SYNOPSIS

‘Chromophobia’ is an abstract fiction short about a young woman waking up in the belly of the city. Disoriented, painfully aware of the coldness of the (near) empty city, she meanders through its abandoned streets, searching for a destination. Her struggle turns into motion poetry as she discovers, in very tactile fashion, the derelict urban environment. In the end, she reaches a wall of light. Fascinated, she reaches in, only to be engulfed by it.

CREDITS

A film by CHRISTIAN PETERSON
With JENNIFER TU-ANH PHAN
Post-Production Consulting MICHAEL MK SIU
Music courtesy of MOBY through mobygratis.com

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

‘Chromophobia’ is a film about the beauty of cities at night, it is a love story between a woman that is lost and her environment, at once hostile and wildly poetic. The abandonment of the streets, coupled with the still lit neon signs all around town, creates a sort of floating world in which we can perceive the potential for human interaction, yet witness the desertion of the urban spaces the character briefly inhabits. Most North American cities are diurnal organisms that shut themselves down after the last partygoers have gone home. Somehow, though, the city never truly sleeps: it still, at any point in time and space, create movement, noise and light.

SYNOPSIS

‘Chromophobia’ is an abstract fiction short about a young woman waking up in the belly of the city. Disoriented, painfully aware of the coldness of the (near) empty city, she meanders through its abandoned streets, searching for a destination. Her struggle turns into motion poetry as she discovers, in very tactile fashion, the derelict urban environment. In the end, she reaches a wall of light. Fascinated, she reaches in, only to be engulfed by it.

CREDITS

A film by CHRISTIAN PETERSON
With JENNIFER TU-ANH PHAN
Post-Production Consulting MICHAEL MK SIU
Music courtesy of MOBY through mobygratis.com

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

‘Chromophobia’ is a film about the beauty of cities at night, it is a love story between a woman that is lost and her environment, at once hostile and wildly poetic. The abandonment of the streets, coupled with the still lit neon signs all around town, creates a sort of floating world in which we can perceive the potential for human interaction, yet witness the desertion of the urban spaces the character briefly inhabits. Most North American cities are diurnal organisms that shut themselves down after the last partygoers have gone home. Somehow, though, the city never truly sleeps: it still, at any point in time and space, create movement, noise and light.

A Day at Osheaga from Christian Peterson on Vimeo.

Featuring: John Butler Trio, Sam Roberts Band, Death from Above 1979, Lupe Fiasco

Thanks to:
Kristine, Manny & Jonathan at Much
Justin Agustin
Damian (Pink Eye) from Fucked Up
Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene

Music:
Take me to the Riot by The Stars

The installation is a large scale ‘mass’ of intricate pieces: ‘weightless’ feather elements, inflating bellows, long, sharp blades, beautiful clear plastic spider connectors, as well as reacting computerized parts. Suspended inside Santiago Calatrava’s stunning building, the work of Beesley (an internationally-acclaimed fine artist and professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Architeture) creates an unexpected disjunction of the public space, thus raising forcing us to question how we act/react/interact with(in) our city environment(s).

From Luminato’s website:

A worldwide pioneer in the fast-growing field of responsive architecture, Beesley and his team of collaborators pose the question “could architecture come alive?” In reply he creates spaces that dissolve into forest-like hovering fields, kin to primitive life-forms within dense jungles and ocean reefs. These responsive environments offer bodily immersion and wide-flung perception. In this new installation, Beesley combines visionary design with high-tech digital engineering to turn an everyday public space into a world of wonder.

Sargasso refers to the vast, tangled floating masses of living matter and cast-off material that drifts at the centre of the Atlantic. The environment within the sweeping atrium of the Allen Lambert Galleria makes a vast canopy, a sanctuary that slowly shifts and floats above the city. The building is no longer an entity of steel, glass, and stone but a participant in a symbiotic artistic event that shapes the nature of the environment itself.

Hope you enjoy the images!

In the meanwhile, here are some teaser images…

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A little preview of some dope vintage videos that will be in the play. Don’t tell anyone ;) (to see the silly videos I shot though, you’ll have to come to the show).