2005

Optical Sound

January 1, 1970

We live in a world steeped in technology. Obsolete office tools are here transformed into musical instruments of the future. The film is based on Symphony #2 for Dot Matrix Printers by [The User].

Optical Sound combines nocturnal time-lapse footage, miniature surveillance camera images and a musical score photocopied directly onto clear celluloid. The music is a live recording of a dot matrix printer symphony staged at the Avanto Festival at Kiasma Theatre. The recording features only the sound of the printers, with minimal electronic processing. (MT / translation: Silja Kudel)

Cinematography and Co-script: Jussi Eerola, Music: [The User], Sound Design: Olli Huhtanen, Production: Kinotar / Cilla Werning, Ulla Simonen, Lasse Saarinen

watch the trailer

Selected screenings

  • Midnight Sun Film Festival, Sodankylä, Finland, 2013
  • IFFR Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2013
  • Image and After, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, 2008
  • Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2008
  • La Rochelle Film Festival, France, 2008
  • Zone d’éclipse Totale, Dazibao, Centre de photographies actuelles, Montréal, Canada, 2007
  • Lost & Found, S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium, 2007
  • Music For People, Dundee Center for Contemporary Art, UK, 2006
  • Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, 2006
  • MuHKA_media, Antwerp, Belgium, 2006
  • Clermont Ferrand Film Festival, France, 2006
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2006
  • Frieze Art Fair, London, 2005
  • Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany, 2005
  • Human Engineering, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland, 2005
  • Hotel Futuro, Spacex Gallery, Exeter, UK, 2005