beyond ultra-violence: uneasy listening by merzbow
Kerkhof is a cutting edge filmmaker who perhaps encapsulated the more
alternative edge of Popcorn by arriving with an experimental
documentary about the likewise experimental Japanese musician Merzbow.
“Beyond Ultra Violence-Uneasy Listening by Merzbow” is an
uncomfortable portrait of a man who concentrates on making sounds to
which few would ascribe the term “music”. The video is a muddle of
images and sounds that sets out to give you a feeling, not the whole
picture, of a man who innovates the future. Ian Kerkhof wanted to make
a video as rich and layered as Merzbow’s work and says that it would
be nonsense to make a BBC-style documentary about him. A scene where a
girl cuts her stomach open leaving all her entrails on the floor
certainly makes the video less accessible. Some fainted, some threw up
and a few chose to trash their Popcorn card after the screening,
deliberately provoked by Kerkhof.
Jeroen de Boer
co-director Cyberslag Foundation
music director Open Electronic Festival
Munnekeholm 10
9711 JA Groningen, The Netherlands
usva-th1@bureau.rug.nl
J.T.de.Boer@let.rug.nl
tel. 0031 (0)50-3637513
fax. 0031 (0)50-3632209
http://www.cyberslag.com
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