North Southernly2005

“ For an example of an artist exploring the aesthetic possibilities of video to their fullest, one need look no further than Vincent Grenier and his recent work. He's not just "working in video. Vincent Grenier is a true video artist, and North Southernly is a subtle, complex study in textures and gradations of layered video imagery.” Michael Sicinski, Online Journal “The Academic Hack”

Changes of directions, in the wind, the edges, the shapes, a joyous and mesmerizing intrigue. Perhaps an other way to put it is to describe this piece as a humorous digital cine take on the long cultural history of the lessons left by the great Chinese painters of the 13th century for whom shapes and edges where often all one and the same.

On North Southernly’s use of sound :
One of my interest in choosing and editing the sound for this video was in its use as cultural reference, one that would bring different (hopefully humorous) readings of the unfolding images. The painterly and exalted nature of the video images, while unique, is part of the same cultural history as the musical quotations used in John Cage's piece. He also felt moved to challenge the tonal musical world of his predecessors by treating their music as rhythmic material for his percussive project.