Hook in the ceiling is for a mirrorball, you can tell the landlady. A miniature camera behind every mirrored panel for an artwork in progress you’ve dubbed ‘disco kama sutra’. Should keep her off your trail. Give you some space to reflect on the human condition, your condition, the diseases in the air (conditioning), and the chemicals in your hair (conditioner). The contemplation will do you good. Like that vhs tape someone slipped under your door last week, there’s a clue.
The cast of neighbours deconstructed, refried. Staccato cut and paste rhythms, with dialogue spliced and diced, mood music that gangs up on itself, emotional glitch splicings and Craig McLachlan getting a beer from the fridge in his speedos, looped outta control. U can almost smell the ghost of art skool on the edit decks, but somehow the storytelling by fragments and glitches reveals more than you
d expect, transforming Ramsey streets polka dot-atmospherics in ways that reveal the urban decay everyone knows itched underneath the surface.
When a characters motions become mechanised to the point where you wonder where the humanity is, then interesting things occur. There’s a few homoerotic glances between the boys in neighbours that get amplified by repeated looping, and a few melodramatic moments that reveal absurity at the hands of these editors. As the sun comes up, a closer inspectoin of the tape reveals the editors to be ‘Drew & Seddon from Perth’. And there is an email address: bloodhead01@hotmail.com (where peeps interested in the vidi-yo should contact Sailor Seddon) A few questions get these replies:
….Hey sorry about the lateness of this i hope i haven’t caused grief. more soon.
FUCk thepolice >>>>sed
What inspired the neighbours remix?
Those moments when television just fucks up on its own. Television is so controlled and contrived like all mainstream media but sometimes the codes and conventions work against themselves uncovering something whose meaning is out of their control.
Any favourite moments where u just wet your pants?
When the boys just can’t stop laughin. (Craig McLachlan & Jason Donovan caught in loop hysterics).
How long did it take to make, and what was involved?
It took us about two months on and off. We had to search through about 7 episodes finding the choice moments. Some scenes were obviously gold, some moments took a bit more digging. Then we strung them together is some kind of structure.
What would you say to Craig McLachlan if he walked up to you in a bar and said he was upset at how he was portrayed in your video?
I’d tell him he’s very lucky we didn’t remix “Hey Mona”
And your reply to Kylie Minogue, wondering why she wasn’t in it?
Kylie is her own phenomena. She’s sort of transcended her neighbours days. But I have a secret Kylie/ neighbours video which involves Kylie in bed with a sweaty forehead having a nightmare about Scott cheating on her, so she did get something.
What video work / artists have impressed u lately, ‘&’ why?
Spanky’s smearing head video which was screened at Cinema Concrete for its potent and beautiful strangeness. Gary Hill’s tall ships at agnsw.
Any differences between the West & East coast electronic arts scenes?
I think they’re both equally developed, but the East has access to international work which just doesn’t come to Perth. There seems to be more things going on in the East due to the population and the dialogue with other cities/ countries.
Perth is the most isolated city in the world – has this meant artists have embraced the net over there?
Many have. Many just embrace isolation.
Any plans for further neighbours remixing?
It’s neVER OVER.
www.cartelcommunique.co.uk
Cut paste beg blag steal borrow blur destroy deface vandalise corrupt subvert inspire pervert respect recycle invent – sez the site, and u can see some great remixed vids including kid606 and globalisation footage, posh spice, Pat ‘n’ Peg and more.
www.rroom.org
With a mantra of record, rewind, and reassemble, this site aims at reconfiguring commercials, billboards and other corporate messages into more positive and/or hunourous forms, taking swipes at the soft drink industry, fast food and mcdonalds as they go. A few movies worth a peek here.
www.killyourtv.com
Picked this one for the url more than its relevance to neighbours remixing, but a good range of links and a good list of current affairs articles.