Video Art
dir. Katerina Michalopoulou
“Metronome” had been awarded with ODYSSEUS AWARDS at 2018 London Greek Film Festival.
We tend to perceive repeated similar sounds by grouping them into dipoles. Thus, the sound “tak –tak –tak –tak” of a clock is perceived as “tik-tak-tik-tak”. Accordingly, the music meter, refers to this dipole organization: the classification of the downbeat (thesis) as a leader against upbeat (arsis), the superiority of position against lift. But what happens when something interferes with this apparent order?
For those who have attended a school of classical music, in the early years of their studies they faced Procrust – the Metronome. They were always enforced to respect the absolute Order of Time. The stressful feelings caused by the allegiance to the merciless time keeping can only be unforgettable. As a matter of fact, playing music wasn’t related to performing the music meters you were studying, but be ahead of time before it surpasses you …
In this artwork the metronome is summoned confront its own self. Dipolar organizations, versus dipolar organizations. By watching this controversy, how can our inborn obsession for organization and order hold? What musical phrases are produced in our minds in order to organize the “differences”?
The artwork “metronome”, apart from being a comment to the human brain functions, it is also a commentary on numerous artworks made by other artists where the metronome was treated either as an autonomous object (Man Ray, Salvador Dali) or as a musical instrument (especially György Ligeti’s work “Symphonic Poem for 100 Metronomes”).
Project presentation: The video will be projected on a surface of about 3,5 meters height (the exact height will also depend on the area to be exposed – but in any case the height of the metronome should be greater than the height of the human being). It is desirable that the visitors can move next to the “metronome” and compare themselves with it. The source of the sound should be physically situated behind the projection. Alternatively, headphones can be used. The project has the ability to be projected repeatedly (loupe).
Walking Architects 