Each beat has its own speed, each tempo suggests certain images: Timo Novotny's video for Richard Dorfmeisters Sofa Surfers remix, which was shot in Japan on Super-8 film, begins with an aerial view of a construction site and a crane. As the bass begins softly, the images start to move up along a vertical line, apparently reflecting the path of an elevator. Everything is transparent, everything is structured: The scaffolding is echoed in the pictures frame, which rolls across the screen in a way similar to a poor film projection, offsetting the illusion of movement. Or the images accentuate the music through superimpositions, short zooms and shots through cloudy glass.
A small model of the Statue of Liberty then briefly disorients the viewer, and the vertical movement becomes horizontal, moving from Tokyo to Kyoto: Analogously to the laid-back drum n bass, the images then begin a relaxed and aimless journey through Japans urban spaces. In this phase, the two elements almost unite in smooth parallel movement.
Near the end, the rhythm materializes in the human body. Three kids breakdance, then others dance in a city park. While this is not an arrival at a certain destination, it is definitely more than a chance meeting. The escalators at a large train station continue to run mechanically, and the space does not come to rest until the music has faded away. (Dominik Kamalzadeh)
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