Four self-proclaimed ‘improvisers’ hailing from Grenoble, France, deliver a line-up of chaotic ‘performances’ – not performance in the on-stage sense I was expecting, rather the artists perform through their mediums – Gaëlle Rouard and Etienne Caire’s 16mm projectors and their accompanying live sound-on-film duo ‘Lafoxe’.

In terms of content there’s little to hang one’s hat upon, particularly for a reviewer trying to find a way to describe this abstract mash-up of eclectic, antiquitous cinema and post-industrial art-noise. The engaging element, as the promo copy suggests, is in disbanding with narrative and examining the process by which the challenging assault on the audio-visual senses is delivered.

The first piece splutters into being in a manner in which at first I’m not certain if everything is going quite right. Popping speakers, melting celluloid, blurring, juddering, stretching and shrinking moving images do their chaotic dance to a growling, abrasive machine-driven soundtrack. The relentless barrage continues for half an hour or so, resembling a kind of spat-out byproduct of sonic and cinematic residue that would need a forensics expert to extrapolate any sense from.

Following a short break the second piece has a more constant tone, less stop-start. It also comes closer to presenting a comprehensible, if unpleasant narrative about a pretty young woman set upon by a gang of bodgie-type thugs. The third and final work draws a similar path with the flagellation of a medieval monk, while the grinding cacophonous soundtrack rises to an almost overbearing crescendo.

For all its apparent randomness, it’s obvious there’s been much preparation and application by the artists in producing these original pieces. In lieu of any distinct meaning or clear purpose, it’s naturally human to attempt to assign one’s own meaning to the ensuing presentation. Concepts that pass through my mind include but aren’t limited to war, cultural division, religion, love, hate, abuse, nostalgia, regret, ecology and death. 

Old style scratchy Technicolor analogue film has an appeal in itself for many enthusiasts, and could be reason enough to check the work out if only to examine the aesthetic results of the methods and execution of the Superflux team. The only other Auckland presentation is at Vitamin S in the Wine cellar, St Kevin’s Arcade, tonight (Monday, 8.30pm), further accompanied by local performers. 
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