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Narrative Synopsis

In early 2010 the Alloy Orchestra was commissioned an original score, based on a musical setting drawn on a 3-foot long sheet of squared notebook paper. Its operating principle was a fixed tempo - 60 beats per minute - to be strictly followed by the musicians throughout the piece. Within this grid, the performers were given complete freedom to determine the timbre, the volume and the sequence of themes to be chosen for their work. Two artists - a drummer and a draughtsman - listened to the recording of the music without any knowledge of the instructions provided for its creation. Unbeknownst to each other, both were given the task of playing along with their respective instruments: one with a drum in front of a camera, the other with pen, brushes, ink and colored pigments on 35mm film strips. The footage was assembled and edited in strict adherence to the criteria adopted for the music. The Alloy Orchestra was then asked to accompany the film with their own score