Wide-angle
panoramas, single panels or thematically related triptychs of
photography fade on and off the screen in precise synchronization
with the musical phrases and rhythmic patterns.
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Wedding
the Arts
(An in-depth review) "Since the earliest records of Western culture, artists have sought ways to combine the visual, musical and poetic arts into a single art form. The ancient Greeks and their renaissance disciples believed, in fact, that this combination would promote a spiritual transcendence that would place human beings in synchrony with the music of the universe. It was a similar aesthetic experience that composers such as Richard Wagner aimed for in his Gesamtkunstwerk (combined artwork), which culminated in the 'Ring cycle.' Few people today subscribe to this notion of aesthetic transcendence, but many artists still look for ways to combine the arts to provide new perspectives and ways of apprehending art. One of these creative artists is photographer James Westwater, a superb still photographer who weds his work with classical music in a technique he calls photochoreography. Two of Westwater's works were presented by the North Carolina Symphony in their Raleigh series on November 16 and 17. ... In the movies, music's role is to emphasize, or at best symbolize, the action on the screen. Westwater's approach reverses this process. He creates visual compositions to match the images the music arouses in him. In concert, the pictures are projected on a giant three-section screen above and in front of the orchestra. Westwater, who 'performs' on six slide projectors, displays his stunning photographic images to accompany the subtle changes in the mood of the music. |
Reflections of the Spirit, composed in 1994, is an homage to the ancient Anasazi Indians, the ancestors of today's Navajo [and other tribes], who reside in the Four Corner[s] area of the Southwest. The work opens with a recitation of an ancient Native American invocation to the Great Spirit, which was declaimed by Betty 'Red Ant' LaFontaine, a full-blooded Navajo. Most of the photographs of this magnificent mesa country were taken at Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly. The serenity of [the composer's] music, performed sensitively by the orchestra, matches the serenity of the landscape with its lights and shadows as the sun completes a full day's circuit. A Love for the Land, is an homage to [America's heartland], its beauty and its people. The images follow the year, from snow to leaf fall, with images of the wild mountains, cultivated valleys and their rugged inhabitants. ... Westwater's images, as well as his photochoreography, were always in sync with the spirit and rhythm of the music. In a preconcert lecture, Westwater admitted that musical purists are often somewhat leery of his work. But after experiencing his photochoreography, it's clear to us that there is little essential difference between Westwater and George Balenchine, who set classical scores for dancers. ... Westwater's inspiring marriage of the arts spurred the Symphony to superior performances of the [scores]. We
would like to see him spread the inspiration, perhaps utilizing
his tremendous creative talent in the CD-ROM arena, where
adults and children could experience and even create their
own multimedia responses to music. Another way to vary the
hair color in our concert halls? Perhaps." |
 Westwater has
performed with the principal orchestras of Cleveland, Pittsburgh,
Seattle, Washington DC, Minneapolis, Dallas, Saint Louis, Baltimore, Milwaukee,
Detroit, Cincinnati, Saint Paul, Indianapolis, Houston, Portland,
Denver, Columbus, Rochester, Buffalo, Salt Lake City, Vancouver
BC and over 100 more > Photo
by Erin Bardonner For
repertoire, bookingand more information contact: Westwater Arts ©1997-2008
WestwaterArts.com |