— iota

"The dream of creating a color music for the eye, comparable with auditory music for the ear, dates to antiquity…”
--- William Moritz

Welcome	to iota, a public benefit arts organization devoted to Abstract Cinema and Visual Music. We preserve classic abstract films, release DVDs, and produce screenings of contemporary and historical work. More about who we are and what we do is here: [About Us] [Programs].
Surf	our online library. It's filled with information about Abstract Cinema and Visual Music: Artists, Films and Videos, DVDs, Articles and Links. As with any database, it's a work-in-progress. Please help by submitting additions and corrections to webmaster@iotacenter.org.
Keep Up	with the latest news in the world of abstract video, visual music, and iota. We post announcements on the iotaBlog (below) about events, artist's sites and videos, and new additions to the media collection at our study center.
Submit	your video to the iota collection. Scholars and curators use the collection for research on-site only, and permission is obtained from the artist for any other use of their work. [Submission Guidelines]
Join	our mailing list and receive our newsletter or join the iotaDiscussion group and get all your Visual Music questions answered. Become a fan of iota on Facebook, and share your videos and event announcements on The Visual Music Village.

Latest News...
[Calls for Entries] [Events] [New Acquisitions] [iotaWeekly]

Benjamin

07.28.2010

Selected Videos from Baraba Doser and Parallel Media
Categories: [New Acquisition]

Barbara Doser and Parallel Media bring several short experimentations with abstract colors, shapes, lines, and patterns created from video feedback material, producing a reflexive organic phenomenon that stimulates the viewer's sensory perception.

Her book "Video Feedback - Lyricism in Patterns of Light," contains comprehensive insights and essays on Doser's 15-year body of work and processes dealing with video feedback. It is accompanied by a DVD compilation of her work, and may be viewed in our book library.

These shorts and any of our other videos can be viewed at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

zart_B: 7min, DVD, B&W, 2010
evolverevolve 01: 10min, DVD, Color, 2008
frameframer: 5min, DVD, B&W, 2009
even odd even/ distilled: 4min, DVD, B&W, 2007
dream'sdreams: 13min, DVD, B&W, 2007br> image[s] ... loss: 6min, DVD, B&W, 2003

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.28.2010

Yoga-Sutras by Peter Mays
Categories: [New Acquisition]

Psychedelic experimental filmmaker and Single Wing Turquoise Bird member Peter Mays takes viewers on a sensual journey of spiritual symbology in this new intriguing work.

"Yoga-Sutras" was recently featured as "Clip of the Week" in The iotaWeekly. To view a short excerpt from this new film, please click here.

This short and any of our other videos can be viewed at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

Yoga-Sutras: 17min, DVD, Color, 2010

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.26.2010

The iotaWeekly
Categories: [iotaWeekly]

July 26-August 1, 2010

Join The iotaCenter's Yahoo Group to receive notification of the latest iotaWeekly here.

	Clip of the Week "Tranquility & Stimulation" (2004) by Emile Tobenfeld Recorded as a live video mix in concert with the Boston-based improvisational electro-acoustic band Lothars, "Tranquility & Stimulation" (2004) by Emile Tobenfeld creates tension by oscillating between peaceful and energetic moods to a dark, electric soundtrack. This selection comes from Volume 1 of the "Visual Music for iota" compilation, which can be purchased through the iotaStore. To view more of Emile Tobenfeld's work, please visit his YouTube Channel and his Flickr page.
	Site of the Week The Integratron Described as "the fusion of art, science, and magic...an acoustically perfect tabernacle and energy machine sited on a powerful geomagnetic vortex in the magical Mojave Desert," The Integratron is a giant dome located near Joshua Tree, California where visitors flock to relax the mind and body while experiencing the Integratron's enhanced energy fields and unique Sound Bath. The Integratron will host a Perseid Meteor Shower Party on Friday, Aug. 13 from 8:00pm to 12:00am.
	Artist of the Week Lewis Klahr Lewis Klahr has been creating experimental films since 1977, and has since become labeled the “reigning proponent of cut and paste” by critic J. Hoberman of the Village Voice. Klahr's films are predominantly collagist, dealing with materiality of objects and their associations with people, places, memory, and history. Klahr's work is in the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art and has been included in the Biennial Exhibition of the Whitney Musuem of American Art. Commercially, he has created special effects and animation for television show openings, music videos, commercials, and documentary works, and even co-re-wrote the feature film The Mothman Prophecies. He also teaches directing and screenwriting at CalArts.

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.19.2010

The iotaWeekly
Categories: [iotaWeekly]

July 19-25, 2010

Join The iotaCenter's Yahoo Group to receive notification of the latest iotaWeekly here.

	Clip of the Week "Herbstlaub" (2007) by Oliver Vogel This excerpt of "Herbstlaub" (2007) by Oliver Vogel, featured as part of "The Best of Punto y Raya 2009," is a coming-of-age-road-movie of a dot. To learn more about Oliver Vogel and his work, please visit his website.
	Site of the Week dublab dublab is a non-profit multimedia organization concerned with the production, promotion, and perpetuation of experimental sound and media all over Los Angeles and the planet. dublab specializes in music but also involves itself in other facets of the arts, including film and art exhibition. To listen to a live stream of dublab's public broadcast radio, click here.
	Artist of the Week Jason LaRay Keener Alabama filmmaker Jason LaRay Keener makes short, intensely expressive non-linear stream-of-conscious films dealing with melancholic characters and their intense arguments, violent confrontations, absurd situations. His work is also notable for the use of found objects as props, including carcasses. Keener's work has won awards at the Nashville Film Festival and the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. To learn more about Jason LaRay Keener or to view his short films, visit his website.

