Psycho Flicker, video, 26 min. 52 sec.
Excerpts: 1 min. 40 sec.
*FLICKER WARNING*
Tony Conrad’s mind-blowing experimental film The Flicker (1966) and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho (1960): two psychological thrillers bound together as one. This new work turns narrative into non-narrative by working it through structural film processes. Frames from Psycho are extracted at regular (but chance – not chosen) intervals and overlaid onto black frames separated by white, imitating Conrad’s black and white flickering patterns. Audio from the selected Psycho frames are isolated and repeated to match the changing patterns creating a kind of throbbing electro soundtrack with little bits, hints of the quintessential original score bleeding through. The pacing of the dominant, mainstream narrative is hijacked by the visceral optic rhythms of the flicker effect – climactic moments become homogenous with following moments while the idea of “scenes” collapse into abstraction. Psycho becomes playfully subordinate to the avant-garde structural procedures at work in The Flicker – flashing frequencies riding alpha waves, unconcerned with story lines and bringing viewers into a semi-hypnotic visual realm.
(Best viewed full screen by clicking on Vimeo logo in bottom right corner and viewing on Vimeo).
Screened at:
-AND- a 12 hour online event curated by Christof Migone, Toronto, Canada (2021)
Awards:
LA Underground Film Forum, Los Angeles, USA (2022): Honourable Mention