A Collection of Broken Ideas (2022)
RELEASED ON : FEBRUARY 20th 2022 / MELKWEG CINEMA
Four films for Thomas Azier’s album “A Collections of Broken Ideas”
The films exists out of single shots without an edit, with objects and figures alternating between being recognizable and then appearing vaguely, somewhat abstractly on screen.
Text of the introduction I gave during the screening:
“ Welcome at the screening of A Collection Of Broken Ideas. Before we start I’ll give you an introduction on the films I made for Thomas and I will tell you a bit about how we started working together.
Thomas and I know each other from when we were studying in Leeuwarden. I graduated back in 2013 and always kept an eye on what Thomas was doing. So in the beginning of 2021, I asked Thomas to meet with me because I wanted to take pictures of him and I was curious about how he was doing. So, at eight ‘o clock in the morning, in the middle of a lockdown, we met at the deserted city center of Amsterdam.
Thomas told me about his newest music: A Collection of Broken Ideas, and I immediately fell for it. He told me how he was experimenting with a new, more free way of composing. A Collection of Broken Ideas exists out of everyday sounds Thomas recorded, like a ticking clock, the rain, noises on the streets... Things that we’re all surrounded by on a daily basis. Thomas “built” his music around those sounds.
I told him how the lockdown kind of forced me into thinking about new perspectives on life, and on making art. What do you really need to expres yourself, in art, in music? And this made me think about a book by Maarten Biesheuvel I read years ago. He writes: “What does it matter how big the galaxy is, if only my room is already so interesting to me.”
The book is called “Reis door mijn kamer” (Journey through my room) and in the book Biesheuvel gives a very detailed description of his office. So when Thomas asked me to make a series of videos for his music, I took the book as a starting point. As an inspiration. The films are, just like the music is, a kind of journey through a room, through a specific space. Everything that is big and external is unimportant for a moment. “What does it matter how big the galaxy is if only my room is already so interesting to me.”
Don’t you think that is an incredible comforting sentence? I think it brings hope, and that is exactly what Thomas and I intended to do with A Collection of Broken Ideas. So many things can disappear, as we’ve all experienced the last two years, but if you manage to pay attention to the things that you’re surrounded by, things that are already there, I really think you don’t need to travel to the other side of the world or to go on big adventures to feel just fulfilled.”
_____________________________________________________
© Prins de Vos, 2024
