CNVV01
release date: 12.Jul.2004

SOMNISCOPE - Treasured Seconds

Archive.org // July 20, 2005


con-v is definitely one of the best lables on here, and this is a very interesting project.
a problem trying to balance (image)quality of footage vs download size, no doubt and i end up a little frustrated, unfortunately. sound is suitable but unexceptional. the footage is very well produced, and has good ideas, but there just isn't enough of it, and it doesn't really do anything. which is fine, but if they're meant to be little looping postcards, then the logo at the start of each should be lost (which risks reducing the work to just more contextless downloaded media, which i'm sure artists & lable want to avoid), or they should be presented as one longer piece of footage, with a certain amount of development with maybe an excerpt presented a a taster. so i'd like to see a more complete release from these artists also, as well as more like this in the future.
I give 4 stars despite these reservations, because i can't technically complain about the work too much, and i like the idea of releases like this a lot, and think that with a few more, some of these presentation problems will be worked out. go team.

( Jpeatt )

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Archive.org // July 18, 2004

Somniscope blesses us with a short EP of sound and imagery that is stunning to say the least. Thier exploration of the audio/visual takes you on a fantastic voyage like bits of data being transferred from "TX" to "RX". Their ideas are subtle at times but its easy to see how they have worked hard to mesh both the sound and landscapes into a completely new dimension. Upon viewing/listening to the EP you are reminded of that time when you realized that the music you are listening to and your surroundings have completely become indistinguishable from eachother in a harmonious coincidence. But this is no mistake. They often have great ideas, such as playing sound and video together, reversing it, and looping it like in "set.rise". These music videos make you want to discover a world out there where music and life itself affect eachother in a way that is more visible. If you were able to see how sound affects molecules Somniscope would be there composing every movement and projecting it to the curious viewer.
All packaged together into a short a/v experience to be easily accesible over the internet this short EP is more than just an average release. It is conceptual art that belongs in a museum. I will be looking foward to a longer release from the two artists from Somniscope in the future.

( Psy-Sci )

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