The Machine For Making Sense

A film by Stephen Jones (23minutes, Australia, 2008)

“The Machine for Making Sense” performed at the Opera House in late 1994 and I was invited to record the performance, so with another camera operator and myself we shot the entire performance. Jim Denley then cut Julian Knowles’ sound recording down to a twenty minute version and I began what turned out to be a very long process of building a visual analogue of the musical performance….. After thirteen years and several attempts to push it along I finally finished early 2008.

…a visual performance, a music video, twenty three minutes long and almost symphonic in it’s structure. It is not about the band as stars but about their musical improvisation and interaction, reflected in the feel of each section, the toning of colour, the pacing of the motion, patterns of light, gesture, almost a dance, the people in the street obscured by the effects though perhaps it’s been so long they would not recognize themselves anyway. Each section of music has its own mood from the quiet and still to the exultant, the performances of the musicians reflected in the style and intensity of the visual.”

“Silence is therefore the only possible means of communication”. K. Marx

Chris Mann – voice and text
Amanda Stewart – voice and text
Rik Rue – digital and analog tape manipulations
Jim Denley – wind instruments
Stevie Wishart – hurdy gurdy, violin, voice and electronics

Recording from the desk by Julian Knowles     

Jim Denley will be in attendance to introduce the film.