Happy Again is a study of movement in the digital age inspired by Etienne-Jules Marey's ‘chronophotographic’ work. The iconic scene from the Hollywood musical Singin' in the Rain is divided into seven layers. Each layer moves at a different speed and is equally visible in superimposition. At the temporal centre point, all visual and audio elements merge into a single frame. The result reveals a new cinema, music and dance that are embedded within the familiar iconic sequence. "In Happy Again, Gregg Biermann reproduces seven clips from Gene Kelly's iconic dance number from Singin' in the Rain, each slightly out of sync. Watching the repeated gestures and camera angles is like looking into a time tunnel‘ - James Kalm, The Brooklyn Rail. ’In this work, Gregg Biermann has taken some of the supreme moments of classic cinema and subjected them to a dazzling transformation in the digital realm. The results are thrilling, surprising tours de force. They also display “a comic quality” that highlights the artist's witty imagination. He is an explorer of the hidden corners of cinema and a master of computerised magic." – Larry Gottheim
Part of the session: Experimental Films Session
Gregg Biermann
My work comes out of the avant-garde tradition of film as visual art. I believe that artists inspired by the spirit of the historical avant-garde films can, by embracing new technologies, remain vital. The development of new tools has often determined innovative aesthetic developments in art and music. Consequently, I’ve looked to new technologies to discover unspoiled frontiers no longer available to celluloid filmmakers interested in exploring form. Most of these works could not have been achieved in earlier periods and are deeply rooted in computer graphics, digital video and animation. The meaning of digital technology for cinema lies in its ability to copy, alter, mask, fragment, superimpose, mutate, reflect, transmit and reframe.
