Jürgen Reble Arktis - Zwischen Licht und Dunkel (2004) Publications

Synopsis

Arktis is a poetic approach to the bizarre landscape of ice, rock, and water; a journey to the arctic ocean and surroundings, with images and sounds. Seventy one-second scenes of the arctic serve as the original material, which is then transformed in its texture, time lapse, color and light qualities to create a material reminiscent of landscape painting. The sound collage uses fragments from sounds of nature and samples from a piece of music for violin and song, which are also transformed in a manner similar to that of the visual pictures. (Jürgen Reble)

Preview

Germany 2004, HD-Video, color, 30 min., stereo sound
Premiere: EMAF Osnabrück, 24.04.2004
Distribution: Light Cone,Paris, prints in:
mini DV-PAL
HD-Video 1440x1080, stereo

 

Deutsch

Das Werk versteht sich als poetische Annäherung an die bizarre Landschaft aus Eis, Gestein und Wasser; eine Reise mit Bildern und Tönen ins Nordpolarmeer und Umgebung. Als Vorlage dienten etwa 70 Scenen in Sekundenlänge aus biologischen und geografischen Filmen über die Arktis. Durch extreme Bearbeitung von Textur, Zeitverlauf und Farb/Lichtwerten gewinnt das Material eine an Landschaftsmalerei erinnernde Qualität.Für die Toncollage dienten kurze Fragmente aus Naturklängen und Samples aus einem Stück für Streicher und Gesang, die einer ähnlichen Prozedur unterworfen wurden, wie die Bilder. (Jürgen Reble)

Review

This new video is a surprising departure for Reble, who is best known for his alchemical treatment of celluloid. Digitally processed, it transforms shots of the arctic landscape, drawn from education films and travelogues, into a virtual fantasy world illuminated by the hallucinatory half-light of evening. (Mark Webber, London Film Festival 2004) The material used to construct Arktis – Zwischen Licht und Dunkel (Jürgen Reble, 2004) was taken from a variety of films about the arctic region. These clips were then heavily treated, manipulating the texture, duration, saturation and contrast of the images. The film looks like an unknown world, through perseverance though you become accustomed to the dark pulsating and mysterious landscapes. Arktis is deeply engrossing, drawing you into its “half-world” of twilight images, neither abstract nor literal. The gradual alienating effect gave me the increasing sense of seeing a world not meant for humans. This sublime world is perhaps the inverse of Godard's Purgatory, a world devoid of expression, of peoples and nations. (George Clark, December 2004)