaces and materials through the careful use of contact mics or the placement of microphones inside containers, tubes and vessels. These decisions amplify, magnify and distort the sonic landscape in relation to what is seen. It can feel like existing on two levels at once. Sound Aspects of Material Elements doesn’t illustrate, interpret or elaborate upon sound with image, it just shows - demonstrating the elements at play in a particular arrangement or situation. At the same time, the links between sound and image are more than just causal. They are the result of careful exploration, fine-tuned framing, and a delicate balance of the haphazard and the instigated." (Seth Nehil)

"One way to describe John Grzinich's film Mimema would be 'hypnogogic drone poem cinema'. Watching sleeping floaters dream in the eye of the camera. The sound and visual elements work together in such a way, that it's difficult to keep from falling under its hypnotic spell. Very rich and deep. Meanwhile, Sound Aspects Of Material Elements is a unique cinematic documentary experience that says much without uttering a word. For the less initiated, it not only teaches sound appreciation in an inspiring way, but also demonstrates where sound sources found in much of today's field recording-based sound art compositions initially come from. Certainly a landmark moment for and/OAR and one of the most prized releases in the label catalog." (Dale Lloyd)

John Grzinich has been conducting his own forms of sound research for over 15 years, including field recording, kinetic sculptures, electro-acoustic composition, performance, videography, group workshops and exercises in listening. Currently he lives in Estonia and works as a program and technical coordinator for MoKS, a non-profit artist-run center. He has published CDs of his sound works on international labels such as: SIRR, Mystery Sea, Staalplaat, Erewhon, Intransitive, Cut, Elevator Bath, Invisible Birds, Semper Florens and others.