"TALKING TREES"
4K UHD video, color, stereo sound, 03:09 minutes, 2015-21
moving images and sound design: Dejan Radovanovic
© 2018 Studio UMMAGUMMA
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screenings:
DISTANT NATURE - Knoll Galerie Wien
5/6 – 3/8/2020 Vienna, Austria
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Curated by Katarína Balúnová
ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL - SEMBRANDO CINE 2017 - 24Jun Casa De La Literatura, 22 July Ventana Indiscreta
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DIGITAL CANVAS - ikonoTV's 24-hour program of Digital Art brings together 20 outstanding international artists with more than 60 works that explicitly employ the use of electronic and digital tools while making direct references to art history by incorporating traditional disciplines.Digital Canvas will be broadcast exclusively on ikonoTV for 24 hours, starting on May 7th 2016 at 6PM (CET). It will premiere during the Creative Tech Week in New York, on the 28th and 29th of April. Curated by Vanina Saracino.
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9th ECOZINE FILM FESTIVAL -International Film and Environment of Zaragoza, Spain, on 10th of May 2016. Organized by Asociación Cultural Ecozine and City of Zaragoza.
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THE CREATORS PROJECT:
Tree trunks become an ecosystem of short films in Dejan Radovanovic's reimagined woodlands.
Enter a Computer Generated Forest of 'Talking Trees'
Patchworks of projected films canopy the trees in Vancouver-based filmmaker Dejan Radovanovic’s future forest,Talking Trees. "[The project] is my unfinished study imagined as meditative piece which attempts to take viewer on a continuous introspective walk,” Radovanovic tells The Creators Project. The filmmaker began filming the project in the evergreens of British Columbia but then took to the studio to create and animate his cinematic conifers. “First I made a projection map for my trees using fragments from my previous works and then rendered a whole animation with 3ds Max using that map in material slot,” he explains. “At the end, I blended layers in After Effects and added sound in Premiere. The sound is made with mixing field recording and sounds generated with great iVCS3 emulation on iPad.” Talking Trees’ reimagined landscape is a kind of natural database of Radovanovic’s creative portfolio, a crop of ready-made video fragments.
Sami Emory , writer, Jun 2015.
“SURFACE TENSION”
SIONDCI Digital Cinema 4K, color, stereo sound, 12:33 minutes, 2018
Director: Dejan Radovanovic
Composer: Jordan Nobles
Music: 'Surface Tension' from CD 'Surface Tension'
Performers: Ethos Collective
Katie Rife, percussion (marimba, glockenspiel, song bells, tam-tam, bass drum, cymbals); Timothy Van Cleave, percussion (vibraphone, cymbals); Samantha Fu, flute; Kathryn Emiko Hintersteininger, violin; Stefan Hintersteininger, cello; Chris Morano, piano; with guests Marcus Takizawa, viola; Adrian Verdejo, electric guitar; and Colin MacDonald, saxophone.
TK451 © 2017 Redshift Music
© 2018 Studio UMMAGUMMA
“EQUILIBRIUM”
4K UHD video, color, stereo sound, 10:15 minutes, 2017
Directed by Dejan Radovanovic
Composer: Jordan Nobles
Music: 'EQUILIBRIUM' from CD 'Surface Tension' - Ethos Collective performs the music of Jordan Nobles
Performers: Ethos Collective (Katie Rife, director, marimba, and songbells; Samantha Fu, flute; Timothy Van Cleave, vibraphone; Chris Morano, piano; Colin MacDonald, saxophone; Adrian Verdejo, electric guitar)
TK451 © 2017 Redshift Music
© 2018 Studio UMMAGUMMA
Official Selection 9th Annual New York City Independent Film Festival 2018
“FOREIGN OCEANS”
4K video, color, stereo sound, 07:34 minutes, 2020
Composer: Jordan Nobles
Performers: Sound of Dragon Ensemble 龍吟滄海樂團
Mark McGregor – flute 長笛, Charlie Lui 呂畇初 – dizi/Chinese flute 笛子, Lan Tung董籃 – erhu 二胡, Nicole Ge Li 李歌– erhu 二胡, Marina Hasselberg – cello 大提琴, Itamar Erez – guitar 吉他, Zhimin Yu 于志敏 – ruan阮, Jonathan Bernard – percussion 打擊樂
Lan Tung – producer
Marc L’Esperance – audio engineer
Video directed by Dejan Radovanovic
JORDAN NOBLES: EMERGENT BEHAVIOUR
4K video, color, stereo sound, 07:34 minutes, 2022
"Emergent Behaviour is inspired by the spontaneous synchronicity evident in the flocking and swarming behaviour of birds, fish and insects. All of these large groups require no central coordination to dance together in beautiful displays. The principles of emergent behaviour enable large numbers of birds and fish to fly and swim together in formation, changing direction almost simultaneously to create amazing spectacles. Fireflies in South America also use emergent behaviour and will start blinking on and off in the night independently of each other and then gradually synch up and blink in rhythmic unison. The combined effect can light the skies so fishermen can use them as a guide to navigating home at night.
