In the film Lapis made by James Whitney, there are many mandala patterns, and the music’s style also closely connects with Buddism. The artist pursued digital harmony. The patterns matched the style of the music coherently, and both of them were generated by computer. Whitney utilized technology to describe his thoughts and imaginings about the space. As Thames and Huston said in their article, “Lapis seems to continually open up to uncharted territory beyond the known world” (132). The quivering particles surrounding a central mandala form show the audience that the film is “on the brink of revealing some truth about the structure of the universe” (132).
Another film named Calculated Movements made by Larry Cuba was created in 1985, twenty years later than Lapis. This film is also using different patterns with a black background, possibly revealing the movements in the space. But the lines in the film are overlapped with each other to give the audience a sense of three-dimensional video. Besides, the music and the images are better matched with each other since the lines move with the beats of the music. The progress in technology was obviously shown in this film. At the same time, Cuba still follows Whitney’s concept of creating digital harmony, which we can see from the good cooperation between music and images.
These two films have a significant impact on the birth of modern 3D films. The Vortex Concerts organized by Jordan Belson and Henry Jacobs and light performances have changed the way of live performance in terms of using lights and controlling the sound. Nowadays, live performances have three-dimensional sound effects and advanced controlling systems of lights, which is important for the experience of the audience.
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