Primary Stimulus (early version)

Primary Stimulus is an integrated sound-image structure which explores the intrinsic qualities of cinematic light. The abstract patterns which are seen on the screen when Primary Stimulus is projected are the same patterns which create the film’s accompanying soundtrack. My aim in Primary Stimulus, however, was not merely to create the effect of "seeing sound." but rather, in a larger sense, to further develop the cinematic potential of non-objective light as a free and viable tool for audio-visual action. By using the film frame as a consolidated unit, sound and image issue from a single center and interpenetrate in a way which is not limited by the structural conventions of music or pictorial form. It was, therefore, my intention in Primary Stimulus to exploit the freedom of this holistic cinematic concept, and to create an expressive animated work based on the frame-by-frame articulation of sight and sound relationships.

Basically, the technique for producing Primary Stimulus consisted of using a modified camera by frame, horizontal grating patterns onto the visual and sound areas of the film. The camera was modified simply by filing down the interior aperture plate, thus allowing the recorded image to extend into the sound-track area. (At a later stage the soundtrack was printed in advanced sync so that the image and sound would synchronize when projected.) In all, sixteen high-contrast black-and-white grating patterns of varying spatial frequencies were designed to produce a matrix of rhythms and sensory impressions.

The principle of photic stimulation — the repetition of high-amplitude, short-duration flashes of modified light — was employed to animate these grating patterns and to shape the identity of sound and image.

As a result, the original graphic structure of the film is converted by the projector’s photoelectric cell into a wide variety of sonic rhythms and textures. This same graphic structure, when projected onto a screen, creates a pulsating form of black-and-white field imagery which induces numerous forms of after-image phenomena, including subtle but luminous color changes, mobile dots and dashes, and other secondary perceptual effects.

An explanatory note on the Primary Stimulus Installations Between 1979 and 1982, I designed two non-proscenium installations with the intention of expanding the form and content of Primary Stimulus. The installations were never constructed and exhibited as completely finished pieces; they exist mostly in the form of highly detailed proposals, drawings and photographs.

Notes taken from Robert Russett: A retrospective survey, University Art Museum, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1989.

Author: 

Year: 

1977

Country: 

United States
Technical data

Original format: 

16mm

Speed: 

24FPS

Aspect ratio: 

1.37:1

Colour: 

B&W

Sound: 

Sound

Length: 

13 minutes

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