The Black Mirror

Black mirrors, or Claude mirrors, are the focus of this beautiful, complex, and modern piece composed by Jakub Ciupinski, soulfully performed by Lysander Piano Trio. These reflective devices were used by painters, starting in the second half of the 18th Century, to simplify landscape lines and colors in order to visualize and plan their artwork. The images of beauty reflected on the mirror’s dark surfaces are crystallized fragments of life, suspended between real and unreal, natural and imaginary. The concept behind this musical short film is to explore this border area, finding the lines, shapes, colors, and feelings that constitute this suspended space. Like tableaux vivants, life scenes flow before our eyes, in a time and space that is neither entirely familiar nor comfortable. We see ourselves, but projected in a different dimension, where we can choose to open ourselves to new discoveries or take a step back to observe from a more familiar vantage point. Several techniques are used to represent this mysterious, almost rhizomatic space: cinemagraphs, a superposition of photography and video/film; photographic double or multiple exposures; and filmic time manipulation.

Jakub Ciupinski – The Black Mirror

Performed by Lysander Piano Trio
Itamar Zorman, violin
Michael Katz, cello
Liza Stepanova, piano

Film by Sara Pettinella // Little Comb Productions
http://www.lysandertrio.com/
http://www.jakubciupinski.com/
https://firsthandrecords.com/

℗ & © 2020 The copyright in these sound recordings is owned by First Hand Records Ltd

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