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.14.2010

Flicker Alley Collections
Categories: [New Acquisition]

Saved from the Flames: 54 Rare and Restored Films 1896-1944: 420min, 3 DVDs, B&W & Color, 2008

Flicker Alley presents this set of 54 rare films spanning from 1896 to 1944. These films were originally made on nitrate film stock, a material susceptible to fire and decay, but have now been saved and fully restored for this collection. These works, categorized by themes such as "New Beginnings" and "Magical Movies," include films from the Lumiere brothers, Georges Melies, D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin & more.

Discovering Cinema: "Learning to Talk" & "Movies Dream in Color": 267min, 2 DVDs, B&W & Color, 2007

Again from Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films, film historians Eric Lange and Serge Bromberg compile film history materials from all over the world to create two documentaries that chronicle the birth and development of sound ("Learning to Talk") and color (Movies Dream in Color") in cinema, both told from a European perspective.

These collections and any of our other videos can be viewed at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.12.2010

Black White Black White
Categories: [New Acquisition]

An official selection of the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, "Black White Black White" by USC alumnus John Thompson is like a living, breathing Rorschach inkblot, linking the creator to the product and process of filmmaking while simultaneously highlighting the boundaries of cinema's screen space.

This short and any of our other videos can be viewed at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

Black White Black White: 15min, DVD, B&W, 2010

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.12.2010

Jules Engel Rarities
Categories: [New Acquisition]

These not oft-seen shorts from master animator Jules Engel are now available to be experienced at The iotaCenter!

Jules Engel: Selected Works, Volume I, a collection of Jules Engel's work, may also be purchased on DVD from The iotaStore.

These shorts and any of our other videos can be viewed at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

The Torch and the Torso: 12min, DVD, B&W
Venetian Rounds: 3min, DVD, B&W
Bella Bella: 6min, DVD, B&W
Line Mobiles: 2min, DVD, B&Wr
Walks: 6min, DVD, B&W
Jubilation: 8min, DVD, Color
No Postage: 2min, DVD, Color
Gorky's Garden: 1min, DVD, Color
Royal Suite: 5min, DVD, Color
Pony Express: 2min, DVD, Color
Fragments of Movement: 5min, DVD, B&W

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.12.2010

The iotaWeekly
Categories: [iotaWeekly]

July 12-18, 2010

Join The iotaCenter's Yahoo Group to receive notification of the latest iotaWeekly here.

	Clip of the Week "Yoga-Sutras" (2010) by Peter Mays This excerpt of "Yoga-Sutras" (2010) from psychedelic experimental filmmaker and Single Wing Turquoise Bird member Peter Mays takes viewers on a sensual journey of spiritual symbology in this new intriguing work.
	Site of the Week Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century 'Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century' is the only series on television to focus exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States, and it uses the medium of television to provide an experience of the visual arts that goes far beyond a gallery visit. This unique series from the Public Broadcasting Service features episodes loosely themed around concepts such as "Memory" and "Spirituality." Clips or full episodes can be viewed here via PBS.org
	Artist of the Week Georges Méliès French magician and trick filmmaker Georges Méliès (1861-1936) is considered the first filmmaker to incorporate special effects and narrative into his work, making over 500 films in his short career as a filmmaker. After witnessing the unveiling Cinématographe screening by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895, Méliès set out to build his own recording/projection machine, which he successfully revealed at his own screening in April 1986. From a simple technical malfunction, Méliès serendipitously discovered the medium's ability to manipulate both space and time. He began experimenting with new techniques and incorporated them into his films, structuring narratives around the seemingly impossible visual trickery. Méliès is cited with discovering effects such as substitution, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves, and hand-painted color, respectfully earning him the label of a "cinemagician." While many of the tricks of Méliès' films may seem outdated to audiences in the 21st century, they laid the groundwork for the advances and developments in technology of the film medium. Much of his work has endured the test of time, becoming an important part of contemporary pop culture, such as the iconographic A Trip to the Moon. 2 5-DVD collections of Georges Méliès works - Georges Méliès: The First Wizard of Cinema & Georges Méliès: Encore - can be purchased at Flicker Alley.

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.07.2010

New Submissions from Neil Ira Needleman
Categories: [New Acquisition]

Commercial and expressive artist Neil Ira Needleman presents a range of works from throughout his life as he experiments with various modes of media and experimentation, struggling to find and express a personal vision.

Neil Ira Needleman was recently featured as The iotaCenter's "Artist of the Week" in our weekly newsletter, The iotaWeekly.

These shorts and any of our other videos can be viewed at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

Forsythia Madness: DVD, Color
Twilight Time-lapse Concert for George Ives: DVD, Color
What I Saw on October 32, 1988: DVD, Color
My First Science Fiction Movie: DVD, Color

Comments: 0

Benjamin

07.07.2010

Screening Room with Robert Gardner
Categories: [New Acquisition]

Between the years of 1973 and 1980, the television series Screening Room, created and hosted by filmmaker and Director of Harvard's Visual Arts Center Robert Gardner provided an alternative television experience for viewers that allowed independent filmmakers to discuss and show their work to a large, broad audience. Over 100 episodes of the program aired before the program was cancelled.

Now, several of those interviews have come to DVD for your viewing convenience! These interviews and any of our other videos can be seen at our Library & Study Center in Culver City, CA. Please set up a viewing appointment by contacting us at: info@iotacenter.org

Interviewees Include: Stan Brakhage, John Whitney Sr., Ed Emshwiller, Jan Lenica, Robert Breer, Suzan Pitt, Caroline Leaf & Mary Beams

Screening Room with Robert Gardnert: 8 DVDs, 70-80min each, Color, 1973-1980

Comments: 0

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