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This is an article on FOURTH DIMENSIONAL MINDS EYE SUMMONING.1 August 2011
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It was the Barbican, 8pm, Thursday 28th July. A sold out cinema screen in one of London’s great cultural emporiums. We were waiting for a live show. A rarity. Not only Alan Moore appearing, but performing. The excitement was palpable. What a coup to get him. People talk of Stan Lee or Will Eisner or Neil Gaiman. Moore, for me, is the greatest comic book writer of all time. Watchmen and From Hell are masterpieces. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen shows his learning, while V for Vendetta reveals a connection to what is going on around him. I’d seen him talk once before, but actually performing his own work, wow!
This was going to be something different. Not his usual collaboration, between writer and illustrator. Instead, a reading out of his new work, with sound provided by Edwin Pouncey, and orchestrated by music producer Paul Smith. To quote the blurb, “Produced in response to American experimental filmmaker Harry Smith's avant garde film No 12. Heaven and Earth Magic.” Here is a clip of Smith’s work:
This was going to be something different. Not his usual collaboration, between writer and illustrator. Instead, a reading out of his new work, with sound provided by Edwin Pouncey, and orchestrated by music producer Paul Smith. To quote the blurb, “Produced in response to American experimental filmmaker Harry Smith's avant garde film No 12. Heaven and Earth Magic.” Here is a clip of Smith’s work:
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So we have imagery from six televisions and one cinema screen, Moore’s vocals and the sound effects over-layed. It was a melee of artistic and sensory inputs, which seemed to be an experiment in tone and rhythm, rather than a clear narrative. It was a repetition of words and resonance and images. A poem rather than a story. Sitting in a leather armchair, with his distinctive biker-style beard, long hair, black jeans, purple vest and cool ring on his pinkie, Moore certainly draws your attention.
The Monty Python-esque images and not always intelligible words created a surreal atmosphere. The aim seems to have been to create an experience. The evening reminded me of Jan Svankmajer’s last movie, Surviving Life. There is the metaphorical and figurative, but representing what? Your guess is as good as mine. But what does it matter? I was thinking during the recital, I’m actually sitting right opposite someone who has shaped a literary form. Opaque, bizarre and one to ponder, or not.
