Soil is an iterative experimental motion media project that aims to focus on the process, leaving aside the transcendence of the final result. It is a quest against perfectionism, clear roads, and fierce control. It is a collaboration with the tool, a jump into the abysm of improvisation, a savoir-faire-pas.
Each step is the soil from which the next one grows.
In Soil, each stage in the project is defined by the previous one. Each step becomes the origin of what comes next. Each step is the soil from which the next one grows. I have followed several approaches: addition, re-mixing, destruction. I have allowed the project to guide me to the next logical step, disregarding what was initially on my mind. The techniques used range from sound edition, to video editing, to glitch, to projection mapping, etc. In the process, I hope to have found new paths to create motion media that challenges commercial methodologies and pipelines.
First stages
What is SOIL?
Soil is an experimental
iterative VJ project.
in which each video clip produced
becomes the raw footage
for the next one.
The first stages of this project included turning part of the proposal description into sound using Langorhythm and using that sound to produce animations with a digital oscilloscope.
Soil – Projection Mapping
The previous oscilloscope results were remixed and edited in After Effects to create different videos that later on were prepared for projection mapping.
Content warning: Soil 04.04 contains flashing lights.
Soil 06
Despite of originally being just a means of documentation for the projected videos experience, their interaction with the environment and with a subject suggested a deeper exploration. In this stage, the produced material started gaining meaning through its juxtaposition with the real world. That realization led to the production of a storyboard and a short film.
Soil 07 – Tierra
All the projection videos, as well as the short film, were glitched using datamoshing and databending techniques. Glitch was regarded as a way to reveal the physical base (the soil) of the digital files. Their visual potential suggested a bigger piece they could be part of, juxtaposed, superimposed, and transformed.
La lluvia me moja
y huelo a tierra
y me devuelvo alli de donde vengo.
A la tierra me devuelvo.
Y excavo la tierra,
y la tengo entre las uñas,
y me hundo,
y soy mas sencilla.
Y vuelvo a ser celula
y me reconcilio con mi madre.
Mas sencilla, me vuelvo.
The rain soaks me
and I smell the soil scent
and I return myself to where I come from.
I return myself to the soil.
And I dig the soil,
and I have it in my nails,
and I sink,
and I am simpler.
And I become a cell again
and make peace with my mother.
Simpler, I become.
Tierra is the direct translation of Soil to Spanish, as well as the name of a poem I wrote in 2018 based on a song a friend of mine had written. It talks about returning to the origin, becoming simpler, and closing the circle to be reborn. An extract of this poem, the one that seemed more relevant for the project, was used together with the glitched files to produce the last film.
Soil 08
This last stage of the project was produced for the Digital Grafitti Festival (FL). The soundtrack is by Jahvon Grey, who was able to create a tailored piece that matches the psychedelic vibe of this VJ trip.
María Sánchez 