Steven Dye

Steve Dye is a Filmmaker/Musician/ Sound artist.

He studied filmmaking at the California College of Arts and Crafts, graduating with High Distinction in 1990, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Film/Video/Performance. He has presented his work and lectured on film and film sound to students at Fresno State, San Francisco State Multi-Media Extension, and the California Institute of the Arts. In addition to numerous film screenings, he has exhibited many film and sound installations including a 1996 installation at Mills College in Oakland CA, and in 1997 presented a one person show/installation at the Substation in Singapore.

My work with film has taken me in two distinct directions:

The production of animated films through the use of puppets, optical printing, time lapse and single frame photography. These films are often accompanied by a group of musicians, The Dactyls of Phrygia, who compose an original score for the films using traditional instruments and instruments made from salvage. (see KING MIDAS) and
co-founding Wet Gate, an all-projector ensemble who create sound/image collages utilizing film loops, found film, rub-on letters and patterns, bleached, scratched or otherwise manipulated audio and images, and audio effects. (see ZERO)

Sound exists only in time, this is also true with motion. By using live musicians, a continuous re-examination of the relationship between sound and image is possible. It is a natural outlet for my experiments in sound and instrument building. I am particularly excited by the use of light to create sound and motion.

I must acknowledge my debt to the work of Barry Spinello, Luigi Russolo, and Louis Armstrong. Also to the film work of Lazlo Maholy-Nagy and John Cage, who were both early enthusiasts about the possibilities of optical film sound.

Lun

A poem, ode to the Moon.

Utilizes puppet animation, found footage, optical printing and time-lapse cinematography.

1990, 16mm, color/so, 7m, $25

Necromancy

n. (Gr. nekros, corpse + manteia, divination) 1. Communication with the dead for the purpose of divining the future. 2. Sorcery.

Puppet animation, video and time-lapse cinematography. Image as both mirror and window, a look at perception and methods of experience.

1990, 16mm, color/so, 5m, $20

The Subtle Flight of Birds

Through the eye of a bird
then through a world of landscapes
populated with junk puppets, conflict,
then the "subtle flight" of the soul from
the body of a bird, resolution.

1991, 16mm, b&w/si, 3.5m, $20

King Midas

A retelling of the Phrygian myth
of King Midas,
in which is told the amazing tale of a fabulous Garden,
a nervous Barber, a fateful Decision,
and other scenes worthy of happy memory.

A chapter in the Dactyls of Phrygia creation cycle. Puppet animation, single frame photography. This print features a live musical score by the Dactyls.

1995, 16mm, color/so, 12m, $35

Zero

Hand-manipulated found film, reworking the image and soundtrack. The use of bleaching, scratching, press-on architectural elements and patterns; a celebration of the malleability of film and the optical soundtrack as a hands-on medium.

1996, 16mm, b&w/so, 3m, $20

Wet Gate: The Psychic Flock

A videotape documenting Wet Gate's live presentation of THE PSYCHIC FLOCK, showcasing their revolutionary rear screen projection system, Skinnimascope.

Wet Gate is a projector ensemble created in 1995 by Peter Conheim, Owen O'Toole and Steven Dye as a performing group devoted to the use of 16mm film projectors as instruments in a "band" context, celebrating the joys of optical analog soundtracks and the cinema experience. Wet Gate uses 16mm film material exclusively for all sounds and images, utilizing no tapes or other outside sources.

Also features excerpts from HELLO, OFFICER MAXWELL, a close-quarters, behind-the-screen look at a Wet Gate performance (Peter Conheim, Gibbs Chapman, Steven Dye).

1997, VHS, color/so, 40m, $20 Home; $60 Other