2002-03 Sons et Lumières , video, player piano, and eight-channel tape, (installation)

PROGRAM NOTES:

In SONS ET LUMIÈRES (sound and light), the projected images are accompanied by a player piano and several "ghost" pianos diffused throughout the hall. The earliest non-fiction silent films are often seen as nostalgic artifacts of an imagined "antique" past. Rather than see characters on the crepuscule of a decaying Victorian age, I glimpse people who are living on the horizon of the 20th century future. They are taking the first innocent steps into a strange and unknown territory, more or less unaware that there might be cause for concern.   With the last small step from the lunar landing module in 1969, Neil Armstrong signified the end of that very future.   For me, the early film footage exposes our European cultural inheritance - profound psychological and physical ignorance.   We didn't know where we were then and we still don't know where we are today.    The piece might also be called "Lost in space".