Untitled - “Morphology Series” (2014-present). 24” x 18”.
Archival digital print.
a sense of wonder and curiosity. The work is
purposefully provocative. I want the viewer
to face their feelings about the work, but,
more importantly, I want them to be able to
project their own states of liminality onto the
work—to feel that they have an opportunity
to go through the threshold if they choose.
JB: Many of your films (and film’s creatures) have
sound that are reminiscent of being deep underwater, or in a vast ship in outer space, eliciting an
otherwordly type of feeling. How and when do you
create the sounds for each work? Do you know how
a piece is going to sound before it is finished, or vice
versa?
PH: I love working with sound. It broadens
the scope of my work and allows me to infuse a more vivid feeling of life into the video
projects. I find that sound always informs
and guides the construction of the video, but
with these current projects, sound is usually
done after the video is finished or at least
very close to being done. For the “Threshold
Series,” I usually have an idea of what the
sound will be. I may record some material
and play with it but then wait until the project is done. With the “Morphology Series,”
I think the sound design is beginning to be
24
dictated more by the specimens themselves.
At the IEA residency, I was introduced to
software that transforms a still image into
sound. I’d take a frame from the morphologies video and the specific value, color, and
spatial layout of the individual pixels would
be the basis for the sound generated. That
image could then be manipulated further by
changing frequency ranges, audio levels, and
duration. This, I think, is going to allow me
to really individualize the sounds that each
specimen makes. Right now, I’m really feeling my way around the software, looking at
how the software interprets the image and
seeing how far I can go with it. I’ll then take
that processed material and continue manipulating it to work specifically with the video
through more editing.
JB: To finish up, I’d love to hear a bit about your
work as a teacher at the Fredonia Film and Arts
Program.
PH: The Film and Video Arts program is
part of the Department of Visual Arts and
New Media in the College of Visual and
Performing Arts. It’s a small program that’s
dedicated to creating film and video projects
that are more experimental and less Hol-
SciArt in America April 2015