Selected Shorts by Richard Sylvarnes1994

APOLLO LUNAIRE (2003) 11:30 min. Apollo Lunaire is comprised of seventeen "auto portraits" of the moon signifying each mission. First conceived in 1998, lunar landscapes were constructed then photographed and finally brought to fruition as a video piece. Apollo Lunaire depicts the loneliness, the ultimate emptiness of such a foreboding landscape, using a silent film aesthetic to portray the moon as a relic of the distant past - as closer to Melies than Kennedy. Music by Sylvarluxe. LANDSCAPE AFTER THE BATTLE (2004) 4:00 min. Commissioned by Matador Records for the band Interpol. Landscape After The Battle is a diptych that contrasts two forms of human design; one which promotes unrest and violence and another which encourages calm and resolve underscoring the duality that lies within human nature. Music by Interpol. EMPIRE (2004) 2:00 min. The Empire State Building stands monumental as an ominous storm gathers. This minimalist short piece was the first that utilized the photo animation technique that was later used in Landscape After The Battle and the feature H.C.E.. I suppose this is also an homage to Andy Warhol's own film of the Empire State Building which lasts, well, forever and if you blink you could miss the lights turning on. Music by Guiseppe Verdi. Vocals by Patricia Sullivan. Arranged and performed by Sylvarluxe. ABANDONED CITIES (2003) 8:21 min. Images of decaying architecture and sculpture that Sylvarnes made in his studio with miniatures and a camera pose as documentary photographs of a past that seems to be slipping away. Slowly pulsating digital manipulation of color, combined with an entrancing soundtrack that incorporates and splices into an eternal return the vocals of the famed tenor of the '40's and '50's, Jussi Bjoerling, create a beautiful meditation on the past, present, and future. "I Drommen Du Ar Mig Nara" Emil Sjogren. Vocals by Jussi Bjorling. Music by Sylvarluxe. DISNEY'S DREAM DEBASED (2010) 9:41 min. This is a playful manipulation of time and the changing light shot during a residency at Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oaks in Florida. Music by Giselle A DOLL'S HOUSE (2002) 13:23 min. A Doll's House chronicles the last days of the life of Francis K, a puppet, who makes a Faustian deal that seals his fate but not without his final dream of dancing with Greta Garbo. All this is witnessed by his faithfull dog. Voice of Franz by DJ Mendel. Vocals by John Torreano. Music by Sylvarluxe. THE RED COUCH (2001) 4:50 min. An ambient portrait of Miho Nikaido on a rainy Thursday afternoon. SIBERIA (2004) 9:40 min. An erotically charged film commissioned by fashion designer Miho Miho. A northern Siren finds a bomb that has washed ashore along an icy beach. The shimmering qulaity of the video creates a dream-like quality to the foreboding landscape as a fighter pilot arrives half-alive on the shore for a climactic encounter with the woman. It was shot on the south shore of Long Island on what must have been the coldest day on the planet. A policeman asked about the bomb but assured us that stranger things have washed ashore. Siren – Jacqueline Mirrane. Fighter Pilot – James Stanley. Wardrobe – Miho Miho. Music by Sylvarluxe. DANCING MAN (2004) 6:10 min. Made in conjunction with the artist John Torreano this piece has a joyful tone and celebrates exuberantly life's rich pageant as the Dancing Man tries to sustain a number of dancing styles. Music by Interpol. CHAOS GIRLS (2007) 4:25 min. A found footage music video for the band Sylvarluxe. Premiered at Museek in St. Petersburg, Russia. THE IMPERIAL ANIMAL (2007) 6:09 min. The Imperial Animal brings Sylvarnes and choreographer Neumann back together again. This time in a Buster Keaton type space which speaks of politics and human relations in the most simple and severe places. This duo would later receive a Creative Capital grant to work together on a larger project. VOX POPULI (2004) 17:51 min. "...because we will not be silenced." A dance piece made with award winning choreographer David Neumann and utilizing sounds from a violent demonstration in NYC against the war in Iraq. The movement begins restricted as the dancer tries to navigate within a constrained outfit made exclusively by designer Miho Miho. The music and protest unleashes as the dancer wildly frees himself in the hypnotic climax. Field Recordings taken from the peace demonstration against the war in Iraq 2002. Music by Sylvarluxe.