I find this type of coordination between like-minded groups amazing, beautiful, and inspiring. This concept seemed a perfect fit for a large group of flutists that involves no central coordination but instead relies on the principles of emergent behaviour to coordinate them in synchronicity. In this piece, the flutists endeavour to play synchronously while spatially spread about the performance space. The resultant effect is akin to a flock of starlings flying together." - Jordan Nobles, composer.
A film by Dejan Radovanovic
Audio mixing and mastering by Jordan Nobles
Filmed throughout the summer of 2021 at Canadian Music Centre BC Region (Vancouver) and other locations.
Special thanks to Mark Haney, Piotr Wieczorek, Redshift Music Society, and the Canadian Music Centre BC Region.
This video was made possible by generous assistance from the BC Arts Council Resilience Fund
JORDAN NOBLES: KINETICS
4K UHD video, color, stereo sound, 05:28 minutes, 2022
Composition by Jordan Nobles
Performed by Nicholas Baddeley, Nicholas Papador, and Martin Shultz, marimbas
Video by Dejan Radovanovic
FARSHID SAMANDARI: IF THIS IS A MAN
4K video, color, stereo sound, 13:05 minutes, 2020
Farshid Samandari is an Iranian-Canadian composer, based in Vancouver, Canada (Coast Salish territory: Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil Waututh First Nations). His work for flute and electronics, If This Is a Man, was commissioned by flutist Suzanne Snizek in 2016. The work is inspired by the words of Primo Levi, specifically an invocation that prefaced Levi's memoirs as an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor. Samandari frames the author's words in three musical movements: first, Levi invokes his safe and well-fed audience (I. You who live safe, 0:00). Then he recounts forms of degradation and abuse visited upon humanity throughout history (II. Consider if... 2:32). Finally, he stresses the importance of remembering these atrocities so they do not occur again (III. Meditate that... 6:46).
Composed by Farshid Samandari
Words by Primo Levi
Performed by Mark Takeshi McGregor
Audio mastering by Piotr Wieczorek
A film by Dejan Radovanovic
Filmed November 2020 at Canadian Music Centre BC Region (Vancouver)
ROSETTA STONE: MUSIC FOR MULTIPLES
4K 60fps video, color, stereo sound, 03:29 minutes, 2018
The idea of “multiples” — musical works composed for several identical or like-sounding instruments — has been a decades-long preoccupation of the composer Jordan Nobles. Whether it’s eight saxophones, six harps, or twenty-four vibraphones, the monochromatic ensemble presents a creative restriction capable of surprisingly dynamic and varied results. Taking his penchant for minimalism even further, Nobles opted to have each work on this album performed by a single musician via multitrack recording. This has allowed him to create works that, for practical reasons, would be difficult to perform “live” (like möbius, for ten grand pianos, or air, for sixteen bass flutes). At the same time, reinforce the chromatic uniformity of each piece to an almost hyperreal level.
Composed by Jordan Nobles
Video by Dejan Radovanovic
“CHIAROSCURO”
4K video, color, stereo sound, 30:43 minutes, 2020
Video directed by Dejan Radovanovic
Composer: Jordan Nobles
MUSICIANS: Mark Takeshi McGregor – flute, alto flute, Geronimo Mendoza – oboe, english horn, Liam Hockley – clarinet, bass clarinet, Katelin Coleman – bassoon, Colin MacDonald – alto and soprano saxophones, Dorothea Hayley – soprano, Martin Fisk – vibraphone, Julia Chien – glockenspiel, Katie Rife – marimba, Janelle Nadeau – harp, Danielle Marcinek – piano, Adrian Verdejo – classical and acoustic guitars, Saina Khaledi – santour, Dailin Hsieh – zheng, Nicole Ge Li – erhu, Parmela Attariwala – violin, Sarah Kwok – viola, Alasdair Money – cello, Mark Haney – double bass
This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.
Ce projet est financé en partie par FACTOR, le gouvernement du Canada et les radiodiffuseurs privés du Canada.
CONCERTO ETUDE (2020)
4K video, color, stereo sound, 09:10 minutes, 2021
Composer: Tim Brady
Erhu/Chinese Violin: Lan Tung
Audio Engineering: Marc L'esperance
Lighting: Levi Pease
Video/Animation: Dejan Radovanovic
Orpheum Annex, December 2020
AUTUMN MOONLIGHT ON THE PEACEFUL LAKE 平湖秋月
4K video, color, stereo sound, 06:50 minutes, 2021
Erhu/Chinese Violin: Lan Tung
Cello: Marina Hasselberg
Video by Dejan Radovanovic
"O-HISA"
4K video, color, stereo sound, 11:19 minutes, 2020
Video directed by Dejan Radovanovic
Mark Takeshi McGregor performs Ramsey Sadaka's O-Hisa, for solo flute.
Sadaka composed O-hisa as a musical portrait of the eponymous character from Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's novel entitled Some Prefer Nettles. While Sadaka certainly conveys the flow of O-hisa's psychological states (real and imagined) throughout the novel, the following phrase, translated by Edward G. Seidensticker, provided the main inspiration for this piece:
"O-hisa was a shade left behind from another age."
