The project is based on the four bars that Wittgenstein scribbled down (instead of a writing a note to himself) with regards to some thoughts he had about his philosophical practice, but which he found difficult to verbalize at that very moment. Appassionato or With Passion describes the tumultuous state the thoughts must have produced in him, in his own words: That must be the end of a theme which I cannot place. It came into my head today as I was thinking about my philosophical work and saying to myself. "I destroy, I destroy, I destroy." (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value)

In turn, we have tried to conceptualize this state of “helpless consciousness” by scoring the (moving) images to the music, rather than the other way around, thus producing a work that visually and audibly stimulates the imagination without ever making perfect sense. Wittgenstein's attempt to consider the implications of the limitations language places on human experience is reflected in this piece where the meaning remains open, and several sensibilities and forms of expression are merged into one, at times coherently, at times in contrast with one another.

After our perceived initial failure, we realized that the musical component needed to be more complete (a paradox in itself). We engaged the help of New York a composer  Melissa Grey, who’s works I was familiar with and who’s final score, a mix of her own field research, her interpretation of the initial four bars by Wittgenstein, and the audible parts from the earlier footage we provided her with, gave us a broader spectrum and potential for experimenting with the visual imagery.  In addition, while we were waiting for the musical score we were able to shoot more footage, and lay down some basic ideas as to how we could respond to the music by Melissa Grey. Her suggestion to break the piece down into live performance and “audio projection,” gave us new ways of thinking about the performative aspects of our non-scripted film collages and those of film projections in an exhibition context. We eventually arrived at the dual screen solution, which adds yet another layer to issues of communication, duality and interactivity which is also reflected in the constant “stuttering” (stopping and restarting) or shifting of imagery much like in a musical “canon.”

We have worked for the most part by investing our own money into each of our projects, and producing each film with very modest means. For this film we feel that we would like to advance to a more professional level of production, which includes the proper equipment, professional editing and forms of output. At this point, all of the footage has been shot in HD, we have produced a rough (but quite detailed) cut of the film, and it is ready to go into this final production stage. We need to hire a professional editor and we would like to collaborate with a designer specializing in film credits to develop and conceptualize a visually and textually coherent form of introducing the film’s premise. The latter seems to be particularly important with regards to the more than likely scenarios where a live performance of the music, and or introductory remarks (even if only in the form of printed handouts) are not possible. We intend to produce two versions of the film for different screening situations, projection and projection with live performance.

The music, as well as the film, has been conceived to adapt to both types of presentations. A screening or projection with a live performance component would be our preferred scenario for the initial première of the film in each venue the piece is shown, followed by looped projections with explanatory titles as part of an exhibition.

View film
www.vimeo.com/68439862

With Passion | Leidenschaftlich | Appassionato

That must be the end of a theme which I cannot place. It came into my head today as I was thinking about my philosophical work and saying to myself. "I destroy, I destroy, I destroy."

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value

Wittgenstein's attempt to consider the implications of the limitations that language placed on human experience is summarized in the four bars of a musical theme that seems to complete, or replace a thought as yet unexpressed or inexpressible. In turn, we tried to describe this sense of "helpless consciousness" in creating a series of filmic moments and sounds inspired by the music.

Appassionato | With Passion | Leidenschaftlich

Cela doit être la fin d’un thème, je ne sais lequel. Il m’est passé par la tête aujourd’hui, alors que je réfléchissais sur mon travail philosophique, et que je me disais : « I destroy, I destroy, I destroy ».

Ludwig Wittgenstein, Remarques mêlées

La tentative de Wittgenstein de réfléchir aux implications des limites que la langue impose à l’expérience humaine se trouve résumée dans les quatre mesures d’un thème musical qui semble compléter ou remplacer une pensée non exprimée ou non exprimable. Nous avons tenté, à notre tour, de décrire ce sentiment de « conscience impuissante » en créant une série de moments cinématographiques et de sons inspirés par cette musique.

Visionner le film
www.vimeo.com/68439862

CREDITS

composition
Melissa Grey

actors / actrices
Elisabeth and Jessica Charbonneau

musicians / musiciens
Harold Jones, flute
Mioi Takeda,  violin

mix engineer + recording engineer /
ingénieur + arrangeur de son

Jim Briggs III
mixed for 5.1 surround and stereo at Gramercy Post,
New York City

post-production
Benoit Chaussé

Special thanks to the Centre de design at the Université du Québec à Montréal and their wonderful painting crew. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for the completion of this project.

Nos sincères remerciements au Centre de design de l’Université du Québec à Montréal et leur merveilleuse équipe de peintres. Nous remercions le Conseil des Arts du Canada pour l’aide à la finalisation de ce projet.

Filmed in / filmé à Montréal, New York City, Berlin and Hamburg