This piece was commissioned by the University of British Columbia's Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery to commemorate the launch of Esther Shalev-Gerz's outdoor artwork, The Shadow. O-Hisa is dedicated to flutist Emily Richardson, who premiered the work.
Audio mastering: Piotr Wieczorek
Filmed July 2020 at Canadian Music Centre BC Region (Vancouver)
This video was made possible by generous assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts, Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia, and the BC Arts Council.
"FINGERPAINTING"
4k Scope (2.39:1) / 4096x1716, color, stereo sound, 03:59 minutes, 2018
Video directed by Dejan Radovanovic
Music composed by Jordan Nobles
© 2018 Studio UMMAGUMMA
“OUR ALIEN VOICE”
5K 2.35:1 / 5120x2179 video , color, stereo sound, 03:16 minutes, 2018
Director: Dejan Radovanovic
Composer: Michel Banabila
(Trespassing / Séance Centre, 2017)
© 2018 Studio UMMAGUMMA
RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | ASYNC: FULLMOON
HD video, color, stereo sound, 05:41 minutes, 2017
Starring: Hugh Paterson
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Track: ‘Fullmoon’ from 2017 album ‘Async’
Label: Commons – RZCM 86314
Percussion [Glass Singing Bowl] : N.S.S. (2)
Vocals [Spoken Word]: Andri Magnason, Bernardo Bertolucci, Carsten Nicolai, Christine Leboutte, Jose Lavat, Keyko Nimsay, Priscilla Leung, Sergei Mihailov, Shirin Neshat, Tang Kit Ming
The speeches are overlaid translations of a passage from Paul Bowles' novel, The Sheltering Sky (1949):
"Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless."
The June 2017 full 'strawberry' moon was filmed in British Columbia.
Special thanks to Kent Tate for his help with the final edit.
Director: Dejan Radovanovic
©2017 Studio UMMAGUMMA
[NOCTURNE]
4K temporal loop video, color, stereo sound, 08:10 minutes, 2017
Music: 'Nocturne' from upcoming CD 'Surface Tension' - Ethos Collective performs the music of Jordan Nobles
Composer: Jordan Nobles
Performers: Ethos Collective (Katie Rife, director and marimba; Samantha Fu, flute; Kathryn Emiko Hintersteininger, violin; Stefan Hintersteininger, cello; Timothy Van Cleave, vibraphone; Chris Morano, piano; Colin MacDonald, saxophone)
TK451 © 2017 Redshift Music
Director / DP / Mixed Reality / UAV Pilot : Dejan Radovanovic
Filmed at Burnaby Mountain, BC
Production: © 2017 Studio UMMAGUMMA
[YEATERDAY AND TODAY]
4K video, color, stereo sound, 03:02 minutes, 2017
moving images and sound design: Dejan Radovanovic
“DEEP BREATH”
4K video, color, stereo sound, 23:48 minutes, 2016-2019
Directed by Dejan Radovanovic
Composer: Jordan Nobles
Music: Deep Breath from the Album Immersion: Music of Jordan Nobles
Performer: Mark McGregor
"DEEP WATER"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 17:12 minutes, 2016
Music: Deep Water from from the album Immersion
Composer: Jordan Nobles
Performers: Kelly Nobles and Julian Nobles, waterphones, water vessels, water
Video: Dejan_R
"ONE OF THESE MORNINGS"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 04:55 minutes, 2015
sound and visuals: Dejan_R
"PROFILES OF ISLANDS DRAWN ON THE JOURNEY FROM CEYLON TO BATAWIA"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 12:15 minutes, 2015
Profiles of islands drawn on the journey from Ceylon to Batavia present a transfixing landscape showered with what appear to be remnants of another time and place. Inspired by Pieter de Bevere 1757 drawing ‘Profielen van eilanden getekend op de reis van Ceylon naar Batavia’, Rijksmuseum, Netherlands, Amsterdam.
Music: ‘Stasis’ from the 2011 CD "UNDERCURRENTS - Contact performs the music of Jordan Nobles”
Composer: Jordan Nobles (jordannobles.com)
Performers: CONTACT (contactcontemporarymusic.ca)
Video: Dejan_R
"REW"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 04:30 minutes, 2014
sound and visuals: Dejan_R
"MORE"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 03:39 minutes, 2014
sound and visuals: Dejan_R
"08:30"
HD video, black-and-white, stereo sound, 03:45 minutes, 2014
sound and visuals: Dejan_R
"KOHAYAGAWA-KE NO AKI" [The End of Summer]
HD video, color, stereo sound, 03:28 minutes, 2014
sound and visuals: Dejan_R
"95-20"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 02:53 minutes, 2013-15
sound and visuals: Dejan_R
"REW/NEIGHBOURS/HAPPY ENDING"
HD video, color, stereo sound, 04:33 minutes, 2012-14
Created in 2014 within the framework of the Digital Spring, produced by the NFB and the Quartier des Spectatles Partnership and incorporating Norman McLaren film extract NEIGHBOURS.
sound and visuals: Dejan_R